I'm Stretched by Julia Cook Book Give-away

I know we've all probably felt just like the character in Julia Cook's new book I'm Stretched!  Often during the school year there are times when we feel stretched and stressed!  There is just too much to do and not enough time to do it.  So from our already full plates, things begin to fall off.  I know when that happen I'm not as prepared, my house and life are a mess, I'm tired,  not eating right, and not taking care of my health.  And I KNOW the ways to handle stress! All I need to do is practice what I teach!  But for our students it's different, they don't have the skills and resources we do.  This book is the perfect way to introduce those skills.

In the story, the main character is a young girl who is feeling "stretched."  She has too many assignments, activities, lessons, try-outs, and concerns about family, friends, and her pet.  These things cause her to lose sleep, be unprepared, unorganized, worry,  and stressed out.  She finally turns to her mother who offers her great advice on how to view and handle stress.  The mother, who in my opinion must be a school counselor,  shares with her daugher all the great things she can do to reduce her stress and feel peaceful and calm.  From venting to belly breathing to preparing the night before, this mom has great advice for her stressed out girl.

So many of our students feel stress, whether it's because they have too much to do in their lives or because they don't know how to manage all the things they want to do.  This book is a great resource for individual, small group, or classroom counseling lessons.  School counselors  will recognize the variety of tips provided at the end of the book as things they regularly suggest to students when talking about self-care and organization.  These tips can be turned into variety of student activities to go along with the reading of the book.

Two Free Books!
Thank you to National Center for Youth Issues for donating 2 free copies of I'm Stretched for this give-away.  Leave a comment in the section below or comment on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page, the School Counselor Store Facebook page, or the Elementary School Counselor Exchange or all of the above.  The more you comment, the more chances you have to win!  Winners will be picked Monday evening at 11:59PM.

Good luck!!!