Learning About Others

To help the children understand the needs in their community

The children will gain a greater appreciation for the needs in their community.

• Guest Speakers
• 3? by 5? cards for questions
• Pencils

• Before the session, ask one to three individuals to come and speak to the group about different needs within the community.
• Explain to the speaker(s) that they should focus on ways they help in the community.
• Before the speaker(s) arrive, review with the group appropriate behavior for a guest speaker.
• Describe who the speaker(s) will be. Work with the group to identify questions they would like to ask the speaker(s).
• Write the questions down on the three-by-five-inch cards for when the speakers come.
• Each speaker should only talk for three to four minutes, with a few minutes left for questions.
• After the speaker(s) have left, ask the children to think about ways they could volunteer in their community.

People Smart

Some ideas could be a local food bank volunteer, a special-needs teacher, a soup-kitchen volunteer, a social-services worker, a priest, a doctor or vet, a police officer.

The speakers will be more effective if they tell one or two stories about their service, rather then what they do in their job.