Teaching children to be kind is key to being healthy, happy, and having good manners. Doesn’t it warm your heart when you hear a child has been involved in helping out the community in some significant way? How about the moment when you observe a child talking to the newest student at school? Point these moments out to your students. Kindness lifts our spirits. This can be felt on both sides of the act. As you witness a child demonstrating kindness, point out the act to them and discuss it.
When you discuss the action of performing random acts of kindness there is a chance this will become “standard operating procedure”.
Let your students know this is not about being kind just to receive a gesture of kindness. It is about the feeling it leaves inside when you perform an act of kindness.
Random acts of kindness can make our lives better and easier. Have your student’s friendships improved? How about their relationships with other teachers or educators at your school? Maybe just maybe they feel more confident and happier. I promise this will make for an interesting and positive conversation in your classroom.
If you are looking to start immediately and save money on travel and time, then this is your best option.You choose the dates of our trainings. Most choose to have their sessions once a week, others twice. This is a “live” and private training. It is NOTself-guided.
PRIVATE Training. That’s right, we meet in person, the two of us and our focus is completely on your business. Click the image above or follow the button below to learn more and to see a list of cities available for your training.
Manners To Go is happy to announce we have licensed and certified another teacher to start an etiquette business.
I have a very special place in my heart for teachers. My mother was a teacher for nearly 36 years. My sister was a school administrator. All of my aunts and uncles were teachers.
A Teacher Starts an Etiquette Business
My lineage runs deep. I remember helping my mother set-up her classroom at the beginning of the year.
If you are looking to start immediately and save money on travel and time, then this is your best option.You choose the dates of our trainings. Most choose to have their sessions once a week, others twice. This is a “live” and private training. It is NOTself-guided.
PRIVATE Training. That’s right, we meet in person, the two of us and our focus is completely on your business. Click the image above or follow the button below to learn more and to see a list of cities available for your training.
This book will help you teach social skills in your classroom.
Last weekend I was in our local bookstore. This title, Luli and the Language of Tea by Andrea Wang, jumped off the shelf. I walked right to it.
Yes, the cover is bright and inviting but once I opened the book and read a few pages, I knew I had to add to my resources for Preschool children.
Use This Book to Make a Human Connection
And this is why: this book speaks to the many cultures that make up the classrooms across the world. This book also addresses how to make the human connection.
If you have been following us, you know I am a big believer in this topic. Why not start them young – in Preschool?
“The playroom was quiet. Luli couldn’t speak English. Neither could the others. All around the room, children played alone.”
The story goes on to tell about Luli’s plan. She has a fat-bellied (don’t you love this description) teapot with matching cups.
Luli passes around the tea cups to all the children in her class. And everyone speaks a different language- however, they all speak the language of TEA!
This story is heartwarming! I encourage you to get your own copy and share it with your students.
Luli uses a “fat-bellied” teapot to connect with her classmates. This type of teapot is easy to find. You can use paper cups to pass around lemonade or water. Let your students practice pouring tea for each other.
During this time, have them engage in conversation with their classmates. You can read them the story of Luli while they are having “tea”.
A Teacher Becomes More Interesting When Teaching Manners in Elementary School
Storytelling is what sets you apart as a teacher.Think about it.As a teacher, I don’t need to tell you how much younger children love it when someone reads a story to them.
This works for elementary school students too…only you don’t need to read to them….TELL them a story.
A story about you and an experience you had.Maybe you made an “etiquette” mistake.Maybe you made the right decision by choosing to use your good manners in a certain situation.
Good or bad, share your story.Make it real for this age group.
I can promise, they will sit up and listen to “your” story.It will make you more interesting.
The moment you share your story is the moment you take control of your classroom and become more interesting as a teacher.
Manners are not about rules so don’t teach it in that way.Share a real-life experience.
Lisa Richey, founder, Manners To Go | Join Our Manners Movement
These might be the questions you are asking yourself about now.
Trust me, your students need you to show them how to not be socially awkward or uncomfortable.
When you teach manners and life skills in your classroom, you add a great deal of value to the lives of your students.
Here is how they feel when using good manners:
Here is How Students Feel When Using Good Manners and Life Skills:
More confident
Self-assured
Ready to take more risks
Prepared for college or job interviews and internships
Happier and healthy
Friendlier
Today, I am sharing an activity/lesson plan that you can easily easily teach in your classroom. In fact, if you click on the image below, you can download the specific manners lesson plan.
I believe when we set a goals or intention we need to understand our “why” behind it. This lesson plan will help your students understand the “why” we use our good manners everyday – in public, at at home, with others and especially in your classroom.
This is a fun activity and one that can take only five minutes – or more. You choose.
Your students can engage in a conversation, answer as a group or write down their answers independently.
Teaching manners in the preschool classroom: During the preschool years, manners are a critical element of a child’s education. This is a time of discovery for the preschooler. Teaching manners in the classroom and at home needs to be routine. Preschoolers pick up on a teacher or parent that is polite and at ease in life. Keep reading as this article is about teaching manners in a fun and creative way for both teachers and parents.
Empathy: We have the ability to feel what other’s are feeling. This must be taught with intention in the preschool classroom. When the situation arises in your classroom, offer praise when someone shares or understands with another student’s feelings are hurt. The ability to empathize is the foundation for respect and self-respect.
2. Please, Thank You and Excuse Me: These magical words are the basis of good behavior and communication skills. In your classroom, use these words often and when a child uses them, praise the child. The preschool years are the perfect time to start with basic conversation skills. Teaching when to have a conversation and how to ask questions is important.
If they absolutely must interrupt, show them how to say “excuse me”. Tell them how it makes others feel when they interrupt.
3. Meet and Greet: Start the day with “good morning”. Many schools around the world, start with a handshake. This is a big part of our culture in the US. It is how we greet people. A handshake shows leadership and confidence. Teach this. Start while they are young.
4. Basic Table Manners: Wow, is this one is important! The basics: chew with your mouth closed, do not talk with food in your mouth and place your napkin in your lap. Serve food that requires a fork. Teach them how to hold a fork correctly.
5. Using Manners in Public Places: Expand a child’s horizons. Take them to museums, out to the park and to parties. Teach them to use their “indoor voice”, not to complain or whine, and to follow the group while on a school activity.
6. Party Manners: Being social is fun and so important at this age. In your classroom, have parties and teach them many of the life skills mentioned above. You can teach greetings, how to share, how to have a conversation and basic grooming skills.
We are a full service company offering lesson plans for preschools to teach manners and social skills. Our programs are taught around the world in the preschool classroom. As an early childhood educator, you understand how important it is to teach your students how to behave appropriately in different social situations. Any child, no matter how young, is capable of learning basic etiquette and social skills, such as greetings, introductions, table manners, saying please and thank you, listening when others are talking, and showing respect to others. The Manners To Go™ Preschool curriculum makes it fun and easy for you to teach these skills to your students and prepare them for success in elementary school.
