As part of social studies in first grade, we get to teach about roles and responsibilities, and rules are a big part of that unit. The assessment for that unit consists of questions about rules and why we have rules. First graders come up with the best answers--let me tell you! I have a fantastic parent who helped me give the assessment and wrote down verbatim what those kids told her. She even included their pauses and side comments. It made them so fun to read, because I can just hear my kids saying it!
Here are some of my favorite responses to the questions (Note- the number of the students changes from question to question and does not necessarily correlate with the same student.):
1- Why do we have rules?:
Student 1: "Because rules are good things and if you do something bad then it means you broke the rule."
Student 2: "To not be mean to other people and also you gotta learn good stuff because it makes us have a better world."
Student 3: "To make us safe and so we can listen and 'cause teachers want us to learn stuff. They are being serious so we have to listen so something bad does not happen."
Student 4: "So we can not get in trouble or be sad."
Student 5: "Because so you behave in the classroom."
2- What is a good rule to have at home?:
Student 1: "Be excited and do laundry and do dishes."
Student 2: "Watch T.V. everyday for 10 hours."
Student 3: "Get ready fast and to be nice."
Student 4: "Not to scream."
Student 5: "To follow directions and tell people what you are doing and also where you are going, 'cause that's a good one too!"
Student 6: "To not say bad words and not fight and not touch the stove when it's hot--actually just don't ever touch the stove."
Student 7: "That's a good question. We don't really have rules at our house. Actually you can only watch TV if you wake up really early 'cause if mom and dad are awake we can't watch a show."
Student 8: "Dancing."
3- What is a good rule to have at school?:
Student 1: "We get to have lunch for free."
Student 2: "Not to go home at recess or go out the door without asking and also don't yell bad words in the hallway."
4- What is a good rule to have in your neighborhood?:
Student 1: "No touching the trees and no ripping the trees."
Student 2: "We get to break trees and chop them down and also we get to do whatever we want on the playground."
Student 3: "Don't scream when everyone is trying to sleep."
Student 4: "To be safe--that's a really good one!"
Student 5: "No shooting guns at people."
Student 6: "Not to get a gun and kill people and also don't say bad words and kill people and don't do bad things or you will go to jail."
Student 7: "To grow our plants and have fruit."
Student 8: "Let's see..." *thinking for a while* "I bet most places don't have rules but in our neighborhood we can't have roosters. My grandpa had a rooster and it had to go away."
Student 9: "Don't try to make a fire or ruin your neighborhood."
Student 10: "No killing people. Also no disobeying the cops."
So clearly, there is much that we can learn from children when it comes to rules. But I don't think there's much more to be said. These answers speak for themselves!
