Appreciating your Family

As the rush of the winter season begins it is important to remember how much and what we appreciate about each other. This is a fun activity to do at home. Help your child to draw the trunk and the branches of a tree on a large sheet of paper. Display it on a door, a wall, the refrigerator, or a bulletin board. Keep post-it-notes or slips of paper and tape nearby. Tell everyone that this tree needs some leaves. Everyone can tape slips of paper to the tree to add leaves in the next week. Each leaf must have a message on it thanking someone in the family for something he or she did. Younger children could draw a picture and add a smiley face. It is important to recognize the little things that people do as well as the big things. Make sure everyone in the family(including pets) receives some messages about his or her positive behavior.

Listen

In guidance we have been working on the following respectful listening skills:

• Stop what you are doing
• Look at the person speaking
• Be quiet while the person speaks
• Think about what they are saying
• Ask questions, nod your head or make comments on what the person says

Help your child practice these skills at home. Show how you use them in your own life .Praise your child when they listen more respectfully. Let them know you feel like they heard you.

Try this activity in your family to help your child practice listening skills and to build a sense of team work in your family.
Create a regular time to talk. This is a chance to really listen to one another. For some families, meals are good times to talk and listen. Other families find that the hour before your child's bedtime or the hour when everyone has arrived home are the best times. The time you choose  isn't as important as listening to one another. Use this time to share thoughts and feelings about what happened that day or week. Together you can practice the listening skills at the top of this page.

Accepting Differences

We have just finished a unit in guidance about accepting differences. By the completion of the unit students understand what we mean by, "We are all different, but we have a lot in common."
Each of us is different. Learning to accept each other and our differences is important.
Help your child accept his or her special qualities:

• Discuss your family's background and countries your family came from.
• Point out your child's individual talents and skills.
• Discuss the traditions that are a part of your family.

Help your child accept the special qualities of others:

• Provide chances for your child to interact with other children who may have different backgrounds, skills, or abilities.
• Stop any name calling or teasing that puts down another person.
• Talk about other children's talents, skills, cultures, and traditions.

Making and Keeping Friends

Friends are important to all of us. As your child grows up, he or she will have many chances to make new friends. The older your child gets, the more important friends become. Share with your child how you have made friends and what you like about them. By talking and listening to your child you are helping them to develop the most important relationship skill:communication.
Here are some simple skill steps to make a new friend you can share with your child:

• Pick a time and place when the person is not busy.
• Say "Hi"
• Talk about something you have in common or say something positive you have noticed about the student. Maybe you both like to play the same game at recess.
• Tell the other student alittle bit about yourself.
• Ask questions about the other student.
• Suggest doing something together, like having lunch, playing 4 square, basketball.