READING FOR PEACE

What is Reading for Peace?

The Reading for Peace program is carried our by volunteers from the Conflict Center once a week on Thursday afternoons.  Reading for Peace takes 30 minutes of classroom time.  Kids have a wonderful time with the readers, talking sharing and learning and receiving one-on-one adult attention. The books that are read are selected by the Conflict Center to reinforce the skills that the classroom teacher is teaching to the children.  It becomes a fun, positive, interactive time for the children to have adult attention, to learn more about conflict and anger management and how to apply the skills.

Can I have Reading for Peace at my School?

Reading for Peace supports and reinforces Conflict and Anger Management skills taught in our full school program through reading children’s literature. The stories present examples of basic concepts and skills for resolving conflict peacefully. For example how to effectively deal with emotions, conflicts, problems, develop empathy, problem solving skills and brain storming.  By discussing the stories the students can see the choices the characters make, the child can discuss what they would do and discuss and explore other options.  Stories model good choices, bad choices and provide opportunities for children to think about how they would solve their problems. 

If your school is not in our full school program, we encourage the school to consider the values and principles of conflict and anger management in their school.  We have a long standing relationship with many schools that still utilize our Reading for Peace Program.

What might a story teach?

One of the 700 hundred books in our Children's Library that we use for the Reading for Peace program is a book called Jamaica Tag Along.   In this story Jamaica wants to play with her brother, but he says she is too little and she can’t.  She is really hurt. Jamaica goes to the playground where a small child comes to play with her and she turns her back on him.  She recognizes that she is treating the small child the same way her brother treated her.  Jamaica realizes how much that hurts, so she engages the younger child to play.  Then her brother comes and wants to play with them, she has to make a choice to let him play, or payback by not let him play.