An Introduction to
Peace Works
The basis for a peaceful world is children who cooperate, solve problems constructively, and respect all living things.
www.peace-ed.org
Click on the images below to explore how Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids introduces focus one to young children ages 3-5. The program for pre-kindergarten/kindergarten students builds on concepts from Creating Caring Children by implementing scripted lessons that help foster competencies required for effective conflict resolution skills. Parents can actively participate in the lessons alongside their children and learn the I-Care rules to continue fostering at home.
Click on the images below to explore how Creating Caring Children suggests teaching young children how to recognize and manage frustration. Implementing this resource in Strong Start Learning Centres where parents are active participants allows educators to model explicit, key language appropriate for dealing with common behaviors. Mock situations in the book provide caregivers and early childhood professionals with common adult responses to challenging behaviors and offer more appropriate, conscious responses that consider the natural development of the child. The authors offer readers reasons for responding in caring ways, the conceptual framework from a child's point of view and how this relates to typical development, and further skills to promote conscious everyday responses. Promoting this resource in a parent participation learning centre allows early childhood professionals to support parents and caregivers in nurturing socially and emotionally healthy children.
Let's explore sample lessons
Creating Caring Children and Peacemaking Skills for LIttle Kids are grounded in the Social Learning Theory
Creating Caring Children and Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids are both framed and grounded in the social learning theory where modeled behavior is learned when taught and encouraged. Albert Bandura's (1971) study on observation learning concluded that "most of the behaviors that people display are learned, either deliberately or inadvertently, through the influence of example" (p. 5)
The following short video captures the influence of modeled behaviors that children are exposed to in their everyday lives:
Creating Caring Children
Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids: PreK/K
A Shared Learning Experience: Coaching, Modelling, and Encouraging
The introduction of Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids PreK/K emphasizes the role of a nurturing classroom environment that fosters new skill development, positive language, and prosocial behavior. A recent project highlights how educators can prompt children to include language and actions used in the program throughout the day.
Discussion Questions from Lesson One: What is peace? What is a peacemaker? What are some of the things that I-Care-Cat cares about? What do you care about?
Some Kindergarten students chose to use this discussion prompt as a focus during a visual arts and literacy project. The learning intention was to create 6-10 stones that together and / or separately told a story. After brainstorming some simple objects, a student asked if he could create a heart because it represented love, peace, and friendship. This inspired reflection on the above questions, sparking further ideas that represented peace.
Students considered the concept of peace and reflected on what they cared about as they shared ideas with peers and engaged in conversations with the teacher. The teacher wrote the words "peace" and "caring" on the board to prompt continuous reflection.
Ideas included:
"A heart because my family fills it up" - Ava
"An umbrella because I love jumping in puddles." - Max
"Peace feels like a warm camp fire and marshmallows and smores." - Nicolas
"I care about my nana and papa and send them mail so they know." - Draeko
"My home is love." - Maddy
As the children shared their ideas, the teacher asked questions, prompting them to make further connections with Lesson One from Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids. At one point a student grabbed the book What Does Peace Feel Like? by Vladimir Radunsky and the class took a break from their project to read the story.
The resources Creating Caring Children and Peacemaking Skills for LIttle Kids serve as a springboard for many meaningful lessons throughout the day that reflect the ever changing needs of diverse learners. The Kindergarten teacher in the example above commented that the Peace Works program sparked continuous reflection of how to promote conflict resolution skills and a sense of community amongst her young learners. The program provided her with the right tools and language to continue the learning throughout the day.