Does your child have difficulty apologizing when they have done or said something wrong? School age children can struggle to apologize, especially if they have never been instructed on how to do it. This lesson teaches students five steps to take to apologize authentically and sincerely: 

1. Take time to calm down and think
2. Be able to say what you did and why it hurt the other person
3. Ask how you can fix things and say how you’ll do better next time 
4. Ask for forgiveness
5. Give the person time to feel better

The class will begin with a Mindful Moment. Students will breathe in and out while tracing their hand with a finger. I will introduce the essential vocabulary words (apology, apologize, effective and ineffective) and their meanings. Next, I will introduce two topics: We All Mess Up and Why Apologies Are Important! I will provide students with real world examples wherein apologies are necessary. I will show a read aloud video of Sorry by Trudy Ludwig. We will discuss the benefits of apologizing and come up with the steps to apologize. Students practice using the steps in class by role-playing and implementing a variety of ways to say "I'm sorry". We will reflect on what went well in practicing the steps and what are areas we can improve. Finally, we will review and reflect on the five apology steps.

This is primarily a discussion of the topic led by me and the sharing of experiences by everyone in which students can naturally arrive at why it is important to apologize and the steps necessary to give an authentic and sincere apology. The phrases of apology may include (but not limited to): 

I'm sorry.
I apologize.
I owe you an apology.
I want to apologize for that.
I sincerely apologize. 
I take full responsibility for that.
I was wrong.
That was wrong of me.
I hope you can forgive me. 
It was thoughtless of me. 
I'm sorry about how I reacted yesterday.