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

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

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

Product Description
Through these engaging group activities children learn to find friends, cooperate with others, and respect each other's feelings and differences

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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 (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,254 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars refreshing!, September 24, 2005

By	J. Price - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am greatly impressed with this resourceful book. There are numerous games and ideas for any teacher to use and even extend on. The thought put into this book is tremendous and I recommend any pre-school teacher to have this as part of their classroom. The very first game we played with my 3 to 6 year old group was well recieved and the children look forward to the co-operative games we play. Every child is boosted in their self esteem through fun and laughter. Thank you.

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 (REAL NAME)

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.