Teaching Kindness in Our Classroom

I am Ayesha Latif, a teacher from Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

For our Teaching Kindness activity, I learned one very important thing. A teacher's own behaviour, her way of talking, her way of walking- everything has an effect on a child. A child learns more from what we do than from what we say.

For our activity, we wanted to show our children that kindness is not a big thing. Kindness is in small, everyday actions. This activity was not only for my kindergarten class, but for all the children in our whole school.

We know that children learn by watching elders. They copy what elders do. So we did not just give a lecture on kindness. We, the teachers, first followed kindness in our own actions, and then showed it to the children, so that they can also follow it.

In this activity, we taught our children what kindness really means. We taught them to share their things with others, to help each other, to speak politely, to talk with each other nicely, to understand each other, and to help whenever someone needs help.

I started with very small examples in my classroom. I told my children that when you help your friend to comb their hair, that is kindness. When you share your lunch with a smile, that is kindness. When two students help each other in classwork, that is kindness.

The children listened very carefully, and then they started doing it themselves.

One day, I saw a little girl combing her friend's hair before assembly. Another day, I saw two boys sharing their lunch. They were so happy while sharing.

They learned that when we are kind to others, we feel strength, love, and happiness inside us. Kindness makes our heart clean and fresh.

I teach them that kindness is also a way to thank Allah, because Allah loves those who are kind to others. I teach them that positivity is everything. Positivity is that power that, even if there is a sea in front of you, you will say, "We will cross it." Because you have passion, dedication, and courage.

Now, kindness has become a habit in our school. Every child is trying to help someone every day. From one classroom, we are now making a kinder school and kinder homes.

I am so proud of my little kind team.

_Photos shared with parental consent for educational purposes._