Inspiring Kindness

We hear it all the time. Be kind. Kindness matters. Pay it forward. It's on posters and social media and hashtags and t-shirts. Good! Thank goodness it's being talked about! How, though, do we get our kids to DO IT?? Kindness can be a personality trait, an adjective, but for our kids to do it, we must teach them that it's a verb. Kindness is displayed in action. That can mean words or it can mean an act, but it should be an action word.

Conversations everyday with our students are imperative. To teach, to provide context and example.
Shining a light on what is good, and kind, and what we want to see repeated. Anything, really, can set the stage. It might be something that happened in class, the playground, or in the cafeteria. Anecdotes that provide a connection and some schema for what we are talking about. Characters from books we read make great talking points for teaching about character. What was their point of view? How do you think the other characters felt about that? So powerful.

I love using quotes too. They can be fantastic conversation starters. "What do  you think _____
meant when they said that? What could that mean for us in our classroom? For you at home?".

I have created a set of Farmhouse Growth Mindset/Kindness Posters that can be used as charming decor, but also serve as terrific talking points and reminders for classroom culture! If you pick these up and display them in your classroom, please send me a photo so I can share it on Facebook and Instagram! littlebirdkindergarten@gmail.com