Random Acts of Kindness

Did you know that Discount School Supply sponsors a Faith-Based Teaching Blog in addition to many of the other blogs on our blog roll? Our recent Faith-Based Teaching Blog post was contributed by Barbara Blalock, a longtime DSS friend and consultant who also teaches in a faith-based preschool program. The post has garnered a lot of attention; it seems the theme of kindness is a hit these days. Here is an excerpt:

What a great day we had learning and being kind to each other. The children truly embraced and understood the meaning of random acts of kindness.

As each child entered the classroom I gave them a big hug, told them how nice it was to see them and said something nice about what they were wearing, how they looked, smiled, laughed or talked…

After our story time, I asked the children if they experienced anyone being kind to them today. The responses I received were wonderful:

“My mommy kissed me and said she loves me”

“Daddy put on my shoes”

“Mommy made me cereal for breakfast”

“Miss Barb gave me a hug at the door,” then there was a chorus of “Me too!”

“My brother shared his toys with me”

“My big sister brushed my hair and helped me get dressed”

Before class I had put out several different centers to inspire the children to make kindness gifts for others.

• One table had blank cards, envelopes, markers, stickers, and real postage stamps (one for each child)

• I set up easels with large paper, paint and brushes

• There was a center set up with string, beads and jewels

• The last center was set up with collage material, a wooden plank for the base, glue, glue brushes and paint

I explained to the children that they get to create kindness gifts for whomever they wanted and could chose one or all of the centers to create from.


By the end of class we had an abundance of gifts and the children were giddy about giving their gifts away. The children that made the cards were so excited that I was going to mail them. I encouraged them to keep it a secret from whomever they wrote the card to, but I am guessing this will be a hard request for a 3 year old…

Before the parents arrived, I asked the children how it felt about making kindness gifts and they said it was so much fun and could they do it again tomorrow? I explained that they could do kind things every day and that it didn’t just have to be gifts. I shared they could be kind by:

• Picking up their toys

• Putting their clothes in the hamper

• Making sure their dog or cat had water and food

• Sharing with their brothers, sisters and friends

• Saying their prayers and praying for the poor, sick and elderly

I think we sometimes forget to be kind to others in our busy lives. But, I truly believe that when we practice random acts of kindness it is contagious and others want to do the same. What better way to start it than with 3 and 4 year old children?...

Read the entire post on the Faith-Based Teaching blog.

Please Give Us Your Feedback!

Hi, my name is Geoff Jones. I’m the Director of Quality Assurance at Discount School Supply. I know that many people come to our web-site or call our customer service representatives looking for high-quality products at a great price. My job at Discount School Supply is to make certain the products we sell meet the safety standards outlined by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and that you have come to expect from our company. Safety is very important to everyone at Discount School Supply. We source products from suppliers all over the world, and we have policies in place to assure that every item we sell is safe for children to use. Products we sell must comply with federal standards, but also to Discount School Supply’s internal standards, which in many cases are even more demanding than the federal requirements.

As educators and parents, you want products that inspire creativity and are fun for children. The last thing you should need to worry about is “are they safe?” We select our products for safety, for quality attributes, and for exceptional play value. We use and even “abuse” products to see how they will stand up to vigorous play from kids. We use one of the largest independent laboratories in the world to test our products.

In addition to helping to ensure that we offer you safe products, the Quality Assurance Department is also concerned about gathering feedback from you about the products you purchase from Discount School Supply. We launched our online reviews and ratings system in late 2008, and we carefully monitor the information we receive. Customer feedback is very important because it allows us to get new product ideas, to detect product trends, and to gather your comments and opinions about the products you use in your classroom or home. Discount School Supply provides a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee on everything we sell. If it isn’t right, we will make it right. If a product doesn’t live up to your expectations, we want to hear about it. I encourage each and every one of you to read the product reviews:

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/ProductReviews.aspx

In addition, please log-in, find products you use, and share your experiences with others. We love to hear how people use our products in creative ways and how we can improve the customer experience!

Quality isn’t just my job at Discount School Supply; it is an essential part of how every one of us does things here. If you ever have any questions regarding the quality of our products or the safety of an item, the Quality Assurance team is here to answer your questions or address your concerns.

Thanks for reading this. We look forward to hearing from you.