How to Teach South African Life Skills to First Graders

First grade is a great time to start teaching children life skills.

Unfortunately, apartheid has left a permanent mark on the name of South Africa. Apartheid was legalized racial segregation that was enforced by the National Party government of South Africa for over 40 years. After its end in 1994, the residents of South Africa had to work toward peace. The journey is still continuing, but it is one that can be used as a real-life example for students, even first-graders.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Compare the National Party government to a powerful clique. Explain how cliques can really hurt people and destroy their lives because of control, oppression and rejection. Give the first-graders a chance to brainstorm a better way to act in groups that is less hurtful to people and that doesn’t harm others.

2. Analyze the actions of the leaders who fought against apartheid. Mandela is a great one. Explain to the first-graders that Mandela was willing to stand up for his beliefs even when it ostracized him. Use this to help the students know over the next few years that peer pressure will intensify. They will need to take a hard stand against it, especially in the face of drugs and other negative influences.

3. Discuss the violence in South Africa and the merits of forgiveness. Use examples to show how even though violence feels like justice at times, it normally hurts the person who metes it out just as much as the receiver. Relate stories of violence in school that could have been avoided with mere forgiveness. If possible, bring in an older student to give a personal testimony.

4. Use the history of apartheid in South Africa to explain how a way of thinking can ruin a person’s reputation for years. Discuss how the ending of apartheid still didn’t take away the sting of the oppression and how the world thinks about South Africans. Take the time to model this idea out with ideas that first-graders think are silly, like that it's smart to try and get around by hopping on one foot. Let the students try to convince you that this is unwise, but continue to stand your grand. Then discuss the signs that a person is thinking wrong and needs to change his thought patterns.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep ideas simple so that first-graders can understand them.

• Give the students time to think about the points you make.