At the door
Somebody is carrying a lot of bags and trying to open a door.
What do you do?
Step 1: What Would You Do?
There is often more than one good answer. Pick one and see what happens.
A child on their own
A child in your class is sitting by themselves at lunch again.
What could you do?
Step 2: What That Was
The name for what you just worked out.
Helping starts with noticing. Most of the time nobody helps because nobody looked up.
Ask first
Say "would you like some help?" Some people would rather do it themselves, and that is allowed.
Small help is real help
Holding a door. Picking something up. Sitting with somebody. None of it is small to the person.
Step 3: Quick Check
Two questions, then you are done.
Question 1 of 1
What do you do before helping somebody?
Step 4: Your Life Mission
Something to do away from the screen. Nobody is checking.
Notice one person
- Look up today and find one person who needs something.
- Ask if they would like help.
- Whatever they say, that counts.
Why: Looking up is the skill. Everything else follows from it.
Step 5: What You Learned
- Notice first.
- Ask before you help.
- Small help is real help.
For the grown-up
Asking before helping sounds excessive for a five-year-old and it is the seed of everything the later bands do about not taking over. Worth establishing early because it is much harder to add later.
Noticing is the teachable part. Pointing things out as you go — "look, they cannot reach" — builds the habit far better than instructions to be helpful.
Accepting a refusal gracefully is part of the lesson. A child who is only praised when the help is accepted learns to help for the response.