Children can be susceptible to learning both good and bad habits at a young age, so the Goddard Schools here are looking to use that to their advantage.
Each February, the Goddard School, a preschool with a pair of Hendricks County locations, looks to prevent bullying and highlight friendship with a week-long “Community Games” event beginning Feb. 6.
”It’s an opportunity for our families to come together with our schools and have some playful, fun learning activities that focus on bully-proofing, sportsmanship, and an opportunity to get together,” said Sue Adair, director of education with the Goddard School.
With statistics showing that one in four students will be bullied at school during their tenure, this is a topic that the Goddard School looks at with importance.
”We have been taking a proactive approach to bullying for a number of years,” Adair said. “We think that it’s an issue that we need to focus on. We see it primarily in elementary, middle, and high school, but we want to get children while they’re young and give them an opportunity and help them to problem solve and get along. We hope to stop the bullying-type behavior.”
They’ll be using the “Goddard Guide to Getting Along,” which is a program teaches children the “values of courtesy and respect.”
Shannon Laatz, owner of the Brownsburg Goddard School, added, “As educators, I think that it’s really important that we pull together and support at the early ages. I think that will help bully-proof at the early ages.”
Activities that the children will participate in throughout the week include building a classroom flag, a friendship circle, an opportunity for older children to play with smaller children, making postcards for troops overseas, a community heroes day, and a good deed day.
”We have activities planned for each day,” Laatz said. “Our goal is to teach children at a young age to learn through play. When you are learning through play and participating with good citizenship, it teaches them to get along and play with cooperation, even if there are differences among children.”
Adair said the idea of the program is to aid the children’s confidence and reduce the likelihood of being bullied or bullying themselves.
The Goddard School in Avon will also be participating in the program.
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
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