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One says that a hardworking person is the one that applies himself to work. This is a quality that can be educated from an early age, either in the early childhood center or in the family.

In the early childhood center this quality can be worked on in all the activities and processes in which the children participate, we can also plan activities with this specific aim, for example, collective works with a social aim, small tasks, work in nature (care of plants, little animals and the surroundings of the early childhood center). Tasks can be programmed, which in some educative systems can be called shifts or duties, through which the child helps his educator to tidy up the class, to hand out materials, etc.

These activities can foster the development of diverse contents, such as the relations of cooperation and the feelings of admiration and respect for the work of the adults. It is important to emphasize that the work at this age does not mean the necessity to create a product but that it has as a main target to contribute to the integral formation of the children.

The activities offer the children ample possibilities of doing different actions, of using diverse tools and to take care of them, in addition when doing tasks of this type they get used to having responsibility in their fulfilment and get to understand the necessity of typical tasks at home and in the early childhood center, such as, to help to lay the table cloths and the napkins, to help to clean the tables and chairs, to tidy up the toys and to order them, to clean the class, to organize the class and the toy place, to maintain the corners clean, etc.

For this purpose, we need in a very special way the contribution of the family, in order to provide a systematic influence and the educational consistency that ensures the fulfilment of the proposed objectives, for this reason, from the first days of the course it is necessary that the parents know what their children must achieve and how they can collaborate.

In a general sense the activities at this age will be directed so that the children feel pleasure just for giving help, for their work and for being useful, so it is necessary to make them understand that work is not the same as play and that they have begun an important task that they must complete.

An important aspect that we always have to consider is the example of the adult that constitutes the fundamental method in the moral and working education, the way in which one acts, the sensitivity and the pedagogical tact that one has to have to deal with children that will be the key to the success of our work. The contact in the real situations is the best route to approach these contents and assess the development reached by the children.

The diligence, as a characteristic of the personality, makes the tenacity, the care and the patience possible in the child, indispensable things to make the school tasks, and a hardworking child usually makes his works in a beautiful and pretty way. The diligence, in the adults, is the source of a creative worker, because almost all scientists and inventors are hard-workers.

ACTIVITY No 1
"THE CICADA AND THE ANT"

Summary of the activity: The educator will read the story "The cicada and the ant" and after that, he will ask questions to the children, in a second part they will hold an ethical conversation on the subject of diligence. The third part of the activity consists of the projection of a film, or videotape or an exhibition of pictures on the life of the ants.

Objectives: To develop in the children knowledge about diligence

Procedures:
• Conversation
• Observation
• Explanation

Material Resources: Story book, pictures or video film or CD, video equipment or a computer.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator will read the story: "The cicada and the ant"

There was once a cicada that was all day long comfortably seated under the shade of a tree and sang and sang with joy throughout the summer. However, its neighbour, the hardworking ant worked without rest under the hot sun, carrying seeds and grains.

Between a song and another, the cicada asked the ant:

"Why don’t you stop working? You could sing with me!"

The tireless ant answered: -"No, I can’t; I am gathering the provisions for the winter because it will be very cold and then there will be nothing to eat!"

"The summer is very long and there is enough time to gather provisions. With this heat it is very tiring to work!” the cicada laughed.

The cicada sang all the summer until the autumn arrived and soon, the cold winter with snow came and there was nothing to eat.

One night, the cicada hungry, knocked at the door of the house of the ant: - "Open it, I beg, give me something to eat!” pleaded the cicada sinking in the snow.

The small door was opened and the ant showed itself: -"Now I recognize you. You are the cicada. What did you do throughout the summer while I worked?"

-"I sang!” answered the cicada.

The ant closed the door and said: - “Were you singing? Well, then now you dance!"

The educator will ask the children:
What was the thing you liked most in the story?
What was the thing you liked least in the story?
Which character would you like to be? Why?

2nd Part
There will be a conversation on the attitude of the characters of the story "The cicada and the ant".

The educator will read the fable again and will ask the children the following questions:
Is the attitude of the cicada correct? Why?
Is the attitude of the ant correct? Why?

We are going to talk about something very pretty that is called "Diligence".

"The hardworking people and animals apply themselves to their work, they are like the little ant of the fable, and we must be all like this".

The educator will give examples of hardworking people that can be the children’s parents, the school workers, etc.

Next he will comment:
"Thanks to the diligence of the school workers you are taken care of here and you learn a lot".

"Because your parents are hardworking you have toys, clothes, food, and it does not happen to you like the cicada."

"Thanks to the diligence of the construction workers (bricklayers, carpenters, etc.); you have a cosy small house to live."

"There are many people in the world who work for children, for example: the doctors and nurses work so that the children who are ill get healed."

"The teachers so that the children learn,
The builders so that you have your houses,
The farmers to plant the children’s food,
And many, many more "..........

In this way the educator will give all the examples that he thinks are suitable, and to end he will tell the children:

"Like all these people who work so that the children live happily, it is necessary that you understand that we have to respect the work of the adults, you can also help your parents with small tasks at home, the teacher and the workers at school, taking care of cleaning, ordering and tidying up the work materials when you finish the activities, etc."

3rd Part
This consists of a projection of a videotape, or by means of a CD in the computer, or by means of pictures about the life of ants, so that from this projection the educator can explain in a graphical way the diligence of the ants to them.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
Through their expressions the children did not show to have understood what diligence means.
They understood the importance of others’ work.

ACTIVITY No 2
"A CLEAN AND PRETTY CLASSROOM"

Objectives: That the children feel satisfaction for the accomplishment of collective works.

Procedures:
• Practical actions
• Conversation
• Questions and answers
• Observation

Material Resources: Cloth for cleaning, basin with water, cleaning equipment appropriate to the size of the children, they can be little brushes and toy mops.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The children will work collectively to clean and to organize the shelves, the toys, the corners, and to decorate the classroom.

The educator will explain to the children the objective of this collective work and will even distribute the tasks or responsibilities taking one for him, as his example will serve as a model to the children.

The educator will distribute the tasks considering the skills that each one of the children must be able to develop successfully; he will also have to consider that these are tasks that the child can do according to his physical possibilities or the skills needed for its accomplishment.

2nd Part
The work will be done and when all the children have finished it, the educator together with them will observe the classrooms and will assess the work done. In order to help the children in this evaluation he can ask them the following questions: what did you do? How did the cleaning work turned out? what have we got to do? etc. It is important that he emphasizes the usefulness of this work, the help that has been given to the educator and that the children in their houses can help their parents in their household tasks (To order the toys, to tidy up personal objects, to keep their bed and bedroom tidied up, etc.).

He will also explain that through this work we can have a pretty classroom and that it will be necessary for everybody to cooperate so that it always stays clean and pretty, for example, by not throwing papers or waste to the ground, cleaning and tidying up the work table when the activity is done, because in this way they help everybody and the person who cleans the classroom.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They fulfilled the tasks entrusted in the collective work until the end.
They showed conducts of respect and cooperation towards other people's work (to take care of the cleaning of the centre, etc.).
They recognized the help given to the workers of their school.
They were glad with the result of their work.

ACTIVITY No 3
"THE BUILDERS"

Summary of the activity: The children will take a stroll to a construction site near the school and will observe the work that the workers do, they will be able to talk with them and to ask them questions about their work, finally the teacher will talk with the children about what they observed and listened to in the visit.

Objectives: That the children know the usefulness of the work of the people who work as construction workers.

Procedures:
• Conversation
• Observation
• Stroll

Material Resources: A camera or camcorder could be used in case they want to take photos and make a film about the stroll, paper, paintings, glue, stickers, fine cardboard, scissors, etc.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
Firstly the educator will coordinate the children’s visit to a construction site near the school and will make sure that there is no danger for them.

We will talk with the children about the place to visit and what they will observe there. Next the children will make tokens for the workers, for example: a poster, cards, drawings, book markers, etc.

2nd Part
During the visit the following activities will be developed:
• The children will observe the workers’ work. This will be done from a place outside the construction work where there is no danger for them, and later one of the workers will explain to them the work that they do.
• The educator and the children will thank the builders for having allowed them to meet them and will present the workers with the gifts made by them.

3rd Part
In the days following the visit the educator will talk with the children about what was observed in it, about the diligence of these people and how, thanks to their work, they have houses to live and schools to study.

If photos or films have been taken, they will be shown or projected so that the children observe them before the conversation.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They expressed and imitated in their games and activities what they observed in the visit.
They showed expressions of admiration and respect towards the builders’ work.
They recognized the utility of other people's work.

ACTIVITY No 4
"I´M A BUILDER"

Summary of the activity: This is a role play in the theme "The builders" and the participants will be all the boys and girls who wish to take part in it.

Objectives: To develop in the child experiences about the construction workers’ diligence.

Procedures:
• Game
• Practical
• Conversation
• Observation

Material Resources: A play corner where there are the necessary things so that the children can portray the construction workers: crash helmets, plastic blocks of great size and some toy tools, like wheelbarrows, shovels, bricklayer spoon, etc.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
An initial conversation will be held, in which the children will be asked who wishes to play, and once the play group is formed, they will choose all the toys and materials necessary to develop it, which will be within the children’s reach.

In the course of this conversation the educator will ask questions to the children so that they describe their experiences about what they saw and listened in the stroll about the construction workers’ efforts.

2nd Part
The game will start and during its development, the educator will take part in an indirect way to make suggestions that help maintain the game active, to enrich the actions necessary to develop it and also to obtain good interrelations among the children. He will also help to solve in a friendly manner any conflict that appears and will demonstrate to those children who need it how the builders work.

3rd Part
The activity will conclude with a final conversation, in which the children together with the educator will evaluate how they played, emphasizing how the builders worked.

Finally the educator will summarize the conversation summarizing what was learnt about diligence and how we need the work of many people to be able to feed us, to dress us, to live in comfortable houses, to have theatres, parks, schools, etc.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They developed the argument of the game until the end.
They developed the actions corresponding to the role carried out.
They made comments about the importance of the builders’ work.
They knew how to solve the conflicts arisen during the game.
They needed the educator’s help to solve the conflicts arisen during the game.

ACTIVITY No 5
"THE HARDWORKING BEES"

Summary of the activity: This is a motion game that can be played in an outer area where there are plants with flowers, or in an inner area where one simulates a garden with plants and flowers. The children will simulate with their movements the bees sucking the flowers.

In the first part the educator will explain the rules of the game to them, in the second part of the activity he will speak and show pictures to them about the bees and he will explain why they are so hardworking. Finally the children will play the game.

Objectives: To develop in the child positive emotions about the diligence of the bees.

Procedures:
• Observation
• Explanation
• Practical Activities
• Conversation
• Questions and answers

Material Resources: Natural or artificial plants and flowers, apicultural products like: honey, a piece of wax, pictures with bees, for example: sucking the flower, landing on the honeycomb, the larva of a bee, etc.

If the teacher does not have a garden in the school and he cannot do the activity in a park either, or he is going to do the activity in a season of the year in which the plants do not bloom, he can prepare a circuit with plants drawn on a fine cardboard or cardboard cut out and put each one at a certain distance from the other, and he will draw flowers in some of them and not in the others.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator will explain to the children the rules of the game: The bees will cross the footpath running, when they see a plant with flowers they stop, they breathe in deeply and they open their arms (as if they were wings), then on tiptoe they will circle the plant, and finally they bend towards the flower as if they were sucking it and like this until stopping at all the plants with flowers.

The winners will be the children who do all the movements (to run, to stop, to breathe in deeply, to tiptoe around the plant, and to bend towards it) and who in addition stop and do the movements only before the plants with flowers.

In the garden or park there surely are plants with flowers and others that do not have them, if the child stops in front of a plant that does not have flowers, he will not be the winner.

Each child will cross the garden only once.

2nd Part
Once the explanation of the game is finished the educator will speak to them on the life of the bees, this conversation can be accompanied with pictures or photos.

He will tell them that the bees are very hardworking insects, that they live in colonies, where there are many workers, a queen bee and several drones.

The queen bee is the one that leads the beehive, she is something similar to the headmistress, she is the one that lays many, many eggs, that soon become larvae (he will show a photo or engraving of a larva) that the working bees feed.

The working bees secrete wax, they construct the honeycomb, they gather nectar, pollen and water, they transform the nectar into honey, they clean the beehive (To show an engraving of the worker in the honeycomb), and they feed the larvae. While they fly from flower to flower, the workers gather pollen in a special bag located in one of their back legs (Picture of a bee where the back legs are seen). The pollen, main food source, is necessary for the development of the queen, the worker and the drones. The bees introduce the pollen in the cells of the larvae when they return to the beehive and they also turn the nectar that they suck in the flowers into honey.

The bee that produces honey (working) is recognized as the most valuable insect not only by the value of honey and wax that it produces but in addition, because its main utility is its polinization role (to take the pollen from a plant to another so that it germinates and has fruits) of the cultures of fruits, nuts, fodder vegetables and vegetables, as well as non cultivated plants that prevent the erosion of the ground fixing it and preventing it from being dragged to the oceans.

The drone bee lacks a sting and has no defence; it does not have a small basket for the pollen nor wax producing glands, and it cannot secrete jelly. Therefore it does not work, for that reason people who do not work is called "drones".

3rd Part
The game is played and when it ends the winners will be the children that fulfilled all the rules.

To conclude, the educator can show honey, a piece of honeycomb, wax, that is apicultural products that he can obtain, and they will taste them in group, emphasizing that they are available thanks to the diligence of the bees.

He will ask the following questions to the children:
Why do we say that the working bees are so hardworking? What do they do?
What does the queen bee do?
What do the drones do?
Are the drones hardworking? Why?
Would you like to be like the working bee, the queen or the drone? Why?

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They made the movements of the game correctly.
They observed the rules of the game.
They answered the questions suitably.
They showed positive emotions on the diligence of the bees.
They showed interest and willingness to be like the working bee or the queen.

ACTIVITY No 6
"THE HARDWORKING ANIMALS"

Summary of the activity: In the first part of the activity we explain to the children and we show pictures on the characteristics of hardworking animals, in the second part a conversation will be held on the diligence of these animals.

Objectives: To develop in the child knowledge on the diligence of those animals that are characterized by this quality.

Procedures:
• Observation
• Explanation
• Questions and answers

Material Resources: Pictures or photos of the beaver, the spider, the bee, the ant, the termite.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator presents the children with two pictures of a bee and ants and will ask them: "Do you remember that we spoke about the life of these little animals? Why did we say that they are hardworking?"

If the children do not remember everything, the educator will add what is missing on what was spoken about these little animals in the previous activities.

The bee: The children describe it because they already know it.
The ant: The children describe it because they already know it.

2nd Part
The educator will tell the children: "Now you will meet other little animals that are as hardworking as the ants and the bees", and he will begin to explain the characteristics of the beavers to them.

The beaver: The beavers live next to the rivers and lakes surrounded by wooded zones and they work untiringly to make their burrow or nests that consist of a species of construction formed by woods, branches, grass and interwoven moss, and they have a central chamber to which they enter under the water. The beaver repairs the burrow continuously which grows in size year after year. Another type of burrows are simple tunnels excavated in the borders of the rivers and lakes. He also constructs dikes to dam and to elevate the level of the water around the burrow where it lives. The dikes are constructed with the most solid woods and trunks, and with mud, weeds and stones. The beaver repairs and adds materials to the dam or dike in a continuous way.

He will ask the children: Do you think that the beaver is a hardworking animal? Why?

3rd Part
The educator shows the picture of the termites and explains their characteristics.

The termites: They live in the forests, in colonies formed by reproducers, workers and soldiers. The workers construct the nest and feed and take care of the laying female, which has a great size, and of the other members of the colony.

The soldier termites protect the colony and the reproductive pair guarantees a continued production of thousands of eggs, from which the termites are later born, for that reason they are called reproducers.

Next he presents the picture of the weaving spider and explains its characteristics.

The weaving spider: It weaves and weaves its web untiringly with a substance that it secretes, which you can see in some corners of the walls. It inhabits forests and gardens, and thanks to the spider web that it builds, it hunts the insects on which it is fed.

To end, the teacher asks the children if they consider the termites and the weaving spider hardworking little animals and why.

Regarding all the questions asked in the different parts of the activity, if some answers are not correct, the educator will give the necessary help, so that the children understand clearly the diligence of these little animals.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They recognized these animals as hardworking.
They knew to discuss the answers of why they are hardworking

ACTIVITY No 7
CRITICAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE BLOCK
"WHICH ONE IS THE MOST HARDWORKING?"

Summary of the activity: In this activity the children will choose between two animals the one that is the most hardworking, later they will discuss why they selected it as the most hardworking.

Objectives: To verify if the children are able to discriminate a diligence model and to discuss their selection.

Material Resources: Several engraving games that will contain images of the following animals: Bee, ant, turtle, spider, beaver, pig, cat, frog, termite, ostrich.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator explains the activity to the children. He first presents two pictures: The cat and the ant and tells the children: "Raise your hand if you know which of these little animals is the most hardworking and why”.

Once the child answers, if there are any mistakes when selecting the little animal the educator will give the floor to another child who has raised the hand so that he answers it.

Later he will ask the rest of the group if they agree with the answer given, if it is missing something and if anybody wants to say something more.

2nd Part
The pictures of the bee and the frog are presented and we work in the same way as in the first part; but now the children who have not spoken will do it.

3rd Part
The pictures of the turtle and the spider are presented and we work in the same way; but with new children who have not spoken.

4th Part
The pictures of the pig and the beaver and we work in the same way; but those that have not answered will do it.

5th Part
The engraving of the termites and the ostrich and we work in the same way and those that have not answered it previously will do it.

Finally the educator will value with the children their answers.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They made the selection well.
They selected with help.
They knew how to discuss their selection.
They discussed their selection with help.