Dear parents,

Sometimes, our children may feel frustrated when they don't achieve the desired result from their efforts. Therefore, it is important for us to support and encourage them to try again, to question and explore, and to experiment and be patient, just like the bear in the story. Our child, like all children, is naturally curious, but they need a home and school environment that encourages them to evaluate their work and learn from their experiences, gaining confidence, enjoyment, and the ability to learn.

This story highlights the importance of perseverance, resilience, accepting the outcome, and learning from experience. These are all keys to lifelong learning and skills that the child must possess as they grow.

Let’s Talk

• About Trying and experimenting: The bear planted seeds that blossomed into similar flowers, except for one plant that didn't bloom. Nevertheless, he didn't give up, he took care of it, and provided all the necessary conditions. We can ask our child: Have you ever tried something and didn't get what you wanted? How did you feel? What did you learn? Did you change something during your attempt, as the bear did?
• About Differences: Children enjoy planting seeds and observing their growth. This is an opportunity to talk to our child about the conditions for the growth of each type of plant (the amount of water and light it needs) and about what is common and different in the growth of each type.
• About Different perspectives: We can follow the drawings in the story and compare the rabbits and the bear. We can ask our child what the bear might be thinking about the plant, and what the rabbits might be thinking. Why do they have different ways of thinking?

Let’s Enjoy Leaning

• Caring for plants requires the ability to wait and to be patient, a skill which our child may still lack. We can support them in developing this skill by agreeing to perform specific daily tasks that suit their abilities, such as watering the plant or measuring its height with a small ruler and marking it. Imagine how happy your child will be when they share in making a healthy dish from vegetables they planted in a pot on the balcony or in a garden bed!

Let’s Enrich our Language

• In the book, there are two stories happening at the same time. We can enhance our child's narrative ability by thinking up stories. We can look at the drawings and creatively add alternative endings of our own.

Enjoy your reading!