The Value of Respect

There are many ways people show respect to others, and the more aware that children are of what those actions look and sound like, the more likely they are to incorporate those behaviors in their daily lives. In our Cardinal family, we have ongoing conversations on what respect looks like and sound like. We talk about the many ways we can show respect to one another and to our classroom environment by using kind words with each other, recycling materials such as paper and plastic cups, taking care of our classroom materials and by respecting the work of others.

One ongoing dilemma that the Cardinals were facing was respecting unfinished work of others. It wasn’t really their fault as they could not recognize what unfinished work was. For example, when a group of friends working in the Rock Sculpting Center got hungry for snack, they walked away from their work. When other Cardinals approached this unattended sculpture, they proceeded to knock it down. To solve this problem, the Cardinals have decided to use their name tags. When a Cardinal needs to walk away from their incomplete creation, they can place their name tag next to it to let others know that the composition is a work in process and the creators will return shortly. Wow! What a great way to honor other people and treat their work with care and courtesy.

This is just one of the many ways the Cardinals have chosen to be “bucket fillers” and not “bucket dippers.”  By now you may have heard your child talking about this concept. This idea comes from Carol McCloud’s book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

The story states that we all carry invisible buckets around with us, and they hold our good feelings in them. When someone is kind, our bucket fills with good feelings. When someone is unkind our bucket empties. When you are kind to others, you are a “bucket filler”. When you are unkind to others, you are a “bucket dipper”.

 

This book is helping the Cardinals strengthen their ability to demonstrate empathy. It is also helping us sculpt a culture of kindness in our classroom. After the read aloud, the Cardinals were asked, “How can you fill a bucket?” to which they responded:

Wyatt: “Making something nice.”

Trace: “Giving someone a book.”

Evan: “Making my dad a sculpture.”

Noel: “Soap and water.”

Young: “Fill it up with toys.”

Stella: “I like spending time with you.”

Samuel: “Find paper for someone who can’t find it.”

Audrey: “Kissing mom & dad.”

Radha: “Saying sorry and helping someone up.”

Lilly: “Give people hugs.”

Violet: “Say sorry if you hurt someone.”

Katy: “By giving them something they want.”

Kate: “To hug someone.”

Andrew: “Be nice.”

Tori: “Give them my stuffed animal for one night.”

Jayden: “To help someone find their toy when they lost it.”

This heartwarming book encourages positive behavior as children see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation, and love. Whenever a Cardinal is sad, and we say, "empty bucket alert", a classmate offers love and kindness to the person with the empty bucket. If only the adult world were so open and supportive! :-) And so we ask, “How can you fill a bucket today?” 

The Cardinals will continue to spend time learning how we can fill other peoples’ buckets and learning how to avoid dipping from them! Stay tuned ....