New Resource: My Experience of School - Upstream Chronic School Absenteeism Prevention

New Resource: My Experience of School - Upstream Chronic School Absenteeism Prevention

Youth Mental Health Canada is pleased to introduce our newest educational resource: "My Experience of School: Upstream Chronic School Absenteeism Prevention" by Sheryl Boswell.

"My Experience of School" by Sheryl Boswell is an interactive workbook with hands-on, evidence-based activities, designed to support students of all ages who struggle with school attendance.

Upstream prevention of chronic school absenteeism provides the groundwork for early intervention by identifying challenges, needs, feelings, thoughts, and strategies. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an internationally renowned human rights advocate, once said, “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”

This engaging workbook offers practical tools and exercises to help students navigate their experiences, challenges, thoughts, and feelings about school while building resilience and strength.

Key Features

  • Strength-Based Activities: Focuses on identifying personal strengths and motivations to build confidence and a growth mindset.
  • Emotional Awareness: Encourages self-reflection and tracking of feelings and mood to help students understand and manage their emotions, thoughts, and experiences.
  • Problem-Solving Skills and Scenarios: Provides tools and strategies to manage school-related challenges.  
  • Families and Schools: Workbook activities include useful exercises for understanding warning signs of school mental health challenges for early intervention and support. The exercises will assist families and schools in understanding the individual needs, strengths, and challenges of students.

This workbook is ideal for students experiencing school attendance challenges. It’s a valuable resource for families and schools.  Schools will gain much insight into student experiences and educational needs to provide inclusive, accessible, and individualized support.

This workbook validates the feelings and thoughts of students with school challenges, empowers them with the tools, skills, and resources to manage their fears, anxiety, and thoughts, and provides a supportive framework for student well-being that increases their ability to attend and engage with schools.

Purchase Options

The workbook is now available through our website:

We look forward to supporting more students in their educational journey through this thoughtfully designed resource.

For more information about our complete collection of mental wellness workbooks and resources, please visit ymhc.ngo.

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