November 2014 - Grade 4: What Does it Mean to be a Good Friend

Dear Families,

November is the month when American's thoughts turn to feeling thankful, so we are focusing our social-emotional lessons on thinking about others. Fourth grade classes viewed a short video called  What Does it Mean to be a Good Friend? .   By elementary school, most children are ready to explore the world of friendship in more complex ways. They already know the fundamentals of how to make friends, but often lack the more sophisticated skills that are needed to be a good friend to others.

 Showing empathy, communicating clearly, being able to compromise, having patience and demonstrating loyalty to friends are all traits that rank highly among the social proficiencies that children must hone during childhood. Unlike reading, math and science, friendship is not something that can be taught with a textbook. Instead, it is a skill that develops over time, through many life experiences. Ideally, most of a child’s interactions will be rewarding and positive, but there may also be hurtful or disappointing outcomes at times.

Being able to make—and keep—friends is one of the most valuable skills that children can learn. Having friends who care about them and enjoy spending time with them helps create a happy, optimistic, well-adjusted child. Having friends makes life more meaningful, more productive and, ultimately, more fun.

What Does It Mean to Be a Good Friend?  was created to help elementary school children understand how friends should behave toward one another and recognize why such behavior is important. Specific guidelines for how to behave in a friendship are described. These skills include listening when a friend speaks, being empathetic or looking at a situation through another person’s eyes, thinking before acting in anger and standing up for their friends in order to show support and loyalty.

The program encourages young people to assess their relationships and their behavior toward others. In this way, viewers are not only educated about the proper way for friends to behave, but they are also motivated to learn new, more complex friendship skills and put them into practice.

Ask your child to tell you about the stories in the program and the lessons the characters learned. Create an opening for discussion by asking if he or she has ever been in a situation like one of those dramatized. It’s important to remember that we model behavior for our children, and they watch our interactions for clues on how to treat one another.

Sincerely,

Ms. Cahill

November 2014 - Grade 2: Empathy

Dear Family Member,

November is the month when all American consider giving thanks,  so during our social-emotional lessons this month, we'll be considering how to think about others as we go about our daily lives. Second graders are viewing   “How Would You Feel?” Learning About Empathy. 

 Designed especially for young children, this program introduces kids to one of the most important skills for establishing and managing social interactions and relationships: how to look at a situation from another person’s point of view, to imagine how one would feel in another person’s place.

Here are some suggestions you might use to further encourage your child to develop a sensitivity to, and compassion for, the feelings of others.  You might begin by talking about the way people feel in certain circumstances. For example, you might say, “Your brother was upset when you borrowed his new CD without asking. How would you feel if he did the same to you?” Or you might suggest that when your child breaks a playdate with a friend, that she imagine how she would feel if her friend did the same to her.

Here are some points about empathy that your child learned in the program:

• When someone is unhappy, imagining yourself in that person’s place can help you decide what to do.
• Asking yourself how you would feel in that situation helps you see it from another point of view.
• If you want to make it clear you understand how someone feels, try to say something that makes the situation better, not worse.
• Imagining how someone else feels and responding in a caring way makes you a better friend.

Reading books about empathy together can reinforce your child’s understanding of how best to respond to other people’s feelings. Here are two suggestions:

McBratney, Sam. I’m Sorry. HarperCollins, 2000.

Tolan, Stephanie. Sophie and the Sidewalk Man. Simon & Schuster, 1992.

Yours truly,

Ms. Cahill    

November 2014 - Grade 1: Think About Others

Dear Families,

November is the time when Americans give thanks. With that in mind, our social-emotional learning will focus on thinking about one another, and how our actions effect others. First graders viewed a program called “Think About Others: What It Means to Be Considerate.” Not surprisingly, thinking about others is something that doesn’t come easily to young children. But children in the early elementary grades are in the process of learning the social skills that help them connect to others. By exploring what it means to be polite, caring and considerate to others, this program helps the youngest children understand that putting these positive qualities into effect in their daily lives not only makes others feel good about them, but as an added bonus makes them feel good about themselves.

In the program your child learned that thinking about others means:

• being polite and saying “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me” when appropriate.

• caring about and responding to the feelings of others.

• figuring out how someone else feels by putting yourself in that person’s place.

• treating others the way you would like to be treated.

• helping someone who needs help, even without being asked.

• helping to make the world a much nicer place.

Talk with your child about what he or she has learned from the program. Create openings

for discussion by helping your child become aware of family situations in which being considerate helps everyone get along better. Two books that can help in reinforcing what your

child learned are:

Eyre, Richard, and Linda Eyre. Teaching Your Child Values. Fireside, 1993.

Post, Peggy, and Cindy Post Senning. Emily Post’s The Gift of Good Manners: A

Parent’s Guide to Raising Respectful, Kind, Considerate Children. HarperCollins

reprint, 2005.

Yours truly,

Ms. Cahill School Counselor

November 2014 - K Lesson - Diversity

“Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common. Celebrate it every day.”
—  Author Unknown

During the month of November, social emotional  focusing on thinking about others and appreciating our differences. To illustrate this, kindergarten classes viewed a program called We’re All Different. 

The early grades constitute an expanding universe for young children, whose former experiences may have previously been limited to home and family. But as they become more group-oriented and develop social skills, children begin to compare themselves to their peers, and take notice of differences. We’re All Different helps the youngest students understand that even though everyone is different in lots of ways, everyone is special because he or she is “one of a kind.” They also learn that while we are all different, we are also alike in many ways. With the help of an engaging puppet host and catchy theme song, the program makes the following points:

• Everyone is special in his or her own special way.

• Some people look different, and some can do things others can’t do, but we’re all the same in some important ways.

• Working together, different people with different talents and abilities can make things the best they can be.

• People from different places have different customs and eat different foods.

• It’s important to respect differences in people’s cultures and tastes.

• Just because people are different doesn’t mean they don’t have the same feelings as everyone else.

Talk to your child about what he/she has learned from the program. All children receive daily messages about the differences between themselves and others, and they need to identify, understand, and appreciate the similarities.

Suggested Reading: Whoever You Are by Mem Fox, The Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka, The Story of the Infinipede by Bridget Noel Welch Kamke.

Sincerely,

Ms. Cahill