Discover Your Temperament and Be Yourself

This summer I had the privilege of teaching my “Discover Your Temperament” classes to an inquisitive Beaver who always had to know what was happening next, an adorable Otter who always wanted to do what was next, and a Dog who at first I thought was a Lion. These three K-2nd graders stole my heart and tried my patience, however, because I was assessing their “temperament” to draw out their strengths and help redirect their behavioral weaknesses, I stuffed my Lioness and pulled out the Dog in me.

I created this program years ago using the book The Treasure Tree by John Trent and Gary Smalley. For someone intrigued with the four personalities, Choleric, Melancholy, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic, I wanted to figure out what each of  my four children were so I could better parent them. So we read the book and little by little I began to see each child as  one of the animal personalities. Now, I’m not big into labels, but realizing my Lion was just trying to be a leader and take charge, and my Beaver just wanted to do things the right way, and my Dog really didn’t want confrontation, and my Otter just wanted to have fun, helped me as a parent lighten up when their God-given personalities seemed drive me batty.

Later, I started to teach this unit at the beginning of the school year in my 2-5th grade classes.  We read stories, played games, and did activities designed to discover their temperament. Sometimes it was easy to discover and other times we had to dig, but in the end, I gave each animal personality praise for who they were and tools for they needed so they could gain control of their animal personality when needed different circumstances. Once I did that, the “problem” child disappeared and I was left with a child who was simply being herself.

Sure, the Lion was still bossy, and the Beaver still asked too many questions, and the Dog didn’t ask any questions and the Otter, well, the Otter distracted the class and never stayed on task, but I was able to use what I taught them to let them know that when we’re in class we need to be a Beaver and pay attention. We can be an Otter on the playground, but not when the teacher is talking. Tweet: My Discover Your Temperament curriculum really helped each personality gain self-control and be responsible for their behavior.  And it gave me tools as a teacher to redirect their behavior without breaking their spirit.

Enrollment is now open for Jenks, Oklahoma after school program for fall 2016

K – 2^nd: 

• Dates: 9/12/2016 – 10/17/2016
• Times: Mondays, 3:35pm – 4:35pm
• Location: Jenks West Elementary, Building A, Room 234

3rd – 4th

• Dates: 9/6/2016 – 10/11/2016
• Times: Tuesdays, 3:35pm – 4:35p
• Location: Jenks Southeast Elementary, Room 109A