The Peaceful Classroom: 162 Easy Activities to Teach Preschoolers Compassion and Cooperation [Paperback]

Charles Smith Ph.D (Author), Nancy Downing (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1993

Ways to teach preschoolers cooperation, problem-solving, and compassion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . .162 developmentally-appropriate classroom activities for preschoolers to teach young children the skills to live peaceably and productively. By introducing children to these structured activities within their more spontaneous free-play learning environment, teachers can encourage the development of such life skills as friendship, compassion, cooperation and kindness. The activities in The Peaceful Classroom are organized developmentally by age and complexity and include parent involvement through sample letters to parents and suggestions for parents to extend their children's classroom learning experiences to the home. -- Early Childhood Consultant, Bookmark, Dec./Jan. 1995

This book is a potpourri of early childhood activities which teach students the skills that enable them to live more peacefully with others. Each idea includes a brief summary, a minimum age suggestion, "What to do," extension ideas, ways to involve parents, vocabulary, and a supply list. To help teachers locate appropriate activities, the book is divided into four chapters: Friendship, Compassion, Cooperation, and Kindness. Teachers need to put the activities into a peacemaking context so that students don't just see them as "nice games to play." -- Director of Curriculum, newsletter: Dapei Hahodesh, Department of Curriculum

From the Back Cover

Cooperation and compassion promote friendship and respect for others. They are life skills every child needs.

The activities in The Peaceful Classroom help teachers encourage teamwork, sharing and understanding. The activities are organized by age and skill for easy use, and teachers learn how to work with parents to extend the learning experience at home.

Here are some of the skills and qualities children will learn:

Cooperation
Gentleness
Recognition of Emotions
Problem Solving
Consideration of Others
Generosity
Helping

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Gryphon House (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876591659
• ISBN-13: 978-0876591659
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a former play therapist, preschool teacher, and center director (at Texas Tech University). For the last thirty years I have been an Extension Specialist in the School of Family Studies and Human Services that focuses on parenting. I am also the grandfather of two lovely granddaughters. For more information about my work, visit my YouTube site at http://www.youtube.com/user/casmith46 and my WonderWise Parent website at http://www.ksu.edu/wwparent/.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!!, September 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Peaceful Classroom: 162 Easy Activities to Teach Preschoolers Compassion and Cooperation (Paperback)

I love this book!! It has lots of activities that are easy, fun, different and productive. It's well organized. And most importantly, the effect is to provide a "peaceful classroom" which will hopefully provide a more peaceful world in the future.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This really works!, October 15, 2010

By 

S. Lal - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Peaceful Classroom: 162 Easy Activities to Teach Preschoolers Compassion and Cooperation (Paperback)

I used these techniques while teaching elementary school and they work! Any time the students in my class got into an argument, we stopped and did what is suggested in The Peaceful Classroom book. I found that it helped my students learn to feel and empathize with others and develop a healthy sense of compassion. My classroom was known as the Peaceful Classroom!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peace in the classroom, February 25, 2009

By 

Andrew Finch "alwaysnow" (Daegu, Buk-ku Korea, Republic of) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Peaceful Classroom: 162 Easy Activities to Teach Preschoolers Compassion and Cooperation (Paperback)

It's not just financiers and politicians who need to have a moral basis for their actions. Teachers can also contribute meaningfully to society by helping their students to develop skills that enable them to be responsible and creative citizens. In this very welcome book for pre-schoolers, therefore, the author (who is professor of Human Development at Kansas State University in Manhattan) focuses on friendship skills, compassion skills, cooperation skills, and kindness skills. These quantitatively un-measurable factors have largely been left behind in the testing frenzy that is taking over education. But as Einstein tells us, "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." Having said this, it's great to see a book that is so practical, with so many wonderful examples of how to promote a non-threatening learning and living environment, through simple, peaceful learning activities. If we want to change society, then the classroom is a very good place to start, and being friendly, compassionate, cooperative, and kind, do not exclude students from passing exams. Rather, they make for better future professionals and human beings. Surely, this is the role of the teacher.