Lynn,
I did a similar post to yours, more recently, titled "Teaching caring and compassion in the PreK classroom: New Teacher." I received some great feedback and resources that would definitely apply to you, as well. Please look at my posting. I hope you find some useful information from all the responses I received. I did purchase a couple of the suggested resources- the
"Lifetimes..." (explaining death to young children- which would not really be relevant to you, but if the need ever arises for you to talk about this topic the book is excellent!),
"The Peaceful Classroom: 162 Easy Activities to Teach Preschoolers Compassion and Cooperation" (It breaks down lessons into 4 main topics: Friendship, Compassion, Cooperation, and Kindness- then further breaks the lessons down to the age group it is appropriate for- 3yrs, 4yrs, and 5yrs old)), and
"The Kindness Curriculum: Stop Bullying Before It Starts" which is targeted for preschool age, but I think many of the activities would work fine with slightly older students, too. It has 94 character-building activities for a peaceful and supportive learning environment- both classroom and at-home activities. I have found many activities in both books that I want and plan to do with my students. Many more resources are also listed- such as
"The Great Kindness Challenge" that I ended up doing with my class. Even though the official time of the challenge has ended (it is done the last week of January, every year, globally), I believe you can sign up anytime, and receive access to the challenge papers/tools and complete with students anytime throughout the year. It was a great way to get my students to do "Acts of Kindness." The challenge papers/tools include a reflection page (questions) and a reflections activities page that I sent home with parents, asking them to do at least a couple of the questions. We then, as a class, discussed our answers to two of the questions: "I felt happy when____" (an act of kindness that made them feel happy), and "Kindness is____." (what does kindness or being kind mean to you?) Each student received a certificate saying "Kindness Certified Student" and listing the "The Great Kindness Challenge" (also available in the challenge papers/tools you will receive access to after signing up). Since our class participated, our school even received a certificate saying "Kindness Certified School." I hope this is helpful! Good Luck!
If you would like any direct links to the books/resources I bought, and/or to the "The Great Kindness Challenge", please feel free to email me (I've included my email below).
Heidi
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Heidi Van Amburg
h_vanamburg72@comcast.netPreK Teacher
Primrose School of St. Louis Park West
Crystal MN
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-23-2019 09:09 AM
From: Lynn Vollbracht
Subject: Teaching kindness in the classroom
Good Morning,
Next month I will be doing a presentation at our local Childcare Providers on Bullying. I wondered what material teachers have used in their classrooms that they found effective.
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Lynn Vollbracht
Columbus NE
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