Increasingly our society has thrown off the "restraints" of manners and etiquette as irrelevant, merely the constructs of a former era built on pretense. So we become more and more self-centered, given to frequent and uncontrolled expressions of anger in public, treating others nicely only when it serves our purposes. June Hines Moore argues that the proper observance of social etiquette is actually more likely to get us what we want, while at the same time making life more pleasant for everyone around us.
But this isn't some kind of Pavlovian course in which children do the right thing for unrelated rewards. Manners Made Easydemonstrates for students of any age that the things they desire—friendship, popularity, even getting a job—are far more easily obtained when they observe simple rules of behavior designed to help rather than hinder their development. The goal is not to create little mannerly snobs who look down on those who have never learned etiquette, but rather to help kids treat everyone the way they want to be treated.
The text includes reproducible consumable student worksheets and a teacher's guide. For each lesson students take a quiz, as well as practicing through role-playing, hands-on activities, brainstorming, etc. For each of the six lessons there is an accompanying Bible lesson relating some element of social etiquette to a theological truth. Answers to all written exercises are included in the teacher's portion of the book, as well as supplementary material to be taught at the teacher or parent's discretion.
Topics covered range from how to leave a telephone message, to making personal introductions to setting the dinner table to proper protocol for writing thank you notes (sorry, email won't work. While Moore is an evangelical Christian, for teachers in a secular classroom the Bible lesson can easily be left out—it is not integral to the manners and etiquette portion. While there are many situations and behaviors left undiscussed here, this makes an excellent introduction to polite behavior for students....and their teachers.
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