A Story Book and Exercises to help kids THINK about Self awareness and Acceptance of others.

Excerpt from Beyond Potential STORY BOOK: “I Have Toes!”

(By Janet Knight & Illustrated by Danielle Schwartz)

Look! I have toes,

Five on each foot

In two little rows.

One, two, three, four, five.

Six seven, eight, nine, ten!

Ten little toes

Toes in rows!

I have a nose,

you have a nose,

His nose looks like

a big red rose!

What does he do with a

rosy nose?

Sniff, sniff.

Of course!

Smell the rose I suppose!

All people have knees…

Thin knees, fat knees,

smooth knees, knobby knees.

You have knees that look like trees!

Are your knees trees?

Look! She has a belly.

You have a belly.

He has a belly that

shakes like jelly!

Hey mister!

Is your belly jelly?

 

His hair is long.

My hair is curly.

Your hair is straight,

Her hair is whirly.

Long…. Curly…Straight…. Whirly!

Hand, wrist, elbow, shin.

Thumb, finger, shoulder, chin.

Teeth, tongue, eyes, grin.

This is my shin…

And my chin… 

….and my grin!

(More verses and pictures - all about self awareness - are to be found in the rest of this Beyond Potential Story Book.)

ENRICHMENT EXERCISES:”I Have Toes!”

THEME ~ “ME”

VALUES ~ SELF AWARENESS & ACCEPTANCE OF OTHERS

1. Self-concept: One of the first steps in healthy emotional development is for your child to develop self - awareness.

~ As you read the story-book point out your child’s own little toes, nose, shin, chin.                                 

~ Talk about people you know and discuss their knees or belly.

2. Self-esteem: Sources of self-esteem are both internal (the child experiences pleasure at having accomplished a task), and external (positive feedback from parents who recognize the child’s achievement.)

~ Ask your child to point at the toes, the rose and the nose, the knees, and so on. Let her repeat the words, and show her that you are pleased at her achievement.

3. Body awareness: Play a game with your child like “Simon Says” and see if she can mimic your actions.  ~ As you say: “Simon says, ‘Put your hands on your head’”, do the action as well. (Go through all the body parts so that your child learns all names.)

4. Awareness of others: Go through the family album and point out grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends. Talk about them, their relationship to your child and about things they do; e.g. “This is uncle Albert, he is a policeman.” Or “This is your cousin Barney, remember when he came to your birthday party?”

5. Differences: Compare the pictures of people in this book. Talk about the colours of their clothing, their hair styles, their facial expressions, their ages and sizes.

6. Fantasy and reality:

~ Look at the picture on page 16. Ask: are pigs really green and red and purple?

~ Look at the picture on page 18. Ask: Do trees have hair? What is green and hangs down? (Leaves.)           Do trees have brown toes? (Roots.)

7. Pronunciation:

~ Play a game with your child and repeat all the rhyming words in the story. Listen carefully to hear if your child is pronouncing the words correctly. DO NOT CORRECT your child, just say the words again and allow her to practice.