- Using manners
- Making eye contact
- Sharing
- Respecting personal space
- Following instructions
- Listening
- Cooperating
Each of these skills is a big topic within itself, so for the purpose of this article, I will focus on one of them and share how we used it in a Shine Circle lesson here at Shelanti Remedial School.
Sharing
We started our lesson with me presenting one banana to a group of 4 learners. I then asked them who would like to eat this banana? At least 3 of them were keen on eating the banana. I then posed the obvious issue, that we have only one banana. What should we do? This was a bright bunch and they fairly quickly suggested we share the banana into equal pieces!
We then had a conversation around the benefits of sharing the banana specifically – no one was let down etc.
I then moved the conversation to share something that belongs to them. Sharing the banana was easy, as it wasn’t theirs to start with. What if it is their favourite toy or new crayon set? This did get them talking with a bit more serious about how hard it can be to share sometimes.
We ended our lesson with a clip-on on how the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street learns a valuable lesson on sharing!
What are the benefits of “good” sharing skills? (Here are just a few of many!)
- It enables children to make and keep strong friendships.
- Sharing makes them feel good about themselves.
- It teaches children about fairness and compromise.
- It teaches them good negotiating and turn-taking skills.
Some tips for encouraging sharing in your child:
- Model turn-taking skills as much as possible. With your child, as well as with other adults in your child’s presence.
- Don’t punish your child for not sharing. Empathise with your child that you understand how hard it is to “give up” something and then encourage turn-taking. Your young child still needs to learn that giving something up for a period of time that belongs to them, does not mean they will not get it back.
- Praise your child when you see them sharing!
