We are all human and we are bound to have slip-ups that may hurt others. Being a teacher we will inadvertently make mistakes with our teaching styles or steps that are taught wrongly. One thing that I have learnt being a teacher for over two decades, is to admit my mistakes to my students and apologise to them. To err is human and it takes guts to to own up to the mistakes you have made. We will model honesty and gain respect especially from young children.
David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka have written a humorous book that teaches practical life skills for the young. The hilarious examples such as a porcupine who accidentally popped his friend’s balloon or a giraffe who borrowed worm’s socks without permission will allow both young listeners and older readers to understand that apologising can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. The most essential part in this book is the emphasis on making sincere apologies (examples of insincere apologies versus a sincere one).
I love the steps illustrated in this book - when to apologise, how to apologise (making sure that it’s sincere without excuses) and why we apologise. This is a wonderful addition for elementary teachers to add to their collections for the unit of “How to books”. It will be interesting to see the steps these children will write in their “how to” books. Overall this non-didactic book will engage kids to open up conversation about apologising in a fun way.