The Manner of Manners
Learning manners is hard! When you are under the age of 7 and your tummy is growling, setting a table, using kind words, arranging your food on your plate, and having patience for everyone around you to be ready to eat before you dive in is a Ninja Master level of difficulty. So, why do we have manners? Why do manners matter?
This week we explored these questions, practiced our top notch manners during lunch (and throughout the day), and learned hands-on how we might feel different when using manners every day. How did we “do” our manners? Well, of course we asked our learners to source ideas and come up with a list of what manners we most need during lunch. Of course, learners were spot-on!
1. Don’t talk with food in your mouth 2. Say “excuse me” to leave the table 3. Sit on your bottom and don’t move around 4. Take small bites and chew with your mouth closed 5. Eat quietly 6. Put a napkin on your lap 7. Say “please” and “thank you” 8. Use a Level 1 soft voice 9. When you are done eating, wait patiently at your table
We practiced these manners and added a new tradition. All together we say “Thank you for this food to eat, now we say Bon Appetit!”, inspired by our Café Acton, a pretend fancy French restaurant. Saying this together with smiles and napkins on our laps made the moment of lunch feel special. Plus, with Level 1 voices we could hear all the creative storytelling, unpack our recess highlights, and share many jokes! “Why did the cookie go to the nurse? Because it felt crummy!” “Knock knock..banana…knock knock…orange”.
You might ask, what do learners do when they are done eating? We wait for everyone to finish and then learners one-by-one rinse their plates and are 100% responsible for the cleanliness of our beautiful kitchen. You might not believe it but learners LOVE cleaning! We’ve noticed a common complaint is there aren’t enough dishes in our dish sink to clean!
So, why do manners matter? So far, learners shared “they make everyone happy” “they keep it fair and respectful” “manners make it fun and nice” “it’s the right thing to do” “manners are awesome”.