Exploring Boundaries
Learning about school boundaries and asking permission
Teacher Experience
A contemplative invitation for educators to reflect on before teaching.Consider the boundaries you create around yourself as an educator. How do you balance focusing on the tasks at hand with being approachable for questions? What rules or expectations do you establish for when and how students may approach you? Reflect on the importance of being self-aware enough to balance your own need to conserve and nourish your own sources of energy and inspiration with your wish to give generously of your energy when students request it.
Student Experience
A contemplative invitation for students to connect with this learning goal.Walk around your classroom and playground with your teacher, noticing doors, gates, and edges that show you where different spaces begin and end. Think about how it feels when someone asks “May I?” before joining your play or using your things.
Understanding
Students will understand...Boundaries help us know how to be kind, safe, and respectful with our friends and in our spaces. Learning to ask permission and accept “no” helps everyone feel comfortable and cared for.
Action
Students are able to...Learn your school’s name and identify main buildings and playground areas, point to school boundaries during guided walks, practice simple boundary respect through ‘May I?’ games, and participate in group activities that create gentle boundaries like circle time and turn-taking.
Content Knowledge
Students will know...Boundaries are like invisible helpers that show us how to be kind and safe with each other. Some boundaries we can see, like doors, gates, and the edges of our classroom rug. Other boundaries we can’t see, but they’re still important, like when someone says “no” or when we need to ask “May I?” before using someone’s toy.
Learning about boundaries helps us be good friends and community members. When we ask permission and listen when someone says “no,” we show that we care about others’ feelings. When we take turns and wait our turn, we’re respecting boundaries too. Boundaries help everyone feel safe and happy in our classroom and on the playground.
Guiding Questions
Implementation Possibilities
Create interactive school tours where children practice naming buildings and identifying playground boundaries through movement games and songs. Design gentle boundary exploration activities using “May I?” permission games during transitions and play time. Establish daily boundary rituals through circle time formations, simple bowing practices, and turn-taking activities that help children experience respectful space-sharing. Practice school identification through art projects, storytelling, and collaborative mapping activities that connect boundary concepts to familiar routines and spaces.
Assessment Ideas
Pointing games during campus walks, verbal responses to “What do you see?” questions, partner practice of “May I?” games, and show-and-tell about school buildings. Oral naming of school buildings and features, physical demonstration of asking permission before entering spaces, group participation in simple boundary rituals like circle time, collaborative class book with drawings of campus areas, singing or chanting the school name and building names.
