May 3, 2012
On Monday afternoon, after our students left for the day, I sat down at my desk to read a newsletter titled, excellence & ethics. The article that most interested me was one that listed 20 things schools can do to promote kindness and prevent bullying. While this article was well written and useful to us as a school, I found another article in this newsletter that I would like to share with you.
Dr. Michele Borba is the parenting expert on NBC’s “Today” show and was the author of the article I am referring to.
She begins her article by answering the question, “What are three things parents can do to raise kids who are kind?”
- Consciously model kind behavior. Whenever you do a kind act, tell your child how good it makes you feel.
- Be explicit about your expectations: “Unkindness is hurtful. I expect you to treat everyone kindly.”
- Look for opportunities for your child to be kind and then acknowledge it: “That was a very kind thing to do.”
I share this with you as we continue our work together. By combining your effort at home with our effort here at school, we maximize the opportunities to create a culture of character!
Thank you,
Tony Reimers
PreK-8 Director
