ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Because sometimes you just can’t have too many quotes from Fred Rogers:

“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem. Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.”

AND - “The world needs a sense of worth, and it will achieve it only by its people feeling that they are worthwhile.”

Mirroring thoughts from Rogers, Ruth Wilson, in an article that creates the foundation for an Out of the Box Training Kit tells the story of a teacher-child interaction that, unfortunately, and no doubt unintentionally did not guard a child’s sense of being worthwhile:

“Mia, an early childhood teacher, brought flowers from her yard into the classroom for the children to enjoy. She had arranged them carefully in one of her favorite vases and had placed it on a shelf near the art area. Four-year-old Toni walked over to the flowers and started to pinch off some of the blossoms. She carefully cupped them in her hands and carried them over to the table where she had been trying to make a crown. Toni's cousin had been a flower girl in a wedding over the weekend and wore a flower crown. Toni wanted to make a crown of her own. She glued the blossoms to a strip of cardstock. Pleased with the way this was working, Toni went back to the vase to get more ­blossoms. Mia looked up just then, walked over quickly, and told Toni to stop. "You may not pick those ­flowers," said Mia. "They're not just for you; they're for everyone. Look, you've already spoiled the bouquet." Toni walked back to the table where she had been working, picked up her unfinished crown, and threw it in a trash can. She spent the rest of the day waiting for her mother...”

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