Last week we trekked to the library and snagged Have you Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carl Mcleod.

By now, both Miss First-Grade and I feel pretty well prepared for the pending return to school. She is back on her regularly scheduled bed time routine – after a brief, baby-related disruption. We’ve gathered the many items on the school’s shopping list, with substantial excitement lavished on the new backpack and lunch box. We’ve even met the teacher and reconnected with the students she will remember from last year.

In other words, we are officially ready for the big return.

After reading Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun and reflecting on the notorious increase in bullying for last week’s post, I would like to go a step further to fully prepare her for first grade.

After all, first grade will be her first experience on the playground (last year’s half-day kindergarten did not leave any room for unsupervised interaction with her peers). How can I bolster her ability to be kind and compassionate to her new friends, to reinforce the sort of empathy we’ve been practicing now for over a year, and to be sure she recognizes how she would like to be treated.

Have you Filled a Bucket Today beautifully and concretely illustrates the rather abstract idea that contributing to the happiness of others helps increase your own happiness as well. Kids of any age can grasp the image of water dripping into a bucket. Every compliment, every kindness helps fill the buckets of those around you. Conversely, just a few mean words or thoughtless actions can slosh an awful lot out of a  bucket.

This book was incorporated into the kindergarten curriculum at our school. Our review lead to an interesting conversation about some school bus tensions I didn’t even realize she’d had last year.

As we read it, Miss First-Grader took the opportunity to give her little sister, who has become a fan of this book in her own right, a talk about kindness. They have spent the last few days filling each other’s buckets, practicing to be sure that they’ll both be completely ready for next week’s expeditions into first grade and preschool.

Tags: Big Ideas, Children's Books

About Sarah

Sarah Aadland is striving to make family volunteering a meaningful habit for her family of five. Join the conversation as she ponders what they may (or may not have) learned and looks for helpful information about raising compassionate kids.Though she plans to one day put her Masters in Public Policy back to work for social justice, she sees family volunteering as a way to build a stronger community, a better world, and a more connected family. In addition to her children, Sarah tends a large garden, a small flock of chickens, and a habit of mindfulness amid the necessary rituals of parenting.

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