We have been discussing the word charity at our school. One of our students demonstrated a great spirit of giving without expecting anything in return this year with his own personal birthday party. Joey is now 9 years old and in lieu of accepting gifts at his party, he made the following request.
He asked his friends to bring a food donation to his party. Then this week he delivered the food to the Lighthouse Shelter personally.
His dad said, “We have found this practice to be helpful in delivering the message that there are many people in need of our help and we should also be thankful for the lives that we do have.”
Thank you Joey for putting into action the lessons you have learned about charity. Great job!
So they are cute and we have been told “don’t harm the lady bugs” but are all lady bugs good? One of our students and his family investigated the lady bug and found some things you must know for your garden this year. Here is a link to their report. Ladybugs Hope you enjoy this. What a great job!
This month we will be talking about manners. Now while that seems like a subject that every parent deals with, trying to raise children who are considerate and respectful of others, well even the children understand that we do not see manners being displayed as much as they should be. Did you notice that I did not say “as they used to be”, though that could be said too, but we are dealing with the NOW, not the THEN.
Fred Astaire is quoted as saying, “The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.” As leaders, parents, teachers manners are important. We often show others how we should act toward each other.
The first thing we teach our youngsters in regard to manners universally is, “don’t forget to say please and thank you.” When we use these words it is just like tacking on the words “with respect” to every sentence. How much nicer it sounds and more willing we are to comply when we are asked to do something with a “please” attached as opposed to demanding it to be done.
In fact the way we say something makes a difference in the way it is heard and the response you will get, no matter the age of the receiver. If we demand – “Give me a piece of candy” – versus – “May I please have a piece of candy?” makes the giver feel less respected and valued. It is in fact a demeaning manner of speaking. When we use manners though it shows kindness in everything we say and do!
We are not always going to feel confident. We are not always going to be sure that we can reach the goals we have set for ourselves and then when we have a set back we need to recheck our attitude again to be sure we are not talking to ourselves in that grumpy voice, saying something like – You can’t do this.
It may be a test, meeting new people, a new sport, or something that we have failed at before that challenges our confidence. It is at that time that we may need to talk to a friend or adult just to be sure we are thinking in the correct manner. It is highly unlikely that a friend or adult is going to tell us, “just give up – you can’t do that.” Just like we would be thee for them they will be there for us. Our job is not to give up and to look for ways to adjust and achieve our goals.
The best way always to teach a characteristic is to be the example daily. When your child is looking and listening to you what do they hear and see? You can ask yourself, If my child only had my behavior and speech to copy, am I setting the example I would like to see them grow up to be? Yes it is a big job. But that is what parenting is all about. It is like a big test everyday. Building tolerance is one of the things we can do to have an effect on creating peace in our family, community and ultimately the world.
I wanted to add to a little bit of what I had mentioned in a earlier post. Mainly I want to revise what may of been misinterpreted as “listen and try to understand everything that is said” to a more conventional statement of “try your best to be mindful of what you hear and what is said, but hey, no one’s perfect”. It would be a bit much to ask that we all start today by going out and investing 100% of our energy into making each conversation we have with someone meaningful. The fact is that we are busy people in a busy world, so let me talk about what I think we all can do (today) in this busy world of ours.
If you know anything about me, one thing is I enjoy talking. Continue reading “Effective Listening”