Tools of the Heart Parent Guide

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your interest in bringing the lessons of Tools of the Heart home for your students. Here is an overview of the assembly and the main points of our program.

Tools of the Heart is a 50-minute assembly program for elementary students. Using multi-media presentation, live facilitation and student interaction, our program is fun while teaching students important communication skills.

What we say and how we say it is the key to great communication at any age. This fast paced assembly program teaches elementary students important tools to help them express themselves effectively.

Our voice is one way we use to express ourselves. For some of us, it feels safer to keep our voice to ourselves. For others of us we like to use our voice all the time (and I mean all the time). Sometimes our voices lead us to making choices that aren’t good for us. For example, have you ever seen something that you knew wasn’t right, but you didn’t say anything to help? Or have you ever been so mad that you didn’t know what to say?

Learning to use our powerful voices to make powerful ways helps us to feel good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves, we call that self-esteem. Self-esteem also means self-respect.

Parents, in our assembly, we learned 2 "tools" to help us use our powerful voices:

1)The "I" Message

The "I" Message is used when you need or want to say something to someone and you don’t know how to say it. It could be used when a friend hurt your feelings or when you’re feeling angry or sad. An "I" Message is used when you want the other person to really hear you.

The "Clean Up" is used when you need or want to apologize to someone and you don’t know what to say. It could be when you hurt someone’s feelings or when you did something you knew you weren’t supposed to do. We all make mistakes and messes, this tool helps is to clean them up.

Using these tools takes some practice. At home make sure to practice the "I" Message and the "Clean Up" during meals, with brothers, sisters and even dogs and cats. When we hold summer camp programs for kids, we designate a special time for the whole community to express any thoughts and feelings that might get in the way of us working together as a team. This time allows the participants to practice using the tools in a safe environment and helps them to know that their voice and feelings are important. As a family, create a special family time to put the "I" Message and "Clean-up" to work.

To learn more about Soul Shoppe and Soul Shoppe Programs, visit www.soulshoppe.com

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