At the beginning of the year, we started discussing values with the kids. Got a great curriculum with lesson plans and worksheets called Values: for Lifelong Learners.
It's NOTHING preachy at all. The first exercise revolved around what we value in our friends - there was a list of about 21 words (great for vocab exercise) and then the kids had to vote on their top 5 and say why.
What came next surprised me. Their top 5 were:
What came next surprised me. Their top 5 were:
1. Kind and caring
2. Honest (tied with the two below)
2. Integrity
2. Hardworking
5. Tough/ strong.
Qualities like curious, articulate, talented were low on the totem pole. Energetic and ambitious were somewhere in the middle. But what gave me pause was...if Kindness and Caring are on top, then how did tough/ strong, which seemed to me like polar opposites of caring - make it so far up the list?
