How Can We Be Generous At Home and School?

The story Piggybook by Anthony Brown is a non-example of generosity, it's about how a family is not generous to the mom who has to do all the work. The Piggot boys didn't appreciate the work Mrs. Piggot did and didn't help.

At the beginning of of group time many of the children couldn't think of how they were helpful at home. Sofia, Esme and Alfie all thought of times they helped their moms cook something.

"I get my clothes ready for gymnastics." - Julia

"I don't really help at home but my mommy helps me. I don't know how I could be helpful but I can be helpful if my mommy asks me to do something I do it." - Simone

After reading Piggybook and watching a Youtube video of a 6 year old girl doing chores at home the children came up with ideas of jobs they can do all by themselves to help and care for their family . . .

"Clean the playroom" - Julia

"Clean the windows" - Simone, Sofia ad Esme

"Clean the furniture with a cloth" - Alfie

How can we show this generosity at school? The children referred to the Service Learning List and remembered all the ways they can be helpful at school.

Choosing a service learning job

Folding towels

Folding sheets

Cleaning chairs

Being generous brings us together

More On Sharing

Opinion Chart: Do You Always Have to Share?

Simone helped create this chart showing her understanding that there are many possible answers to a question. The children expressed their opinion and when Julia claimed she had the "right" answer we were able to talk about how these charts are not about finding the right answer but to better understand each others perspective; it's okay if we have different answers as long as our answer is the right one for us.

opinion chart

What's your opinion?

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister may seem a simple story about sharing but it is rich for philosophical discussions. When the other fish try to play with Rainbow Fish he ignores them, feeling too beautiful to be bothered by others. When the little blue fish asks for a shiny scale Rainbow Fish's response is sharp and mean "Get away from me!"

"That's not friendly!" - Alfie. 

"Yes, that's rude!" - Sofia

I wondered with the children if the reason behind the other fish refusing to play with Rainbow Fish was because of how he responded to the little blue fish or was it because he wouldn't share. They had mixed responses.

listening to the story

Yesterday the children recognised that they have some things that
they would find very difficult to share.

"I could never share my doggie, it has to stay on my bed for sleeping, it's very important." - Esme

"It's hard for me to share my bed with my mom or my dad because the blankets get stuck down and I can't get my stuffies all around up top." - Julia

Bela agreed, his horse would be very difficult to share.

The children came up with an idea of what they could say if someone wanted to share something that was really important to them and they didn't want to. How could they deliver this message with care?

"No thank you, maybe later when I want to share."

To Share Or Not To Share . . .

The children know that sharing is an act of generosity and they have some definite ideas  

regarding "the rules" of generosity . . . or do they?

I presented two puppets - the scene: they are at school and stay in at recess to help the teacher tidy the room. When they're done the teacher tells them she has a snack for them but she has to go to the office. She wants them to wait until she's gone before they eat their snack. Sofia and Simone helped the puppets lift the lids to reveal the snack and discovered that one of the plates was empty. "Oh no!" exclaimed Alfie. What should they do? Almost simultaneously Simone and Alfie said "Share!" and Sofia picked up the sandwich and quickly ripped it in half and gave one to each of the puppets.

A yummy sandwich!

Oh no! There's nothing!

They should share

I asked the children if that's what they would do and they said yes "We have to share." 

We watched a clip on Youtube called The Sharing Experiment to see an actual experiment where real children were faced with this dilemma. 

Here's the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUPzr2MGKMs

Why do we share?

Everyone agreed - because it feels good and happy and proud

Do you have to share? "Yes!"they said enthusiastically. Always? "I think so . . . "

After reading Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister we discussed how hard it was for Rainbow Fish to share   his shiny scales. Is there something you have that you wouldn't want to share?

"My stuffie dog." - Sofia

"My bunny rabbit." - Alfie

"My wings, I really like them and everyone wants them and I say no. But I only have one pair of wings and Rainbow Fish has lots of scales so he should share." - Simone

We will explore Rainbow Fish's philosophical dilemma further!

Sharing Our Talents

Sharing Our Talents is an Act of Generosity

We all have talents that we can share with others and we have experienced 

the benefits of others sharing their talents with us.

Yesterday Simone asked me "Wendy, what is your talent?" I shared the story of how growing up my mom made excellent peanut butter cookies and she shared this talent with me and I learned how to make these delicious cookies.

reading my mom's recipe

Today I showed the children how to make peanut butter cookies and they helped measure, pour, mix and roll the dough into little balls and then flatten them with a fork.  We made so many cookies that there was enough to share with all the other children - another act of generosity!

rolling balls

flattening with a fork

Leading a discussion, I asked the children about their parent's talents and if they've shown them how to do something. Here are their responses:

"My dad taught me how to ski at Whistler cabin." - Esme

"My mom showed me how to make cupcakes and cookies, that's her talent. My dad taught me how to ski at Grouse Mountain." - Simone

"My dad showed me how to make sausages and mommy showed me how to paint a picture." - Alfie

"My dad taught me how to make sprinkle cupcakes." - Sofia

"My mommy showed me how to make sugar cookies." - Bela

The children recorded this in their journals.

How Can Be Generous?

 After reviewing ways we can be generous the two that made the biggest impression 

on the children was sharing our talents and recycling 

as a way to be generous to people in the future by taking care of our earth now. 

What are your talents?

Alfie thought his talent was making crowns but after getting started he realized that he's good at decorating crowns and not making them. Simone said her talent was making paper houses and she shared her talent with us by giving us detailed how-to instructions. Sofia wanted make a paper house so she followed Simone's instructions!

Thanks for sharing your talent!

Generosity Journals: the children recorded their acts of generosity

Simone recorded her act of generosity of sharing her talent. 

Sofia decided she would recycle her containers at lunch this week.

Alfie wanted to show generosity by sharing his sea weed at lunch today

Sharing sea weed at lunch

Simone asked me "What's your talent Wendy?" and I have to be honest I was stumped and it made me wonder if we take time to recognize what we're good at. I decided that one of my talents is making cookies and I will share this talent with the kids tomorrow at group time!

New Unit: We Are Generous Beings

Central Idea:

Being generous can help us connect with one another

Generous, it's not a word the children hear often yet it's such a big part 

of how we all interact with each other. 

A pre-assessment reveals some of the children's prior knowledge:

What is generosity?

"Being friendly" - Esme

"Helping people" - Alfie

"Feeding a cat is generous" - Sofia

An Australian 8 year old girl named Penny has made several blogs on her understanding of the world, we watched her blog on generosity. Penny's ideas of what generosity is . . .

• sharing
• giving to other people
• sharing talents and time
• thinking about what others need
• praising people
• recycling is being generous to people in the future

The children discussed these ideas and we'll explore them in upcoming group times. I presented them each with a Generosity Journal which will become a regular part of group time. It will be an opportunity to tell the others of a time they were generous and to draw a picture of it.

In the beginning as they develop their awareness of their generous acts I will take pictures throughout the day  when I see someone doing something generous. You can help generate ideas too if your see you child showing generosity at home - just send me a quick description by email.