|
THE TEA TIMES NEWSLETTER: September is National Courtesy Month
|
The Tea Party Company
|
Aug 16, 2004 15:54 PDT
|
IN THIS ISSUE:
SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL COURTESY MONTH
UPDATES TO OUR WEBSITE: WWW.MANNERSFORKIDS.COM
OLYMPIC LEARNING LINKS
UPCOMING TRAINING EVENT FOR EDUCATORS
===========================================
“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never
lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness
gathers love.” St. Basil
“Courteous men learn so from the discourteous.” Persian Proverb
“Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.” Eric Hoffer
-------------------------------------------------------
SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL COURTESY MONTH
MANNERS, MANNERS, MANNERS–Recently, we’ve heard a lot about our
society’s need to return to a time when we treated one another with
civility and respect. Considering our society’s past treatment of
women, Native Americans, people of color, and children, it leaves one to
wonder....when exactly was that time in history?
It’s obvious to anyone, of course, that our lifestyles have changed and
as a result, the forums at which we once practiced communicating
compassionately with others have disappeared. The family dinner table,
for instance, was once the proving ground at which children learned not
only table etiquette but also the art of conversation, compassion, and
other essential life skills. Our busy schedules have replaced the
dinner table with soccer practice, tutoring, or music lessons. But
rather than lament and long for those ‘good old days’, we look for a
replacement forum–a more contemporary time and place that our modern
children can learn these things.
As a result, many organizations have sprung up in recent years with
programs which promise to turn even the most rambunctious toddlers to
teens into polite children...with just a few manners classes at the
local community center! As an educator and parent myself, it is my
belief that the answer to our society’s obvious need for improved social
skills is far more complex than that. Our collective goal should be
broader...what we call a ‘Culture of Courtesy’. To successfully
accomplish this type of radical change across an entire culture, manners
and etiquette classes are only a very small portion of the solution. In
fact, we consider our own manners and etiquette courses as well as the
curriculum for schools to be a ‘finishing touch’ to complement and
complete existing Character Education initiatives. To paraphrase an
educator whom I greatly admire, Dr. Marvin Berkowitz, Professor for
Character Education, UM-St. Louis: Character Education is not an easy
thing. If this were easy, everyone would be doing it and would have
been doing it successfully for a long time.
What we often fail to remember is that the traits known as ‘good
manners’ refer to some very specific behaviors, skills, and values and
children must have direct instruction in these just as in other things.
While we feel entirely justified saying “mind your manners” to our
children, we wouldn’t consider saying “here, ride this bicycle” without
some focused direct instruction first. If we’re serious about changing
the character of our nation, we must provide children with far more
opportunities to learn what specifically we want.
Most existing Character Education curriculum programs are very
values-based...and this is a good thing! But we cannot just assume that
children and students, even those who have been sufficiently exposed to
civic-mindedness and morality are able to connect the philosophy of
compassion into the interactions that they have with others. Rather,
we must provide them with very explicit instruction, modeling, and
regular opportunities to practice. But where to begin?
Our ‘Courtesy Starter Kit’ is a great starting point for parents and
teachers who are looking for a short list of small, measurable goals
that are universally expected among courteous school-aged children.
Consider addressing one or two of them at a time with your children or
students or use it as a checklist to assess their current PQ (Polite
Quotient). The full list, as well as other free resources, is available
exclusively at our website, www.mannersforkids.com:
AT THE TABLE:
-Napkins on lap
-Wait until everyone is served to begin eating/excuse themselves when
finished
-Food in their mouths is rarely seen/heard
AT HOME:
-Respect for other people's belongings
-Kind language (uses 'May I', 'Excuse Me', 'Thank You' etc.)
-Telephone used according to family's standard
OUT AND ABOUT:
-Conversations, introductions, and small talk are friendly, not mumbled
or silly
-No nosy-rosies (inappropriate questions or comments "This sure is a
messy house!")
-Avoids interrupting conversations (there’s a difference between 'I need
you' and 'I want you')
Even more resources are available at
http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/manners.php
-------------------------------------------------------
UPDATES ABOUND AT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.MANNERSFORKIDS.COM
The response has been overwhelmingly positive to the many new features
to our website including the photo contest (still plenty of time to
enter)! Do you enjoy sharing with others? Looking to network with
fellow parents and educators who are interested in Cultivating a Culture
of Courtesy? Join our online message groups by clicking the link at our
website.
-------------------------------------------------------
HEAR THE BREAKOUT SESSION PRESENTED BY CYNDEE HARRISON on your computer!
Available at www.csd.org!
-------------------------------------------------------
ENJOY THE OLYMPICS EVEN MORE!
Without a doubt, one of the most exciting and rewarding periods of time
that I ever experienced as a teacher was during the months preceding the
1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Since our little hometown was only about
25 miles away from the city, many of our students would later be able to
attend events in person and nearly all of them were a part of the city’s
spirit of celebration. As we anticipated the games together, I found
that with very little effort I was able to find connections with every
subject matter and the children just devoured every snippet of trivia
that I could deliver to them which related to the games.
In the years since the Atlanta games, the Internet has grown
tremendously and like many of you, I’ve come to rely heavily upon this
communication medium for teaching resources. Rather than searching
endlessly for websites that provide teaching tools, I usually rely on my
friends at The Educator’s Network to find the best ones and list them in
convenient and easy-to-find web pages such as the outstanding job
they’ve done at:
http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/summerolympics.php
------------------------------------------------
We’re still holding a spot for you at our upcoming day-long Professional
Development training event in St. Louis! Register online at
www.mannersforkids.com. Coming this fall to Baltimore and Orlando!
-------------------------------------------------
The mission of The Tea Party Company is to Cultivate a Culture of
Courtesy. Our approach to this goal is three-fold. First, we will
facilitate social events including hosted tea parties, parent-and-child
dinner parties, and sponsorship of a nationwide tea society. Secondly,
we will provide direct instruction to children in the behaviors, skills,
and values of good manners. Finally, we will complement and complete
existing Character Education initiatives in schools by providing
educators with effective teaching tools for bringing manners into the
mainstream.
--------------------------------------------------
LOOKING AHEAD: NATIONAL CHARACTER COUNTS! WEEK OCTOBER 17-23, 2004.
VISIT WWW.CHARACTERCOUNTS.ORG FOR IDEAS TO CELEBRATE!
|
|
 |
|
