The Rights of a Child

Express feelings • Make choices • Get dirty • Be respectful • Be successful • Make mistakes • Ask questions • Solve their own problems • Change their environment • Test their own ideas and theories • Build new understandings • Make friends • Find meaning • Play without interruption • Learn self-help skills • Have nutritious foods • Be respected • The truth • Be loved • Make a mess • Explore • Be clean • Be heard • Sleep when tired • Explore and discover • Play by self • Be alone • Be comforted • Be self-expressive • To dislike • Not participate • Be nurtured • Eat when hungry • Be creative • Investigate • Set own space • Be themselves • Say “no” • Be shy • Make suggestions • Be loud • Cheer • Cry • Be strong • Be weak • Try new things • Be taught • Be included • Be safe • Have self-control • Teach each other • Learn good manners • Have their feelings validated • Have healthy, tasty foods to eat • Explore without time-limits • Be who they are • Feed themselves • Work at own pace • Be encouraged, not forced • Speak • Play with friends • Have their cultures respected • Make peace with one another • Learn about logical consequences • Safe playgrounds • Socialize outside their classroom • Contribute to their own educational experiences • Have a Reggio-inspired classroom • Determine when they are ready for potty training • Negotiate • Write letters • Sing out of tune • Dance • Make music • Believe in fairies • Choose what they wear to school • Fix their room • Plant seeds and watch them grow • Develop their own hypotheses • Jump in puddles • Splash water • Mix up new colors • Make silly jokes • Watch the clouds go by • Pick wild flowers • Roll in the grass • Have caring teachers • Learn from books • Believe in magic • Be who they are • Use play as a way of learning • Dream