This last full month of May, The Country School will be learning about the value of moral courage through discussions, role-playing, creative writing, and other various activities. We will be learning about courage at school and in social situations. We’ll emphasize the courage it takes to say, “no” and how to resist peer pressure. Through class discussions and role-playing, we will practice handling a variety of situations. Classes will continue to study the lives of famous men and women who have displayed great courage in their lives.
Whenever possible, take time to talk to your child about moral courage. Discuss incidents from your own childhood involving courage. Talk about hard decisions you have made in your life and the courage it took on your part. Describe how you felt and how you might have handled things differently. Talk about your heros and why you admire them. Talking about your own experiences and feelings will help your child talk more easily about his or her feelings.
Do your children believe courage is something that only heroes or storybook characters have? They are probably courageous in many situations and don’t know it. The key lies in how accessible courage and moral courage really are to everyone. If you wait around to feel comfortable and fearless to do something you really don’t like, then you’re never going to do it. Period. Having courage means taking action while feeling the fear anyway. Courage itself isn’t so much a feeling, but a decisive state of mind.
When your child stands up to someone picking on a younger kid or calling someone a name, that’s courage. When your child is afraid of getting up in front of class to show their project, but they do it anyway, that’s courage. When your child tries a new sport or after-school activity and they don’t give up after failures, that’s courage. Do you think your kids know how courageous they are every day?
As kids gain an awareness of others' perspectives and a sense of right and wrong, they build the foundation of moral courage--the drive to do the right thing despite fear of negative consequences.
How to Help: Praise your child when he returns a toy he’s found to its rightful owner or picks an unpopular child to play in a pick-up game of baseball. Role-play what to do if she sees another child being teased or bullied. Practice some scenarios that might arise if your child is pressured by friends to do something he feels is wrong.
Thank you for being our partner in helping teach your child about the value of moral courage. |