The Kindergarten classes have started a new project called "Kindness Counts"
this year. This is the first time I have attempted such an endeavour, so
your feedback, as parents, is of the utmost importance. I wanted to find a
proactive way to teach the children important social skills with an emphasis
on our Catholic values.
Here's what we've been up to so far...
We started by reading several books about kindness and have had class
discussions about what it means to be kind. We learned that kind acts can be
done for our friends, our family, our school, our community, and the
environment. After reading each book, we add to our list of kind acts we can
do as a class.
One of the books we enjoyed is called "Because Brian Hugged His Mother" where
we see the effect that ONE kind act (a simple hug) has on an entire
community. It is my belief that kindness spreads and that performing kind
acts not only helps others but makes us feel good when we do them.
The first project we have started in our classroom is the "Kindness Counts"
tree. Each time I see a child performing an act of kindness, a leaf is
placed on our tree. Our goal is to fill the entire tree with leaves. If
your child has done something at home that you feel is worthy of a leaf on
our tree, PLEASE write me a note or send me an e-mail. I'd love to hear how
our kindness is spreading at home.
Secondly, we are making flowers for all of the staff at Jeanne Sauve to show
our appreciation for their hard work. Attached to each flower is a note
thanking them for what they do and, most importantly, inviting them to spread
the kindness. We want to see how far our kindness extends!
Our list of kind acts to complete is impressive...your children have very
creative ideas! Some of the ideas come from the books we've read. We will
do our best to complete our list by the end of the year. Here are just some
of the acts we hope to perform:
-collecting food donations
-making cards for people who are sick in the hospital
-bringing in old blankets for the local animal shelter
-baking treats for our book buddes
-writing letters to people in a nursing/retirement home
-cleaning up litter the park/playground
-helping our parents with chores at home
-bring in old toys for kids who don't have any
-collect pennies to help children who are poor
If you know of a local organization that would benefit from some Kindergarten
Kindness, let me know and I'd be happy to find a way for our class to
contribute.
Keep checking this website to see what act of kindness we will be working on
next. When we start working on the big community projects, I'll be sure to
notify you (food donations, penny collection, etc...). Please don't send
anything to school unless you've heard from me. I know some children are
very eager to start them ALL right now!
As we begin these projects, I anticipate your feedback :)