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From
Stormie:
First, to remind you, I express
my own opinions on my website. I'm not even
close to being an expert on any subject and I don't
pretend to be. I simply try to speak from my heart based on how I was
taught and from my personal experiences as a humble preschool teacher:
"Hero" is defined in the dictionary as "a man of distinguised
courage who is admired for brave deeds." "Idol" is defined
as "any person or thing devotedly or excessively admired." With
these definitions in mind, I feel it's easier for us to help children to also
understand the difference, since as we know, they often get the two confused,
as well as confusing fantasy and reality.
On a 4yr old level,
I personally like to define "hero" as someone who does something that
keeps others from getting hurt. I don't really get into a definition of
idol with them but rather try to explain why particular situations are not necessarily
acts of heroism. Of course, as thinking adults, we can quibble over the
extremes of either definition, but with children, we need only to be brief and
simple.
Of course, remember to tell children that
a lady hero is called a "heroine."
By
the way, both "Heroes" and "Idols (or Role Models)" are great
ways to teach good character traits (like courage, responsibility, compassion,
honesty, respect, to name a few).
Group Time Discussions:
*Discuss and show pictures of "heroes" (like policemen, firefighters,
soldiers, doctor, nurse, etc). How are they heroes/heroines? What
makes them heroes? (No doubt, a favorite cartoon character will be mentioned,
so we can use that opportunity to talk about heroic acts performed by the characters
as being a "good" thing, but in some cases, we may need to also stress
how particular characters who, for example, fly off buildings, aren't real --
fantasy versus reality.)
*Discuss and show pictures of "idols" (favorite
cartoon characters, sports figures, etc). By the way, remember to stress
that these are not "bad" or "wrong." We may really like
and admire what they do but their actions don't necessarily make them a hero.
Thought
Questions:
* Can mommies and daddies be heroes? How?
*Can teachers
be heroes? How?
* Is "Barney, the Purple Dinosaur" a
hero? Why/why not?
* Can YOU be a hero? How?
So, are you a hero all the time every minute?
Ask the children
which cartoons they watch (naming particular characters), then have them decide
(through discussion) if they are heroes.
Give examples
and let children decide through discussion (thinking
and language skills) whether the acts are heroic:
*Mrs.
Jones gave Melissa her favorite flavor of ice cream cone. Is Mrs. Jones
a heroine?
*Becky's baby sister started
to run out into the street but her mommy ran to get her. Is Becky's mommy
a heroine?
*Johnny, the firefighter
ran into a burning building and brought a little boy out of the fire. Is
Johnny a hero?
*If you know that some
of the children are fans of particular sports figures, you could ask something
like, "Joshua loves to watch Michael Jordan play basketball, and he wishes
Michael would come and play basketball with him because he likes him so much.
Is Michael Jordan a hero?
*And
so on
Please share your thoughts and ideas too by e-mailing me at: stormie@preschoolbystormie.com
Favorite Books:
From
Stormie:
Maxi, the Hero, by Debra Barracca, Sal Barracca (Contributor), Mark Buehner (Illustrator):
This is just another great
little book from the series of books about Maxi, the taxi dog.
Suggested
Children's Computer Software:
From
Stormie:
Fisher-Price Hurricane Havoc: Rescue Heroes, from Knowledge
Adventure (given a 3 1/2 star rating on Amazon.com)
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Reminder
from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom
ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you
can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards." Click here
to check them out.
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