Know and Follow Rules

by Cheri J. Meiners M.Ed., Cheri J. Meiners

A child who can’t follow rules is a child who’s always in trouble. This book starts with simple reasons why we have to help us stay safe, learn, be fair, and get along. Then it presents just four basic “Listen,” “Best Work,” “Hands and Body to Myself,” and “Please and Thank You.” The focus throughout is on the positive sense of pride that comes with learning to follow rules. Includes questions and activities adults can use to reinforce the ideas and skills being taught. The Learning to Get Along® Series
The Learning to Get Along series helps children learn, understand, and practice basic social and emotional skills. Real-life situations, lots of diversity, and concrete examples make these read-aloud books appropriate for home and childcare settings, schools, and special education settings. Each book ends with a section of discussion questions, games, and activities adults can use to reinforce what children have learned. All titles are available in English-Spanish bilingual editions.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Teaching

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the one hand, Know and Follow Rules looks a little outdated to me. The colors and illustrations remind me a little of the 1980s. At the same time, I like that the illustrations are very clear and detailed--even down to the little girl with her tongue sticking out as she's coloring. What the characters are intending to do is obvious. Their thoughts and feelings are quite clear. I like the diversity of characters included.

The content of the book is beautifully well done. What I mean by that is that the information is presented so clearly. There's a reason we have rules: to know what to do. Rules are different depending on the situation or location: work, play, school classroom, cafeteria, playground, gym, library, etc. There are benefits to having rules: we're all able to learn, help us show respect, remind us to be polite, help make things fair for everyone, help keep everyone safe, when we use the rules things go better for us, help us have personal responsibility, and when everyone follows the rules it helps us get along. Examples of some rules are: listening while others are speaking, asking questions when we need help, following instructions, doing things the first time we're told, trying our best, thinking carefully, taking time to do a good job, keeping our hands and feet to ourselves, asking permission to use something that doesn't belong to us, saying "please" and "thank you," help others, waiting our turn, let everyone participate, walking in the hallway, use things carefully, This subject is just spelled out in such a simplistic way that it helps the reader see the benefits of following the rules.

I have been doing a study on manners in our homeschool, and Know and Follow Rules is a perfect choice to add to my study for my kids. Most of this information is stuff the older ones already know, but presented in this way, helps to solidify why we follow rules. Showing the benefits of following rules is a way to help children get on board. Know and Follow Rules gets 5 Stars from me. Have you read Know and Follow Rules? What did you think? Let me know!

[Tami Speakman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful for teachers to reinforce classroom rules and/or guidelines. The children can learn that the teacher has rules in the classroom to keep everything going smoothly and keep things clean. The book also explains that these rules help keep the children safe that no one gets hurt. The book gives examples like the children need to keep their hands and feet to themselves so as not to spread germs and not to hurt each other. The book gives realistic examples that the children can relate to and understand.

[Abby Peskin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great way to help kids understand why rules are important. Some kids feel like rules are just imposed upon them by the adults around them to make them do things they don’t want to do - this book helps them understand that rules help them do more things they like to do.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4B's: respect and safety

[Musiclib · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meiners writes a great introduction to rules and the need for them. The examples are very clear cut and the text and illustrations are paired nicely. I would recommend this for PreK-K.

[Brianna Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book could be a good help for students that haven’t grasped the concept of guidelines in the classroom and why they should be followed.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good way to introduce the concept of rules, but most examples were in a school setting, so it was hard to apply at his young age. We love this series (Learning to Get Along)

[Mila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow this is complicated. So many "donts"! I wouldn't expect a preschooler to keep up with all this

[Helena Akuany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical and accessible guide that helps children understand the importance of rules, with helpful activities for reinforcement.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a girl between kindergarten and second grade read this to me, she did a pretty good job. I am not a fan of straight forward books like this, so I did not particularly like it. I like that it tells the rules using "I can" statements. I would read this for the first day of school to talk about rules and how we behave at school.

[Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

For pre-k children, this is an excellent book to read to children about different rules. I would use this book in the classroom to inform children what they can and can not do. In addition, why are rules so important to follow and why we have to listen to rules when told.

[Principle Based Learning]

(recommended by: Ashley B)
Click here for the full article on: More Than Just Fairytales

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book that is good for school. This book is read in my friends first grade class in order to help the children understand how important it is to follow the rules.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the pictures. Very straight forward. Good tips in the back.

[Cheyenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for beginning of the year.

[Trista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic introduction to why it is important to know and follow the rules. This can be used in the classroom to scaffold discussions about why having rules and following them is important.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teach children rules that will help them to know what to do, they learn that there's rules not only on school, but also there's rules when they play, and at work.