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One of the values I try to instill in my children is respect for others. I’m a firm believer that individuals should be appreciated for their efforts and service towards others. While I certainly don’t like everyone, I don’t think anything I do makes me BETTER than anyone else. It’s our differences that make us interesting. Also, I don’t want my children thinking that they will only be valued if they pursue specific careers. I encourage them to work hard to get good grades so they can keep as many opportunities open as possible, not to force them into a specific, high-paying field. I hope my children understand you can earn a lot more than money in some careers (happiness, self-respect, and the satisfaction of helping others, to name a few).
Those are just a couple of reasons I think it’s important to talk to your kids about service occupations in general. I love these resources from Educents that help parents teach their kids to thank community leaders.
Activities about community leaders:
Historical Biographies Lapbooks – Create interactive lapbook reports about some of the most famous Americans like Amelia Earhart, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, respected American women, and more! Community Helpers Bundle – Every day, sing a song with your students about the community helpers we depend on every day! This unit combines emergent books, games, activities, finger puppets, printables, and songs to help your kids learn and have fun! Community Helpers Firefighter Freebie – Your students can learn about firefighters with these free vocabulary pages, writing prompt, bubble map, and more!
Community Helper Flash Cards – Download and print 36 flash cards with community helpers pictured on each card. Play memory games and create awareness of how important scientists, volunteers, soldiers, and teachers are! This is a great resource for students with autism or special needs. Back to School Staff Trading Cards – It’s back to school time! Do you need a meaningful way for students to get to know school staff? Kids LOVE playing cards and trading cards. These super fun and engaging school staff trading cards are great for increasing school wide involvement. Let students know who makes up their school staff and who is there to help them. Hip Hip Hooray for Community Helpers Mini Unit – These activities pages includes the roles of teacher, firefighter, police officer, sanitation workers, hair stylist, crossing guard, doctor, nurse, farmer, news reporter, and soldier. Ask students to answer questions about what the community help does and how they help out the community. This weekend, Educents is all about FREE! You can download all of their freebies, and you can get free shipping on any order! Use code SHIP4FREE at checkout. Offer valid through September 7th.