By Susan Verde Art By Peter H. Reynolds
I was very excited to read this book in my preschool/Pre K classroom. It is written in a language accessible to even the youngest student in my classroom and it gave me another way to talk about kindness.
I am Human brings up a very important point I believe every child should learn early on: It’s okay to make mistakes – it is part of being human. I teach in a mixed age group pre-school classroom, sometimes older students get very upset if they don’t succeed in an activity. This book helped kids see that not all of their artwork work needs to be perfect. Students had even adopted a mantra from this book – ” I am human, I will try again tomorrow.” I know they are practicing self-love when I hear those words!
After multiple readings of this book and classroom discussions, I noticed some changes in behavior. The older students are helping the younger ones more often and without prompting from the teachers. It is not unusual to catch a glimpse of one student helping another tie their shoes. The younger students are joyfully sharing their toys. Overall the atmosphere in the classroom is very positive each time we read this book.
I Am Human is now part of our weekly reading at the children’s request.
