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Helping adults prepare children for kindergarten and life.

Honesty

Honesty and telling the truth

Month 8 · Activity 12 · Character Traits  

Instructions

  • Introduce a child to the word honesty.  Chat about what being honest means to the child. Remember that children watch and model adult behavior.  
  • Focus on telling the truth is one way to show you are honest. Reminding kids that it is important to tell the truth before you ask a question or about a situation, increases the chance that a child will tell the truth.
  • Here are some questions to ask. Compliment child on answering the questions honestly.  Encourage the child to use Yes or True or No and False as their answer to the question.

 

Is your name Orion (say child’s name)?  The child responds true.  Ask if that is an honest answer - are you telling the truth?

Are you a boy?  The child responds false - if a girl.  Ask if that is an honest answer - are you telling the truth?

Do you have 3 heads?  The child responds false.  Ask if that is an honest answer - are you telling the truth?

Do you have 2 feet?  The child responds true.  Ask if that is an honest answer - are you telling the truth?

Ask the child to go wash his hands.  When finished, ask him if he washed his hands.  The child responds true.   Ask if that is an honest answer - are you telling the truth?

Simplify

Make two signs with one sign saying "True" or "T" and the other sign saying "False" or "F".  Make up short stories and let the child show you the correct sign. For example, "I saw 3 mermaids on the street today" (False). OR "My bedroom is up in the sky." (False) OR "I have 5 fingers on my hand" (True) etc. 

Switch roles and let the child ask the question and the adult hold up the correct sign.

Extend

Research shows that the ability to lie is a normal and important stage of cognitive and social development. By age 4 - all kids lie. Use stories where there is a positive consequence of being honest.  This month we are working on the sense of hearing and this short story about George Washington and cutting down a cherry tree is perfect for listening and learning about being honest. Listen here.

QUESTIONS FOR CHILD

What do you notice when you forget to do something that your mom or dad asked you to do?

If you wrote a book, what would it be about?

Materials

  • adult and child
  • Language Skills
  • Social Skills
  • Problem Solving Skills
  • On the Go Activity