Purpose
Help caregivers understand and use friendship and inclusion to strengthen a child’s realistic confidence.
Lesson Explanation
Good friendship includes reciprocity, respect, repair after conflict, and room for more than one friend.
Worked example: Help a child notice actions: sharing, listening, taking turns, and apologizing.
How to apply it safely: Do not tell a child to tolerate repeated cruelty to keep a friendship.
Confidence is built by repeated experiences of belonging, effort, learning, and manageable responsibility. This lesson does not replace professional support where a child’s distress is persistent or severe.
Practice Questions
1. A child shares toys, listens to a friend’s ideas, and apologizes after an argument. What does this lesson say these actions reflect?
View Answer
The elements of good friendship: reciprocity, respect, and repair after conflict.
2. A parent tells their child to “just keep being friends” with someone who repeatedly excludes and is cruel to them. Does this align with this lesson’s guidance?
View Answer
No – this lesson specifically says not to tell a child to tolerate repeated cruelty to keep a friendship.
3. A child has one close friend and worries about whether it’s okay not to have a larger friend group. What does this lesson say about the number of friendships a child needs?
View Answer
Good friendship includes room for more than one friend, but this doesn’t necessarily mean a large number is required – the emphasis is on the quality of reciprocity, respect, and repair.
4. Two friends have an argument, and one apologizes and they resolve it together. What element of this lesson’s definition of good friendship does this reflect?
View Answer
Repair after conflict.
5. A child notices a friend never lets them choose the game and always talks over them. What element of good friendship, according to this lesson, seems to be missing?
View Answer
Reciprocity and respect – the relationship seems one-sided rather than mutual.
6. A parent notices their child staying in a friendship where the other child regularly says cruel, hurtful things. What does this lesson explicitly advise against?
View Answer
Telling a child to tolerate repeated cruelty in order to keep a friendship.
7. What four elements does this lesson name as part of good friendship?
View Answer
Reciprocity, respect, repair after conflict, and room for more than one friend.
8. A child helps a friend notice actions like sharing, listening, taking turns, and apologizing, as a way to build friendship skills. What is this an example of, according to this lesson?
View Answer
Helping a child notice the specific actions that reflect good friendship, as this lesson recommends.
9. A mother is unsure whether to intervene when her daughter’s “best friend” excludes her from games and mocks her in front of others. Based on this lesson, should she encourage her daughter to keep trying to maintain this friendship regardless?
View Answer
No – this lesson specifically cautions against telling a child to tolerate repeated cruelty to keep a friendship.
10. A child believes that having only one friend, rather than a large group, means something is wrong. How does this lesson’s framing address this concern?
View Answer
Good friendship includes room for more than one friend as a value, but the lesson’s core emphasis is on the quality of the friendship (reciprocity, respect, repair), not the quantity.
11. A parent helps their child notice when a friend takes turns and listens well during play, naming these actions out loud. What is this teaching the child to recognize, according to this lesson?
View Answer
The specific actions that reflect the qualities of good friendship, like reciprocity and respect.
12. A child’s friend forgets to apologize after accidentally hurting the child’s feelings, and the friendship becomes tense. What element of this lesson’s definition of friendship is missing from this interaction so far?
View Answer
Repair after conflict.