The most fundamental lesson we can teach our children at school and at home is that our actions. All of them. Have consequences. Direct and indirect.
When Tommy the 7 year old student decides that he’s not going to let Archie play today because he does not like him. It’s a time for us as adults to step in and use this moment as a time to learn.
Here’s how to structure your conversation.
“So if you don’t let him play, he will be upset. He will cry and you will feel bad for seeing the heartache you’ve caused. You don’t get upset by being around him but the cycle will continue and only get worse.”
Or he could say to Archie
“Hey I don’t like the way you treat me, it makes me feel sad, so I don’t want you to play but if you can promise to be nicer to me and I will be to you then you can play with us!”
“Which one of these scenarios would make you feel better Tommy?”
When we explain how these scenarios make us feel emotionally and socially, the child is able to tap into their emotional and conscious intelligence.
Making rational and global choices starts in the classroom and ends in Parliament House.
If only some of the world’s leaders had been educated in this way, maybe we wouldn’t be in so much trouble?
What do you think?
