Sleepy Breeze » character education http://sleepybreeze.com mom blog Sat, 02 May 2009 05:00:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Values and Ethics for the Humanist Child: Teaching preschoolers to value perseverance http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/02/26/teaching-preschoolers-to-value-perseverance/ http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/02/26/teaching-preschoolers-to-value-perseverance/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:38:49 +0000 Breeze http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/02/26/teaching-preschoolers-to-value-perseverance/ I haven’t been whipping up lessons for the character education program I’m so interested in as quickly as I had hoped, but I’ve had another simmering. I think it still needs some work, so suggestions are welcome.

Objectives

  • to introduce the idea of perserverance.
  • to encourage children to practice perserverance.
  • to learn about insects and arachnids.
  • to create insect-related crafts.

Materials

  • Eric Carle’s The Very Quiet Cricket
  • Eric Carle’s The Very Busy Spider
  • Stack of insect and spider books from library
  • construction paper, scissors, markers, crayons, glue, pipe cleaners, popcicle sticks, yarn

Steps

  • Ask children to point to their feet, hands, elbows, noses, etc. ending with asking them to point to their wings.
  • Ask children to find their pretend wings (arms? shoulder blades? invisible?) and flap them then rub them together.
  • Read The Very Quiet Cricket and ask children to rub their pretend wings together when the cricket does the same.
  • Ask children what the cricket does when he isn’t able to make a sound.
  • Ask about times when they have tried and tried again to do something that was hard for them.
  • Ask why it might be important to keep trying and discuss.
  • Read The Very Busy Spider.
  • Ask why the spider keeps working on her web.
  • Ask children if they have ever had to keep working on a task when there were more fun options.
  • Ask why sticking to a task might be an important thing to do and discuss.
  • Ask how many legs an insect has and how many a spider has.*
  • Share insect and spider books and encourage children to flip through them.
  • Show children the art supplies and help them to select what they want to create their own insects and spiders.
  • Free play time.

*I need to learn more about bugs before it’s time for this lesson. I’ll do it, honest.

]]> http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/02/26/teaching-preschoolers-to-value-perseverance/feed/ 0 Values and Ethics for the Humanist Child: Teaching Non-violent Resolutions to Young Children http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/30/teaching-non-violent-resolutions-to-young-children/ http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/30/teaching-non-violent-resolutions-to-young-children/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:09:16 +0000 Breeze http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/30/teaching-non-violent-resolutions-to-young-children/ I’m putting together lessons for the children’s activities of an organization my family belongs to, and I thought that I may as well share my plans with the world. The fledgling children’s program will ideally (to me at least) grow into a character education-type program to teach humanist values, but right now we can’t be too picky. The parents of the participating children are planning to take turns leading sessions, and I don’t know yet what other parents will choose to teach, though I’m hearing about lessons based on the little red hen and the boy who cried wolf, so I do know that I’m on board with my children learning the lessons those stories teach.

For my lessons, I’m going to try to incorporate (um, yeah, steal) ideas from some of the programs my daughter has participated in such as Kangaroo Kids while still teaching the selected value. There’s no reason we can’t pair our character education with fun that also stimulates development.

Here’s my first lesson:

  • Objectives
    • to introduce communication as the preferred method of conflict resolution
    • to practice body part names
    • to practice fine motor skills through painting
  • Materials
  • Steps
    • Ask children to sit near the book.
    • Read Feathers for Lunch.
    • On the last page of the book, toss a handful of feathers into the audience, encouraging each child to pick one up.*
    • Read Ain’t Gonna Paint No More.
    • Encourage children to pretend that their feathers are now paint brushes and paint their bodiesalong with the protagonist.*
    • Take up feathers.
    • Read Six Crows.
    • Ask why the farmer was upset with the crows, and discuss.
    • Ask why the crows ate the wheat, and discuss.
    • Help children to understand both sides of the conflict.
    • Ask why the owl thought the farmer and the crows were being silly.
    • Ask what the owl’s solution was.
    • Ask if the solution has a chance of working.
    • Ask if anyone has ever had a conflict with a friend and taken the owl’s advice, and discuss.
    • Ask if there are other ways to solve conflicts and which ways are preferable.
    • Encourage children to paint pictures of a situation in which they follow owl’s advice.
  • Free play.

*I copied these from Kangaroo Kids.

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