Self-esteem is intimately related to the valuation of oneself. Some authors suggest that it is the union of two feelings: The feeling of personal capacity (I can) and the one of personal worth (I am worth). The personal capacity is understood by these authors as the ability to face the problems and successes that appear in life, to have confidence in oneself, and the personal value is the feeling of having the right to be happy and therefore to look for, to defend and to do everything that makes us feel well. The little child is in the process of development and construction of himself, which begins very early with the differentiation of I, the recognition of the corporal image before a mirror, calling himself in the first person, in the recognition of what is mine and in the development of the self-assessment, which begins first by the evaluation of the other with whom one is compared, and later with the recognition and evaluation of his own behaviour, already at the end of the stage, at five to six years old approximately. It is necessary to begin to work the self-esteem when the child begins to differentiate himself from the others and when the conscience of I arises. The activities must be directed so that the child learns to accept himself, to want himself and to feel satisfied as he is, as much physically as regarding his psychic qualities, to accept his errors and to work to amend them, to enjoy his successes and to work to diminish his failures without hurting him. It is also indispensable for the good development of the self-esteem in the child that activities be carried out where the confidence in himself is developed and in his increasing possibilities. It is recommendable that the educator has always in mind that a simple comment on an error of the child done in an inadequate way, an evaluation badly handled can be taken by the child as a rejection, which surely can bring bad consequences, sometimes irreparable, and to harm the healthy development of the self-esteem. It happens that sometimes the self-esteem of a child is damaged by expressions or acts of rejection, which are unconscious for the adult but noticeable for the child, for example: not to pay attention to him, not to give him a space so that he acts and expresses, not to give him the affection that he needs, not to communicate to each other or hardly communicate with him, etc. One should treat a child like a delicate flower, which can spoil its petals, sometimes with only an aloof glance or a badly said phrase. |
ACTIVITY
No 1 |
Summary of the activity: It will begin with the performance of two puppets "The idiot parrot" and "The vain magpie" who will tell their histories to the children, later a conversation of the children with the puppets will be made and finally the children will draw. Objectives: To develop in the children acceptance and satisfaction towards the image of themselves. Procedures: Material Resources: Two puppets that can be made of gloves or rods, drawing and modelling materials: coloured pencils, temperas, watercolours, paper, clay or mud.
Development of the activity: The magpie comes out and says to the children: "They call me the vain magpie, do you know why? well, I am going to tell you":
2nd
Part It turned out that I was displeased with the colour of my feathers, and I did not want to be green, red and yellow like the other parrots, then I painted myself all over with an orange colour. One day I heard the other animals saying that there was a place called “The island of parrots”, where parrots of beautiful colours lived and after finding it out, I found the direction and I set off towards there. When I arrived the humiliated parrots asked themselves “What so rare animal will be that?” and they started to peck me until they left me all bare, and dying of cold and rejected; but friends, I learned a good lesson: The others must learn to like you the way you are. Do not renounce your species, there are other more important qualities than the colour. You see? The important thing is to accept oneself as one is. There are more beautiful things as being a good child, to be obedient, to love the family, to be polite, those are things that make us feel happy. 3rd
Part Later the educator will summarize the activity and addressing the puppets he will say to them: - Lady magpie, you were vain, but the important thing is that you have understood your mistake, return to your companions who surely will receive you because you are good and that is the best beauty that one can have, isn’t that true, children? - And you, beautiful parrot, you have understood that your beauty is not in the colour, but in your good feelings, and that will make you very happy - Children, have you understood the message of the puppets? It is necessary to know how to accept oneself and to be happy as one is, and to gain the esteem of others with our good behaviour. 4th
Part |
CRITERIAL
ASSESSMENT |
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Observed
conduct |
YES |
NO |
Comments |
By
means of their expressions the children show that they have understood
the message of the puppets. |
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They
understood the importance of feeling pleased with the image of oneself. |
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They
showed examples similar to those of the magpie and the parrot. |
ACTIVITY
No 2 |
Summary of the activity: First the educator will remind the children what was said by the puppets in "The vain magpie" and "The idiot parrot", later he will read the story "The red deer and its antlers", and later he will talk with the children to know their opinions about these characters and about themselves. Objectives: To teach the child to evaluate the qualities of some characters and their own ones. Procedures:
Material Resources: Engravings of the fable, which can be serialized according to the argument of the tale (with no more than three scenes, like the following ones):
Development of the activity:
2nd
Part 3rd
Part |
CRITERIAL
ASSESSMENT |
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Observed
conduct |
YES |
NO |
Comments |
They
correctly evaluated the positive and negative qualities of the characters
of the stories in an independent way. |
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They
needed help to correctly evaluate the positive and negative qualities
of the characters of stories. |
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They
knew how to evaluate their qualities independently. |
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They
needed help to evaluate their qualities. |
ACTIVITY
No 3 |
Summary of the activity: It consists of a conversation that the educator will make when finishing an activity or a game with the children. He will ask questions to them to know how they value themselves. Objectives:
Procedures:
Material Resources: The same ones of the activities made, in order to help the children to be centred in what it is asked of them.
Development of the activity: Firstly the positive performances made will be highlighted, emphasizing and waking up in the children pleasant or positive emotions towards the work made or the way to behave, so that they feel satisfied and happy with their good performance, and later we will speak about the negative conducts (if there are any), making it clear that all can be overcome and that for that reason no child should feel bad.
2nd Part |
CRITERIAL
ASSESSMENT |
|||
Observed
conduct |
YES |
NO |
Comments |
They
knew how to suitably evaluate their way of acting in games and activities
in an independent way. |
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They
needed help to suitably evaluate their performance in games and activities. |
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They
showed positive emotions (joy, satisfaction, etc.) by their performance
in games and activities. |
ACTIVITY
No 4 |
Summary of the activity: The activity will begin with the recitation of poetries and later the children will make a story about what they want to be when they grow up. Objectives: To develop in the children interests or expectations about what they can become in the future. Procedures: Material Resources: Poetry texts that can be supported with diverse illustrations.
Development of the activity: 2nd
Part 3rd
Part Later he will stimulate the children so that they are hardworking, studious at school and so they will be able to become what they wish, he will show examples of successful people in the community, or in the country such as: doctors, outstanding workers, artists, scientists, soldiers, etc. who were children like them and who by their dedication to work, or to the study, or to the art are celebrities wanted by all, who they can also be in the future. |
CRITERIAL
ASSESSMENT |
|||
Observed
conduct |
YES |
NO |
Comments |
They
learnt the content of the poetries. |
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They
carried out well the accounts in an independent way. |
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They
needed help to relate. |
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They
showed interest in what they can become in the future. |
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They
related the poetries with positive feelings of self-esteem. |
ACTIVITY
No 5 |
Summary of the activity: The educator will organize different corners so that the children play the plot that they select and that must be related to what they want to be when they are adults. Objectives: To develop the knowledge about what they can and would like to be in the future. Procedures: Game Material Resources: Materials and toys so that the children represent in their different games professions or jobs (according to which they have selected).
Development of the activity: He will explain to them and he will show them engravings so that the children have experiences about the work that is made in the different professions and offices selected by them.
2nd Part He will teach the children how the different professions or offices can interrelate, for example, the builder takes his son to the doctor, to the school, etc.
3rd Part The educator will emphasize that we all can become doctors, educators, nurses, builders, and to outstand in our work, if we study and work well. The message consists of making the children understand the idea of their personal value to be able to become......... |
CRITERIAL
ASSESSMENT |
|||
Observed
conduct |
YES |
NO |
Comments |
They
knew how to suitably conduct the actions of the selected role and
in an independent way. |
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They
needed help to carry out the actions of the selected role. |
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They
carried out the argument until the end. |
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They
needed help to take the argument until the end. |
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They
showed interest by the profession or office that they selected in
their games. |
ACTIVITY
No 6 |
Summary of the activity: The first part of the activity consists of a conversation where the educator will remind the children what they have learned in the previous activities of this block and later the children will draw and speak about their self-portrait. Objectives: To verify if the children have a suitable self-esteem. Procedures:
Material Resources: Sheets of paper and pencils.
Development of the activity:
2nd Part Later he will say to them: Tell me how you are at school, how you are with the classmates and the family, trying to make the child express himself freely, helping them to say why they think that the character acted in that way, and how they would act, making that all the children participate. If it is necessary one can work with half of the group.
3rd Part Finally the teacher will correct any manifestation of poor self-esteem in any child, emphasizing among other things, their positive qualities and suggesting how to eliminate the negatives. |
CRITERIAL
ASSESSMENT |
|||
Observed
conduct |
YES |
NO |
Comments |
During
the evaluation of themselves they declared to have a suitable self-esteem. |
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They
were able to evaluate positive and negative characteristics of the
characters. |
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They
managed to make their self-portrait and to reflect the positive characteristics
of themselves. |
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They
could express not only external qualities, but also internal ones
of themselves. |