COOPERATION: Working
together to do more than you can do alone
Activities
children engage in while growing up can prepare them to effectively work with
others. How can we help kids see the importance of cooperation and begin to
build a solid base for working with others? Children need to know that:
Individuality and cooperation go
hand in hand. As important as it is to help children understand their
unique talents and personalities, it is just as important to help them see how
their uniqueness can complement others to accomplish more. Children need to see
that cooperating with others confirms their individual worth and acknowledges
the benefits of working toward a shared purpose.
Cooperation turns individual
discouragement into shared success.
Realistically viewing a difficult
situation or task can be very discouraging. The issue is not the analysis of
the problem but the emotional response. Teaming up to tackle a task breaks what
appears to be an overwhelming chore into achievable pieces. Children need to
see that working cooperatively overcomes discouragement and multiplies the
feeling of success.
Recognizing personal limits
encourages cooperation. Learning to become a confident individual is important. But
even the most self-assured cannot do everything. Perhaps a benefit of difficult
situations is that our personal limits are defined for us. Though such
discoveries are somewhat uncomfortable, these times help us see where
cooperation makes seemingly impossible tasks possible.
CATCH YOUR
CHILD showing cooperation
Core
Essentials believes that a key way to help your child internalize the character
values being taught is to “catch” them demonstrating the value. Here are a few
suggestions on how you can catch your child, and let him or her know you see
them showing cooperation.
•
Note when your child works well with others, during playtime or doing chores.
•
Notice when your child works cooperatively with younger or older children.
•
Catch your child working together with other kids or coaches to put things back
in their place.
These are just a few
ways you can catch your child showing cooperation. The Core Essentials Program believes it
takes an INWARD attitude to influence OUTWARD behavior. The Program is based on
aligning the home and school to teach character.
If you do catch your
child cooperating, we would love to hear about it. Tell us what your child did
in a note sent into the school, or an e-mail sent directly to his or her teacher.
© 2009 Core Essentials, Inc. All rights reserved.
www.coreessentials.org.