The Rules: Dual Language English and Spanish

The Rules is a booster shot of good behavior in the form of a picture book. Teachers will love using this book throughout the year to jumpstart the conversation about rules and appropriate behavior. Parents will love using it as a guidebook to prepare their young children to start school. It tells them what to expect, and what will be expected of them, in this strange new place. Students will love seeing all the examples of bad behavior. By the time the right way to do things comes along, they will be fully engaged, every time.

After years of teaching special education and pre-kindergarten, I have distilled my classroom rules to their purist forms. These rules can be used in any class with young children, and adapted by individual teachers as needed.

“Is that kind?” can replace the often used and seldom effective “Stop that! Why are you doing that? Just be good!”

Rules often come off as harsh and inherently negative. In this book, the rules are not coupled with threats, punishment, anger, or judgement, and there is no enforcer or authority to rebel against. The Rules is a student-centered book. It is about students choosing to be kind in pursuit of positive outcomes, and to avoid the chaos and misery that naturally stem from selfish behavior. In my experience, most children will choose to be good, when they know how.

This is the how-to book of good behavior.

The worst and most common mistake made by anyone starting out in early child care is the failure to establish rules and expectations immediately. The Rules will be invaluable to new teachers, day care employees, etc. as they work to get a handle on disruptive behavior. Veterans in early child care and education will appreciate that a picture book has finally come along to make the conversation suddenly so simple.