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Character
Education - Caring
by
Margaret Coppin, preschool teacher
Character
education caring. I was told to use the three words together. Sounds strange,
but we preschool teachers know the importance of obedience. We know the importance
of caring, too. We teach this straightaway in preschool. Children have got to
learn to care for each other before they can spend happy time together. They have
got to learn to share toys and be kind. They have got to learn not to be mean
or insensitive. They have got to respond to other children's needs.
Character
education caring is actually the character trait of caring in different words.
It goes by the name compassion also, but as Shakespeare observed about roses,
it would be just as sweet by any other name. Caring is one of the traits that
makes any relationship sweeter. It improves relationships among children, adults,
or between children and adults. |
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I
looked up caring in a child's dictionary the other day. It was not there. I wish
it had been. I would put it there. I would use a picture of a child tenderly helping
a fallen friend brush dirt from a fresh wound. Beneath the picture, I would write,
"Caring means that I feel what you feel and I help make it better. Tyrone
is caring for Latitia." Character
education caring calls for keeping your eyes open. It calls for looking inside
others. Before you can use it, you have to know how others feel. What makes them
feel sad or happy? Once you know that, you feel the same way. Don't stop there,
though. It isn't caring yet. Compassion has to go another step. Once you empathize,
you do something to help them. That is caring.
Character
education in caring has got to start early. It has got to take place often. It
has got to be consistent. Let the teacher show compassion everyday in actions,
and teach it everyday in words. | |
