Forgiveness Education is a Smart Investment

We often receive emails here at the International Forgiveness Institute asking what resources we have available to help teachers initiate a Forgiveness Education Program in their school. Here is how we respond:

Starting a forgiveness education program either in your classroom or throughout your school is relatively simple since we provide all the materials. We have Curriculum Guides available for grades Pre-K through 12th Grade. The curriculum guides are comprehensive (most over 100 pages) making them easy for classroom teachers to use.

The guides are available in two formats–the standard version for public schools and the Christian version that includes supplemental information tying the lessons into Christian principles and values. Here is a preview of an actual curriculum guide for you to review–the introduction and first three lessons of the 1st Grade Curriculum Guide (Standard Version) and the 1st Grade Curriculum Guide (Christian Version).

The guides focus on Dr. Seuss books in the early grades and on other age-appropriate books, DVDs and websites for older students. Through stories, children learn about the five moral qualities most important to forgiving another person–inherent worth, moral love, kindness, respect and generosity.

In the Grade One Curriculum Guide, for example, Dr. Seuss’ book “Horton Hears a Who” is the centerpiece of all of the materials. Horton was chosen because of his oft repeated wisdom: “A person is a person no matter how small.” This idea captures well the concept of inherent worth.

For each grade level the curriculum gets progressively more challenging so that by the twelfth grade the students are encouraged, if they so choose, to bring the principles of forgiveness to their community outside of school. See Curriculum Guides Basic Description for details.

Each grade level has a number of children’s books and related Holy Family School-Belfastmaterials suggested for use with the teacher guide. You may obtain the books yourself, or we have available, and will provide to you at no cost, two-page to six-page book summaries with each guide you purchase.

Finally, we highly recommend a two-hour teacher training program we have developed for all instructors who will be providing forgiveness education. We can provide that training on site, through Skype, or through audio CD.  Teachers can listen to the CD as a group (preferred method) or can access it whenever they wish. Contact us for details if you prefer an on-site or Skype training session:  director@internationalforgiveness.com.

You can order complete sets of the curriculum guides (book summaries included) as well as the Instructional CD in our website Store. Deciding to teach forgiveness education to your students is a low-cost but smart investment that pays off as the students practice forgiveness skills throughout their lifetime.

Dennis Blang
Director

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Categories: Education, Future, Our Forgiveness Blog

7 comments

  1. Samantha says:

    Very well summarized. it is obvious that your organization has taken the world lead in presenting forgiveness education to schools and families. Thank you for this valuable service.

  2. Tesch says:

    It seems to me that forgiveness education could prove very valuable as part of a conflict resolution strategy. Sometimes children just do not know what to do with their anger and this provides a wholesome outlet.

  3. Allie says:

    Schools seem shy these days about confronting the best practices for a healthy emotional and relational life. This is harmful to children because it is not giving them what they need. I commend those courageous teachers who take the time to educate their students in the art of forgiveness.

  4. Jazzy says:

    Common sense tells me that forgiveness education is valuable. I wish I had this as a child. It would have helped me to deal with a lot of unfairness in my life and I think I would be better off. I think my children would be better off, too, if I was taught this and then taught them.

  5. Michael L says:

    Maybe forgiveness education should be the next “big thing” in education. It could serve the world better than a lot of subjects I had to learn in school 🙂

  6. aqua says:

    Common sense tells me that forgiveness education is valuable. I wish I had this as a child. It would have helped me to deal with a lot of unfairness in my life and I think I would be better off. I think my children would be better off, too, if I was taught this and then taught them.

  7. This is a great initiative with a great slogan Forgiveness Education. Much appreciated and thanks for this valuable and priceless service.

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