Patience, an important character trait, but not always an easy one. Patience in preschool can be hard, especially when you want something right now. We are always practicing patience in our classroom. Whether they are waiting for their turn to play with a toy that they want, waiting to go down the slide, or waiting for their turn at the art table we are constantly practicing patience.
This post contains affiliate links.
As adults we know that patience can be hard, especially when you are excited for something. Imagine having to wait as a preschooler, and not totally understanding why you have to wait.
Each month in our Experience Preschool box we get a new Forest Friends book, with a lesson about the character trait of the month. During our Orchard Harvest unit we are learning about patience. These books that we get each month are a great way to learn about the character trait. Our story this month is called Bear Waits.
When I asked my preschoolers during circle time what it means to be patient most said that it meant to wait. Knowing that it means to wait they had a pretty solid understanding of what patience means. Now I wanted them to think about a time where they had to wait for something. I asked them about a time where it was really hard to wait for something. Were they so excited for something, that it made it extra hard to wait for it? Why is it important to wait? What can we do to help pass the time as we wait?
During the story Bear woke up hungry. When he tried to reach an apple from the tree he couldn't because they were up too high. He sat down feeling sad, when he looked down and noticed Inchworm waiting patiently for an apple to drop so he could eat it. Bunny was also waiting for an apple to drop, so Bear decided to wait with the both of them. A strong gust of wind finally blew through, knocking down apples from the tree. The three of them were happy they were patient, and enjoyed their apples.
After reading the story I ask them questions.
- "What was Bear waiting for?"
- "Did Bear get mad that he couldn't reach an apple?"
- "What finally knocked the apples down?"
Asking your preschoolers a few simple questions about the story will let you know if they comprehended it. I want them to understand the story before we move onto the activity that goes along with it.
Once we finished talking about Bear Waits we moved on to our lesson that goes along with the story, a Listen and Draw activity. I asked them to think about a time that they had to patiently wait for something and to draw me a picture of it. Afterwards I had them tell me about their picture and wrote down what they had to say.
I like to save these for their portfolios. They cut out their character puppet from the story to take home and enjoyed playing with these during class.
I love the character trait lessons that we get with the Experience Early Learning Curriculum. Books are a great way to further their understanding of different character traits as they begin or continue to develop them.
Komentar