Negotiating conflict is easier said than done, even for adults! Today we introduced another problem solving strategy...Negotiate. First we showed the children the poster and asked them, "What do you think negotiate means? What are the people in this picture doing?" Their response was, "giving, taking, sharing, talking about it and working it out." They were right on! Then we acted out a few scenarios and talked about how we can negotiate and problem solve in these situations. For example two people arrive at the swing at the time...How could we negotiate in this situation? We "walked through" some options with the children that made sense. The children really seemed to get it!
At the end of the day Hannah and Eliza wanted to use the spray bottle to clean the table. Two children and one spray bottle. Hannah immediately started to negotiate with Eliza. Hannah said, "How about if I spray 5 times and then you spray 5 times Eliza?" Eliza's response, "Yes you spray and then I will have a turn to spray!"
At our second circle I shared with the whole group how Hannah and Eliza used our newest problem solving strategy...Negotiate!
Rebecca sent Sasha and I an email this afternoon. Hannah said, "Mom do you know what agotiating is?" "What?" said Rebecca. "When you share at school. It's one of our very new strategies." It is so nice to hear that the children are talking about and using the problem solving strategies at school and at home too.
Rachel was explaining these skills to Josh tonight when he was complaining about one of his friends. She told him to walk away or tell a grown up but never be mean back.
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