- family
- friend
MA Standards:
Social Emotional/Mental Health 5.3: Define character traits such as honesty, trustworthiness, self-discipline, respectfulness, and kindness and describe their contribution to identity, self-concept, decision-making, and interpersonal relationships.
Head Start Outcomes:
Language Development/Expressive Language 7: Engages in conversations with peers and adults.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts 2: Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Health Education 16: Recognize and describe or represent emotions such as happiness, surprise, anger, fear, sadness.
Talk Together: Making Friends
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Review some of the things children have learned about families. Tell them that today you are going to talk about people we care about who are not part of our families. Say, These are our friends.
Explain that a friend is someone you like and someone you care about. Say, A friend is someone you like to do things with, someone you care about, and someone who is kind to you. Discuss other qualities that make a person a good friend. Ask questions such as,
- Who can tell me about a friend of theirs?
- Why do you like to do with your friend?
- How does your friend make you feel happy?
Talk about how children are making new friends at school. Say, Everyone will become friends with some children. But even if you don’t become friends with a child, you will need to treat him or her kindly and fairly and work together sometimes.
Educator Tip: You may want to discuss how some friends like to spend a lot of time together and others don’t spend as much time together, so children won’t feel left out of close bonds that may form in the room.