Most of my days have been spent teaching or playing with toddlers in the PlaySchool. We developed a series called “Be Kind” and we teach many ways you can be kind: to your body (hygiene), to your friends (anti-bullying), to your family (parents and siblings), to the earth (need I explain?), to people who are different (skin colors, social class, disabilities – there is actually a boy with Down’s Syndrome in the class and he has quickly become one of my favorites. He simply wants to hold my hand during class.), and a few others.
The one I am teaching is Be kind to Yourself. Which is something I’m honestly still learning myself.
My vocabulary words are Beautiful, Important, Smart, and Thought.
We are teaching kindergarten here at the local private school that some of our kids attend. But we also teach these same lessons to the kids on the compound who live in the children’s village as half of them go to school in the morning and the other half in the afternoon — the local elementary school is too small to accommodate all the kids at one time so they split them up.
I chose these words because I want these to be the words that come to mind when they think of themselves.
That they are beautiful – not simply in looks though that is the case for the majority of them – but beautiful in their soul.
Important like water, food and shelter because they are their country’s future and the choices they make will affect all those who come after them.
Smart because there is no one way to be smart. Some may be “book smart,” but others know animals, still others know farming, mechanics, plumbing, people, the list is endless and simply knowing one of these makes them smart. I want them to know that even if English is hard for them, they are still smart.
And lastly Thought. Sometimes the thoughts we have in our head are more dangerous than anything we say or do. They can lead us to the brightest of futures or the darkest. What you believe about yourself is really the only thing that matters. If you believe you can do great things, you will. If you believe the lies others tell you, you’ll become what they’ve told you to be.
I encourage each one of you reading this blog to believe and think the best of yourself. If you are 7 or 70, you can still do great things.
You are Smart. You are Kind. You are Beautiful and You are Important!
