Children Life Education Curriculum – Appeal and Influence of Picture Books

On May 28, 2016, Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Centre in Malaysia organized a volunteer teacher training session on life education for children through picture books. Thirteen volunteers and two senior teachers of picture book, teacher Sun and teacher Li, explored the appeal and influence of picture books.

Children are not the only ones who favour picture books; in fact, adults love picture books too and many adults are life-long readers. (The age of readers ranges from three through eighty.) Many people are attracted by pictures of great length with vibrant colours and simplified characters to open their pure mind.

One of the distinctive characteristics of picture books is its emotional healing effect; picture books enable readers to contemplate and gain insight based on their life experiences. As such, volunteer teachers and parents can guide their children by explaining the finer points portrayed in picture books, thus, enabling children to express their emotions better, in addition to resolving vexation.

Teacher Sun and teacher Li explained the structure of picture books one by one during training; unusual, interesting functions, as well as information contained in the cover, spine, hinge, book jacket, tummy band, pastedown, free endpaper, title page and back cover were explained. There are beautiful pictures and inspiring stories in the flyleaves, cover, end paper, inside page and even the back cover, enabling volunteer teachers to broaden their horizons.

These two teachers also explained the different categories of picture books, famous picture book authors, as well as relevant contents. The volunteer teachers were fascinated by the beautifully printed pictures and interesting stories; going through these picture books is as though appreciating good artwork. The atmosphere was pleasant, with everyone sharing ideas and laughter.

The curriculum proceeded to practical operation unit after lunch; volunteers were divided into four groups, where representative from each group explained the meaning of the assigned picture book and relevant activities that could be carried out to enhance children’s participation. The teachers also reminded volunteers to explain the rules and regulations to the children clearly prior to starting the lesson, so that every child could derive maximum benefit from these picture books, particularly the emotional healing effect.

In appreciation of the guidance given by teacher Sun and teacher Li, Venerable Chang Zao (常藻), director of Dharma Drum Mountain Malaysia Center, presented these teachers with picture books. All the volunteers indicated that they learnt a lot from this training session and hoped to apply the knowledge gained in the ‘compassion classes’ of children life education commencing early June. They hoped that all children attending these classes have a rewarding and beneficial experience.

Reported by Ye Liping(葉俐伻)
Translated by Frances Liu(劉珮如)
Edited by Leefah Thong

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