“What is a friend? A single soul
dwelling in two bodies.”
~Aristotle
Teaching friendship to children has never been a 1,2,3, process for me. I have come to realize if I am not a good friend-how can I be a good example to anyone….anywhere. At first I thought friendship took too much sacrificing of my time and energy…then I realized what I thought was ‘sacrificing’ wasn’t sacrificing at all. I did it because I chose to. There was a deeper level of love there, I suppose.
In early childhood education we call this teaching 'modeling', kind of fancy talk for watching our own behavior because the kids are watching...But really we should all be in this mode.
Something happens to the heart when you let those you love inside and can freely give back.
We do health checks each morning on the children. We make sure they are healthy…their eyes, nose, and ears are clear….they know the drill.
I like to take it a step further… while we're at it-I do heart checks. I ask them how their morning is, how they feel…It makes all the difference if they will be needing me as a ‘friend’ to talk to that morning or as a teacher.
I don’t always know what the kids are thinking…I don’t pretend to. But I know that if you don’t know how to be a friend in this life-you are off to a really tough start.
2 comments:
Sometimes we do things and we don't know why we do them. Something you said in your blog just struck me as " wow!" I ask them how their morning is, how they feel…It makes all the difference if they will be needing me as a ‘friend’ to talk to that morning or as a teacher." I like to think I am a relationship builder, but is it intentional? KUDOS to you! Thanks for visiting my blog so I could find yours!
I really like your blog because you "share" the children as much as you share your ideas. It's personal...a style. I never understood competitiveness with teachers- after all, what do we have that we didn't receive ourselves...then the rest is...well, sharing our personality.
Thanks Ms. Debbie.
Post a Comment