A child's behavior problems can be a daily struggle for parents,
but many kids are learning important lessons and finding
unlikely heroes in a group of puppets and a program called
Dinosaur School. The program, first invented and tested in
Seattle, uses puppets, videos, pictures and practice to teach
young kids how to behave in school, how to make friends and how
to problem solve. It has been widely tested and approved and now
a new clinic in Ahwatukee Foothills is bringing the program to
kids in a small group setting. Linda Wiskerchen has been running
the program in public schools for about nine years. She first
began teaching the program school-wide in a central Phoenix
school district. When the first grant ended, they began another
but decided to do the program in small, pull-out groups of kids
who were behaving badly or who maybe just needed help
socializing more. The results in that school district were
impressive. Teachers were surveyed before and after and reported
significant improvement in social com