Kindness

Les règles de base :

Expliquer aux enfants l’importance de :
** Accepter de respecter certaines règles qui les aideront à voir la façon dont leur comportement influence celui des autres.
** Écouter les autres, jouer et travailler en coopération, respecter les différences, prendre soin les uns des autres et ne pas brimer les autres.
** Respecter les différences et les ressemblances entre les personnes.
** Identifier les différents types de taquinerie et d’intimidation et décider de ne pas s’y livrer.

Une manière efficace d’établir un climat de coopération et de respect mutuel dans la classe consiste à demander aux élèves de réfléchir ensemble à la façon de se traiter les uns les autres.
Pour qu’ils intègrent bien les règles de base et s’engagent à les respecter, vous pouvez les inscrire sur une feuille que chaque élève signera.
 
** Une seule personne parle à la fois.
** Chacun écoute avec respect la personne qui parle.
** Ne pas rabaisser les autres et les traiter de vilains noms.
** Tout le monde a le droit de rester silencieux.

Ne pas oublier de répéter ces règles à chaque fois que cela sera nécessaire.

Objectif:

Faire prendre conscience aux enfants de ce que représente la gentillesse et du bonheur que peut en retirer celui qui est gentil

Assise silencieuse :(matériel : une bougie)

Asseyez-vous confortablement, le dos bien droit, les mains posées sur les cuisses comme des petites coupelles et maintenant -- vous faîtes la respiration en trois temps comme vous avez l’habitude de le faire. Vous inspirez – une pause – vous expirez et vous recommencez, -- en faisant cela vous sentez le calme, -- la paix se répandre dans tout votre corps

Progressivement tous les muscles de votre corps, -- de vos bras et vos jambes se relâchent, se détendent.
Tout en continuant de respirer, -- vous regardez fixement la flamme de la bougie, -- maintenant vous fermez les yeux et – derrière vos paupières vous imaginez, vous pensez à cette flamme qui se trouve là -- entre vos deux yeux, cette flamme --c’est une lumière d’Amour -- qui progressivement entre dans votre tête-- elle éclaire vos yeux, qui maintenant ne verront plus que le bien, puis -- vos oreilles, qui n’entendront plus que le bien, -- votre bouche, qui ne mangera plus, que ce qui est bon pour vous -- et votre langue, qui ne dira plus que du bien.

La lumière descend et éclaire maintenant votre gorge -- puis votre poitrine, votre cœur, -- votre ventre.
Cette lumière d’Amour descend dans vos bras et vos mains --qui ne feront plus que ce qui est bien. -- Elle arrive maintenant dans vos jambes et vos pieds -- qui vous porteront vers ce qui est bien.—

Votre corps est entièrement illuminé par cette lumière d’Amour. – Progressivement -- elle rayonne autour de vous et la lumière d‘Amour entoure maintenant vos parents, --vos frères et sœurs, -- toute votre famille, -- vos amis, -- l’endroit où vous habitez, -- les peuples du monde entier, -- tous les animaux, -- toutes les plantes, les fleurs, les arbres.

Sentez que,-- plus le rayonnement de la lumière d’Amour augmente autour de vous, -- plus le courant d’Amour, qui traverse votre cœur devient fort, -- sentez bien cela.--

Pour pouvoir bien aimer les autres -- il faut d’abord bien s’aimer soi-même, pour cela -- mettez les bras autour de vous et dîtes-vous : « comme je m’aime ! » et ressentez bien cela. — --

-- Lorsque j’aurai compté, vous ouvrirez les yeux, vous ferez un sourire à chaque personne qui vous entoure et vous lui direz : « Sois Bienvenu, aujourd’hui nous sommes le (dire la date). »
1 ,-- 2 , -- 3 .

Citation :

« Aucun acte de gentillesse, même petit, n'est jamais perdu. »
                                      Socrate

« Les mots gentils ne coûtent pas cher. Pourtant, ils accomplissent beaucoup de choses. »
                           Blaise Pascal

La gentillesse, c'est l'art de plaire, sans prétention ni coquetterie, c'est le naturel joint à l'agrément, l'enjouement dans le tact, la fraîcheur dans la grâce.

                      Henri Frédéric Amiel

STORY

Miss Partridge's Secret Sadness

Jayshree and Marino were very good friends. They had spotted each other on their very first day at primary school, when they were still very small. Marino had lent Jayshree a purple pencil to colour in a flower on her picture when no one in the class would share. Marino was planning to use it in her own picture, but she wanted very much to be Jayshree's friend so she went up to her, even though she was shy, and said, "You can use my purple pencil if you like." Jayshree understood that this was not just a pencil that was being offered - it was a gift of friendship too. She gratefully accepted and the two girls became inseparable.
Jayshree and Marino sat next to each other in every class. If Jayshree arrived in the classroom first she would save a seat for Marino. If someone else tried to sit there, she would push them away, saying, "That's Marino's seat!" Marino would do the same for Jayshree.

When pens or scissors or coloured paper were given out by the teacher, Marino would make sure that she got two of the best of everything, one for herself and one for Jayshree. Jayshree would do the same for Marino.

When it was lunchtime, the two girls sat together and ate their packed lunches. Jayshree would give Marino some of her orange and some of her chocolate biscuit and Marino would give Jayshree some of her crisps and some of her banana. No one else was allowed anything of anything.

Jayshree and Marino were quite happy together. As long as neither of them was away sick from school, they didn't need anyone else. They didn't even like anyone else very much, at least, not as much as they liked each other. In fact, some of the other children they found quite annoying and stupid and they used to laugh about them. One little boy in particular used to really get on their nerves. His name was Adam. He never seemed to know the right answers to any questions that the teacher asked, although he often thought he did and would put his hand up and say something which was altogether wrong. Sometimes he would ask questions that seemed to be about something totally different to the topic under discussion. All this used to make Jayshree and Marino roll their eyes and giggle. Sometimes they used to laugh loudly, just so that Adam would know that they thought he was stupid.

One day a new teacher arrived in school. Although she was quite strict and serious in class, she had a softness and a kindness about her that the children could sense, and they all liked her for it. Everyone wanted her to notice them and like them the most. But Miss Partridge seemed to love everyone equally. Even when she was cross with someone's behaviour, it didn't seem to change the fact that she cared about that person and their well-being.

Jayshree and Marino liked Miss Partridge very much. They talked about her all the time and tried to do nice things for her. They offered to give her some of the best bits of their packed lunches but she always thanked them sweetly and declined.

One rainy break-time they spent the whole half hour drawing a picture of her together. At the top of the picture Jayshree wrote in her best handwriting, "We love you, Miss Partridge." At the bottom, Marino wrote as neatly as she could, "You are very kind."

They were very excited to give Miss Partridge their picture, as they were sure she would be extremely pleased. At the start of the next lesson Jayshree and Marino were waiting outside the classroom door to make their presentation before Miss Partridge could even enter the room. She took the picture, looked at it and smiled at the two artists who had created it. "That's lovely, girls, thank you. It's certainly true that kindness opens the doors of other people's hearts. Now take your seats quickly or we'll be starting the lesson late."

Jayshree and Marino were pleased that Miss Partridge liked their picture but they also felt a little disappointed that she hadn't been more overcome by their generous act, and that she had placed it carefully in the drawer of her desk instead of showing it to the whole class and pinning it on the wall as they had hoped.
The next day was sunny and Miss Partridge was in the play ground at lunch time watching over the children as they played. Jayshree and Marino were excited because it meant they could spend a long time talking to her. They liked to try to find out things about her personal life, such as how old she was and if she had a boyfriend. Although it was wonderful chatting to her, somehow, Miss Partridge always seemed to manage not to tell them any real information, no matter how hard they tried to wheedle it out of her.

After a short while, Adam came up to speak to Miss Partridge too. He also liked to talk to her because she didn't seem to think he was stupid like some other people did. On the contrary, she appeared to think that his many questions were the sign of an inquisitive and creative mind. She would tell him, "You've got a powerful imagination, Adam. That's a wonderful thing to have."

Jayshree and Marino were irritated that Adam was there as they wanted Miss Partridge all to themselves.

"What do you want?" asked Marino in an unkind voice.
Adam took no notice. "Miss Partridge, will it rain tomorrow?" he asked.

Jayshree made a loud squirting noise, as if she just couldn't help herself from laughing at such a stupid question.
"I don't know, Adam." said Miss Partridge. "Why do you ask?"

"If it rained every day for a year, would the water come up to the windows? Would everyone have to ride around in boats instead of cars?"
Jayshree and Marino couldn't contain themselves. They laughed as if they were going to split into two. They wanted Miss Partridge to laugh with them, but she was just looking at them as if she couldn't understand the joke.

"Yes, Adam," said Miss Partridge. "If the rain was heavy there probably would be a flood and the water would come up very high, perhaps even higher than the windows, and the cars would probably be submerged and we wouldn't be able to use them. Life would be very difficult and the farmers wouldn't be able to grow their crops."

Jayshree and Marino had stopped laughing now.
"However I don't think that's going to happen. The nature of weather is that it keeps changing, so it couldn't really rain for a whole year."

Adam nodded sagely and went away to think about this information by himself.
Miss Partridge watched him go. "Can I tell you a secret, girls?" she asked after a while.

"Oh yes please!" Jayshree and Marino were very keen to hear Miss Partridge's secret.
"Most of the time I'm a very happy person," she began in a whisper. "Seeing all you lovely children every day gives me a lot of joy. But sometimes I feel very sad. I have a secret sadness."

"What is it?" whispered Jayshree.
"Can we help?" asked Marino.

"Yes, I think maybe you can. Whenever I see a child that is upset or lonely it makes me feel very sad. I don't show it, but inside I want to cry. Whenever I see someone being mean to someone else it makes me feel so unhappy. When I get to feeling this way the only thing that makes me feel happy again is to see an act of kindness. Unless someone is kind to the hurt child and makes them feel better again, I can't stop feeling sad."

Miss Partridge paused. Jayshree and Marino thought about what she had said. They realised that perhaps they had been unwittingly contributing to Miss Partridge's secret sadness, even though they had been trying so hard to make her feel happy so that she would love them. They thought about how many times they had been mean to Adam and to other children, and they started to regret it very much. They decided then and there to try to make Miss Partridge happy from now on by always being nice to others - at least while she was watching.

"Do you think you can help me?" asked Miss Partridge, looking at each of them in turn.
"Yes" said Jayshree.
"Yes" said Marino. "We'll be kind to people that are upset so that you can feel happy again."

"Oh thank you so much!" said Miss Partridge. "But please remember, this is our secret. I'm relying on you to keep it just between us three."
"You can rely on us!" said Marino with conviction.

"It's our secret!" agreed Jayshree.
"Why don't you go and give Adam that sweet that you offered me a moment ago, Marino?" suggested Miss Partridge.

Marino hesitated for just a moment before agreeing. She went up to Adam and said, "Would you like a sweet? I don't want this one."
Adam looked at her with surprise and then suspicion. It had to be a trick. "What's wrong with it?"

Marino felt like saying "Forget it!" and marching off. But a quick glance at Miss Partridge strengthened her resolve. She had a big secret to keep and she was determined to live up to the responsibility. "There's nothing wrong with it. I just felt bad for laughing at your question. It wasn't a stupid question really."

"Thanks, Marino." Adam took the sweet and smiled at her. For once, Marino didn't find him annoying. He actually seemed quite likeable. "Here, I'd like you to have this," said Adam. He pulled from his pocket a shiny round sticker with a smiley face on it. "Because you made me smile." Marino felt happy inside.
After that day, Jayshree and Marino didn't laugh at Adam or anyone else when they got answers wrong or asked a silly question. They no longer pushed people out of chairs, and if someone said something nasty about a classmate, they would try to think of something nice to say to make that person feel better again so that Miss Partridge wouldn't feel sad. Miss Partridge used to give them a secret wink to show them that they had made her happy. This made them feel very proud and warm inside.

At first they saved all their kind acts for when Miss Partridge was watching. But after a while they found that other people became used to their kindness and behaved differently towards them. People offered them things and said nice things to them. Besides, they found that it felt really nice to be kind, and made them feel happy on the inside. They started to understand what Miss Partridge had meant about feeling sad when someone else was unhappy, and they didn't like to feel that way either. Before long, it was no longer Miss Partridge's secret sadness that made them kind, it was their own secret happiness.

Questions:

1. Were Jayshree and Marino kind people at the beginning of the story?
2. Do you think they were happier at the beginning of the story or at the end of the story?
3. How did they change?
4. How did you feel when you listened to the story?
5. Do you think it's better to have one really good friend or to try to be friends with everyone, or both? Why?
6. Does being kind make you feel happy or sad?

Chant:

L’Amour

L’Amour plus on en donne, plus il y en a ;
L’Amour plus il est partagé, plus il y a de joie.
L’Amour qui brille en nous, illumine le monde.
Tra la la la laire, tra la la la la

L’Amour pour tout le monde, tous sont les Bienvenus.
Tra la la la laire, tra la la la la

L’Amour en moi me donne la Compassion,
Pour aider à soulager la souffrance.
Tra la la la laire, tra la la la la
 
L’Amour pour tout le monde, tous sont les Bienvenus.
Tra la la la laire, tra la la la la

L’Amour en moi me donne la force de pardonner,
Et le pardon me rend libre et léger.
Tra la la la laire, tra la la la la

L’Amour en moi me donne la gentillesse,
Et la gentillesse me rend heureux intérieurement.
Tra la la la laire, tra la la la la

L’Amour pour tout le monde, tous sont les Bienvenus.
Tra la la la laire, tra la la la la

Group activity :

Search synonyms for kindness:
kindly affability • • • thoughtfulness kindness courtesy • • • polite civility amenity • • • delicacy • natured kindness • goodness • • • easy familiarity smooth simplicity • • • charity selfless altruism • • benignity

and from these synonyms children can try to compose a crossword, see article:

http://www.cri-evh.com/articles.php?lng=en&pg=1092