Feelings and Friendship

The Lunchers have been learning about and naming feelings in guidance.  They have helped Sammy Snail learn all about his feelings, too!

They have leaned that there are two types of feelings--Wanted (happy, confident, calm) and Unwanted (sad, worried, angry, frustrated).

The Lunchers learned a new word this week--Friendship. How feelings are handled is an important part of friendship! They are beginning to read How to Be a Friend by Laurie and Marc Brown. They discussed lots of ideas about how to be a friend.

                                              Friends help each other.

                                               Friends play fair.

                                                          Friends listen!

                                                 Friends share and take turns.

                                               Friends work out problems!

                   Friends support each other. They stick up for you! They include you in their games!

                                            Montessori is a place for friends!
Teaching social skills is both art and science. Montessori teachers and guidance counselors team up to provide lessons and practice. Lessons include developing self-awareness as well as identifying feelings in others(facial expressions, body language, "reading the scene"). Time for practicing the language of feelings is included.  We use role play, puppets, and picture books to model how to be open to the possibility of compromise and how to become a flexible thinker and problem solver. The most difficult skill for all is a life skill--the art of responsive listening! Practice makes better!