Parents who instill in their children an interest in and comfort with other people, and who help them develop strong skills to relate respectfully to everyone and show consideration for the rights of others.
Planning and decision-making • Interpersonal competence
Cultural competence • Resistance skills
Peaceful conflict resolution
Meet Suki. She’s a self-possessed first grader, heading to school on the first day in Suki’s Kimono.
Suki decides to wear the kimono given to her by her grandmother, or obachan. She already has worn it in a Japanese festival. Her two older sisters warn her not to. It’s not cool. And she’ll be teased. She determines to follow through with her plan, even in the face of their dire warnings. She’s proud of her heritage. She loves the kimono.
On the way to school, Suki lifts her arms and lets the butterfly sleeves of the kimono
flutter in the breeze. “It made her feel like she’d grown her own set of wings.”
It becomes clear that this child is destined to fly. Suki shows what it looks like to be rich in the 40 assets kids need to thrive. As the story unfolds, this small child’s choices and strong character illustrate the assets that represent the category called Social Competencies.
As her sisters had predicted, interpersonal competence is called for any number of times when the teasing and laughter and comments of others could easily get the best of a first grader.
Here’s a child who can skitter successfully between a present-day world of playground and classroom and a traditional world celebrated in the summer festival she attended.
When certain classmates do not show respect, Suki practices self-control. Resistance skills keep her from taking the bait, for instance, when someone calls out, “She’s a bat!”