Mind Up

This week, we have been talking about how attitude affects how you handle situations, especially when solving problems. We introduced the words: optimistic and pessimistic. We talked about how optimistic thinkers consider situations in a positive way and are more likely to solve problems successfully. Pessimistic thinkers are often defensive and react with anger when problems arise. The kids spent a good deal of time role playing different problems and sharing how an optimistic thinker would react as opposed to a pessimistic thinker.

For example: If someone takes the seat that we want at lunch

Pessimistic Thinking: “That person is so mean, it’s not fair, I was going to sit there.”

OPTIMISTIC THINKING“I can find another friend to sit by, I can try to sit there tomorrow.”

We agreed that we need to start practicing optimistic attitudes so that we can handle problems more successfully on our own. We are going to practice taking a few deep breaths when a problem arises and thinking of the problem from a different point of view. When these situations arise at home, remind your first grader to use optimistic thinking…ask them, “how can we think about this situation optimistically?”

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