Getting Along

• How do you look when you are sad or mad? When conflicts arise, use Good Friends to open a discussion about feelings. Sit in a circle and show and tell feelings...not just your children but you as well. You can draw pictures to communicate feelings or even create paper plate faces revealing different emotions.
• Even Spinoza admits to getting up on the wrong side of the log! Play Everybody Needs A Little Tenderness as a reminder that you or your child may expect too much from someone or, on the other hand, someone may expect too much from you. The “Mental Bear Review” can help your child come up with creative solutions to the conflict.
• Listen to the first section of Breathing Healthy, Breathing Free where Spinoza is trying to cross the river. How does Serena speak to Spinoza? How does Stymie speak to Spinoza? Which character shows more respectful behavior? Is Serena a good example of a friend to follow?
• We all know how it feels to have our feelings hurt by another person. In You Are All You Need To Be Stymie tells Spinoza he is too fat, too slow, and just not good enough. How does Stymie make Spinoza feel? What does Spinoza do about it?
• While listening to I’m Your Friend And My Name Is Spinoza, your child can draw a picture on a sheet of paper and put it into a frame to display in his/her bedroom. What words and actions make Spinoza a friend to all people?