Sunday, January 22, 2017

A Kindergarten Apology

I am a firm believer in apologizing when you make a mistake. I grew up that apologizing was always the right thing to do. I was taught that not only is it the right to do, it is also the polite thing to do. I believe apologizing allows you to reconcile a problem/relationship that needs to be fixed. I also believe apologizing is a way of owning up to a mistake that you made or a problem you created. I feel apologizing is a way to help you (if you are the one doing the apologizing) feel as if a burden can be lifted.

With all that said, you can bet that my husband and I are raising our children to apologize when they make a mistake, mess up, or hurt someone. We have our kids apologize to each other here at home when they do something to hurt each other. We have our kids apologize to our friends and family when they hurt them.We believe having children apologize at a young age will help them take responsibility for their actions as they grow into teenagers and into adults. Our six year old made a mistake this past week at school. He is a pretty good kid, however this past week he yelled in defiance at his teacher when his teacher asked him to stop a behavior that was not compliant with classroom rules. When Logan got home from school and I read what he had done, I asked Logan if he apologized to his teacher at all before leaving school that day. He said he did not. Since Logan is only in Kindergarten and they do not have much homework, I had Logan's homework be that he write an apology letter to his teacher.

If you are a parent, I am not sure if you would have your child do the same.  If you are a teacher, I am not sure if a kindergarten apology would mean much to you especially, since young kids at this age are still growing/aren't perfect/testing boundaries. Having Logan write an apology letter made me feel better. I believe it helped Logan acknowledge that his behavior toward his teacher was wrong and that he does not treat his teacher or future teachers the way he did. Logan's teacher was very appreciative of the apology note. Knowing Logan's teacher was appreciative of the note means a lot to me, because it was confirmation that I, as a mom, made the right choice for Logan to apologize. Logan even said he apologized as he handed the note to his teacher.

I know Logan is only six and he will probably make many more mistakes in a classroom. If he learned anything from this week, I hope he learned that he needs to apologize when he hurts someone. I hope he learned that he needs to take responsibility for his actions. I hope he learned how important it is to respect those in authority and those he is around everyday.

I also hope that Logan's teacher forgave him. An important part of apologizing is also knowing that you are forgiven. As adults it is easy to not forgive someone when they've hurt us because we would rather hold a grudge. I have held grudges before and holding grudges only makes things worse. I hope Logan knows that his teacher forgave him, that my husband and I forgave him, and I hope he forgave himself.

In doing some study on biblical apologies, these are the verses I came across that relate to what my husband and I are teaching our kids. The Bible teaches us to apologize and forgive. These verses are were taught to us when it came to apologizing and forgiving and we will be teaching the same to our kids. I am not sure on the beliefs of my readers, I hope these help you as well when it comes to apologizing/forgiving.









22 comments:

  1. Love your post. I struggle with forgiving people at times. And I am currently going through a period where someone very close to me is not willing to forgive a past mistake I have done. It is so hard. Yet God commands us to love each other and forgive. We are all sinners. I think it's just a lot harder for some people especially when it is something that caused a great deal of hurt..

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  2. Ahh what a great post, it is such an important lesson to teach kids! You are such a great mum, amazing!
    L x

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  3. First let start with your son's name is very cool. It's our sons too:) (he is 15) I think you are so right and I think it is a real sign of character when we apologize for our mistakes. I also think people respect you more when you can say I am sorry and ask for forgiveness.

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  4. Great post. I think its important that we pass on these values to our kids from a young age so it becomes the norm for them. I think having him write a letter is a good idea as it gives them time to think about what they want to say and write it all down rather than trying to remember it and say it face to face. xx

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  5. This is a great post. I strongly agree that children should learn to be polite as a young age so they can carry it out as they're growing.

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  6. I definately agree with you, apologizing is very important and it's great to teach kids from a young age, if they do something wrong, then they must say sorry x

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  7. I went to a class today and they talked about remorse and until we feel remorse for something we do we can't actually put it right. Apologies are important for moving on.

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  8. This is so wonderful. I have my kids apologize when they are in the wrong too. I think it's an important lesson.

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  9. There is never a bad time to teach manners and politeness. Admitting you are wrong can be hard, but learning that skill and apologising at an early age will make it much easier as an adult. Great post.

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  10. Great post and what a lesson you taught your son to take responsibility for his actions!!

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  11. I think it's so important to teach kids to apologize and take responsibility for their mistakes. I'm sure the teacher was grateful for the note.

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  12. I too think that apologizing is extremely important, and most people are too afraid to admit when they are wrong. So, it must be key to teach little kids how to do it.

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  13. I agree with you! We should teach kids how to properly apology, or not to feel ashame to apology. Because apologizing for your mistake means you wantbto make things right, and it doesn't lose anything from you.

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  14. I agree with you! We should teach kids how to properly apology, or not to feel ashame to apology. Because apologizing for your mistake means you wantbto make things right, and it doesn't lose anything from you.

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  15. I think it is a good lesson to teach at any age. No matter how young or old we should all apologize when we are in the wrong.

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  16. I agree - we've instilled this in our kids very young! -Michelle

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  17. I definitely think it's something important to instill in kids. It also makes them kind, caring and loving individuals which will help them in many areas of life in relationships, careers and just generally give them more ease as they learn the inner workings of others x

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  18. Such an honest and thought provoking piece. It's a very important lesson!

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  19. Great posts and great quotes. Sometimes we need blog posts on special life lessons.

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  20. This is such a beautiful read. I can't stress enough how kids don't have good manners anymore.. you make me have faith in the future generations! How as something as saying you are sorry been lost in many kids now makes me wonder sometimes. I will make my kids say they are sorry , wouldn't want them to be selfish persons in the future.

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  21. Owning and apologising for one's mistake is important in self growth. Such a beautifully written post!

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  22. I think it's really good that as a homework project you got him to write an apology letter - fantastic way to get him to take the time to think what was the right thing to do

    Laura x

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