Hands Are Not for Hitting

Hands Are Not for Hitting is a staple in my K-2 classrooms. Those social skills are crucial teaching points for our young students who are still learning how to play well together!

It was 2007. I was in the exhibit hall at NAEYC in Chicago, walking through the booths. Then, I saw it! Yellow, with beautiful pictures on its title page. "Hands Are Not For Hitting." That school year I was struggling with a student who was hitting his peers, and I was looking for something to help him move forward. So when I saw this book, I stopped and browsed it. And I fell in love with it!

Marieka Heinlen (the illustrator) was there, so she talked about the book, and she even signed my copy!

I don ́t have to tell you that this is the book I used the most during many school years. Every student feels inspired for all the positive things we all can do with our hands....and the importance and the POWER we have by being aware of it!

This book really opened a new perspective to handle my classroom management by promoting a sense of respect, responsibility and love among us. Couple of years later I moved to a leadership position and I got this book for every classroom in my school and I had conversations about it with teachers.

So this was one of the books to use in class meetings, but also when an incident had happened it helped us to reflect with children, once they cooled down, about their choices and empathy. I love it!