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Mic Drop Maths is the original and the only mathematical podcast for kids! Hosted by Whitney Wells-Corfield, a nationally recognized mathematics teacher, and starring her students. This podcast is designed for 4th-6th graders. Our mission is to make high quality mathematics instruction accessible to everyone and to spread our love for mathematics far and wide. Everyone has a maths brain! Visit our website www.micdropmaths.com for follow along resources for each episode.

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It's hard to think of anything more rational, more logical and impersonal than a number. But what if we're all, universally, also deeply attuned to how numbers ... feel? Why 2 is warm, 7 is strong and 11 is downright mystical.

In this short, writer Alex Bellos tells Robert how, from the very first time humans ever used numbers, we couldn't help but give them human-like qualities. From favorite numbers to numbers that we're suspicious of, from 501 jeans to Oxy 10, our feelings for these digits may all come down to some serious, subconscious inner-math-a deeply human arithmetic buried in our heart.

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In this short, writer Alex Bellos tells Robert how, from the very first time humans ever used numbers, we couldn't help but give them human-like qualities.

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This podcast talked about:

One thing I learned/One thing I found interesting:

I liked/did not like this podcast because

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Yonina Talks About Perseverance

Episode Summary

Yonina Schnall Lermer, author of A Kids Book About Perseverance, talks about reframing something you "can't do" into something you "can't do"...yet.

Episode Notes

Yonina Schnall Lermer, author of A Kids Book About Perseverance, talks about reframing something you "can't do" into something you "can't do"...yet.

A Kids Book About Perseverance ( view book)
Full Book Description:
What if you found out there was a tiny word that could change your frustrations into opportunities? When we tell ourselves, "I can't do this," we give up. But when we say, "I can't do this...yet," we're opening ourselves to the possibility of growing through challenges, also called perseverance. Join this author in practicing perseverance, adding "yet" to your vocabulary, and learning the value of continued effort toward the things you love, even when it gets hard.
About the Author:
Yonina Schnall Lermer (she/her) is a licensed New York state teacher with a masters in elementary education. Yonina has taught almost every grade level and subject in elementary and middle school, and served as a literacy curriculum coordinator, teacher mentor, and summer camp head. She coaches parents to become advocates for their kids and is passionate about helping others "fail forward."

*If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you'd like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidsco.com and we'll send you the details.

Episode Transcription
A Kids Book About: The Podcast Yohina Talks About Perseverance [INTRODUCTION]
Matthew: What is perseverance?

Julia: Perseverance, to me, is like when you're trying to make a goal, but you can't do it. Or you've made a goal, and you can try a new one.

Jonah: In my eyes, perseverance is going for your goals and achieving them. Or completing things that you have wanted to do or that you found challenging.

Yonina: Perseverance means to keep doing something, even though it's hard. It means to keep doing something, even though it's going to take a long time to succeed.

Matthew: Welcome to A Kids Book About: The Podcast! I'm Matthew. I'm a teacher, a librarian, and I'm your host.

The voices you heard just a moment ago were from Julia, Jonah, and Yonina.

Each week we talk about the big things going on in your world with a different author from our A Kids Book About series.

Yonina: Hi everyone. My name is Yonina Schnall Lermer. And I'm a teacher. I'm a mom. I've been a camp head counselor. I love kids. I'm always around kids.

And I am also the author of A Kids Book About Perseverance.
[TOPIC FOUNDATION]
Matthew: Hello, listeners! Oh my goodness we have a fellow teacher on the podcast! It is always so much fun to talk to other teachers. And you should know... WOW do we love teaching you!

Yonina: I teach fifth grade math, which is nobody's favorite. Nobody, they say to me. Fractions? Decimals?

And I say, "No, no, no. You just haven't been in my class yet. I promise. It's a lot of fun. A lot of fun!"

Matthew: As teachers, it's our job to make each of you feel welcome in our class or library. We strive to engage you, to inspire you, to make you feel connected and valued and capable! It's also our job to teach you and, therefore, to push you to keep going, to tackle new things, and to grow. And that's what perseverance is all about. And that helped to inform Yonina's "why" in writing A Kids Book About Perseverance.

Yonina: So because I spend a lot of time with kids, kids in camp and kids in school and my own kids at home, I started to notice that kids were giving up very quickly about lots of things. Small things, like everyday life things, tying your shoe, putting on your coat. And bigger things like just solving math problems, being able to find a pencil when you need to write something down. (Notice I put that in the bigger things cause that is a bigger, important thing.) To really, really much bigger things, especially as kids get older, they just were waiting for someone to come and help them and just someone to swoop in.

And kids today are very lucky that they have a lot of adults in their lives. Most kids have adults in their lives that love them and really do want to help them. And, I want to say, rush to help them out of love. And our kids are just, they're giving up too quickly.

And so I wanted to write this book so that I could help kids and adults talk about what happens when we run into some obstacles. When we run into obstacles, like we just said, that are small, like just being able to tie your shoe, which can be really frustrating when you're first learning how to do it, to when you're posed with some kind of problem, whether that's your math problem that you have to do for homework. Or a bigger problem you're trying to figure out, should I go to this friend's party? Or should I go to, um, you know, the other event that's going on? How do I figure out, you know, how to talk to my friends?

We have all different kinds of problems that happens in our lives, and it's really important for kids to practice having those problems.

The thing is, is that they're not really fun. Problems are not fun. People don't like having problems. People don't like feeling challenged. And that's where I got to, to write this book. I said, "I want to be able to talk to kids about what it's like to be challenged and how to persevere."

Matthew: Listeners, I have a very serious question for you. And it's, I think, a really, really good one to ask your grownup, too. Doesn't matter if that's your parent or your aunt or uncle or your coach or your teacher. First, though, I want you to answer it.

Okay. Here's my question:

Why do we give up?

No, really. Why do we quit things? Perseverance is about not quitting the thing, so I want to better understand why we would quit in the first place.

Yonina had some thoughts.

Yonina: That's a really, it's a really good question.

So I'll tell you like this. There's a simple answer that I love saying to my students. And that is that it's just easier. And when we have other people do things for us, it's just easier because the alternative is to feel uncomfortable. And nobody likes to feel uncomfortable.

And so what I write a lot about in the book is the idea of feeling comfortable being uncomfortable, which sounds really strange and off the wall and wacky when kids first hear it. They say, "What? What are you talking about? What does that mean that I should feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable?"

And that's where we introduce a new word in the book called stamina. And that's a word that a lot of kids have heard if they're on a sports team or, you know, they've, they've had to practice something. I know some teachers in their classrooms have reading stamina.

And stamina is when our minds and our bodies are able to do hard things for a long period of time. And that's how we can achieve something if we're able to do something hard for a long period of time. But the thing is that if we never practice it because it's just so uncomfortable and it's just, we just don't want to go there, it's, it's, and we stick to what's easy, then we'll never build our stamina.

So in a classroom, you might have reading stamina. Let's see how long we can read quietly by ourselves. for a runner who wants to go to the Olympics, right? We'll take it to the other extreme. Every day, they'll run a mile, then two miles, and three miles. And that's hard. And it's uncomfortable. When you're running that extra mile that you didn't run before, that's hard. When that extra minute, the teacher says, we still have to be quiet for another 60 seconds, even if you're not even reading, but you know that it has to be quiet in the room, that's really hard. But that's how we build stamina.

Matthew: Let's take a quick break. And when we return, Yonina will talk about effort, stamina, and the power of "Yet".

Yonina: It's a small word, but it's a really powerful word because it totally changes the meaning of what we're trying to say.

So when we call out, "I just... I just don't get it", which kids love to say. It's like very important to know that if you're going to be in a classroom. "I don't get it." That's kind of announcing that that's it. I don't get it. It's not my responsibility anymore. I don't know. See you later. But when we add the word yet, you're kind of declaring that you don't understand it, but you'd really like to. And that if you keep going a little bit more, and perhaps if you do feel a little bit uncomfortable, There's a chance that you will.

And so we can add the word yet to lots of things. I don't get it yet, right? I don't understand this. I don't understand this yet.

But there's a really important piece that we have to acknowledge and, and, and I'm gonna tell you that I didn't know this for a very long time. I was telling my students all the time, "Guys, we're gonna add the word yet! Anytime they said, 'I don't get it'". I looked at them and they said, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't get it yet. And for a long time, that's what I did. And my students started to learn and understand that if they try really hard, that they'll succeed.

And one day I had a student that came to me and said, "You know, I tried doing something and I tried it again and I tried it again and I tried it. I really did. I added the word yet. I listen to you when you talk. That was a nice thing to say, but I, but I, I did not succeed." This student was talking about a specific thing actually outside of school that he and I had been talking about, and he was very angry with me. He said, "You told me that if I keep trying I'll succeed, but I didn't." So, he was kind of like, heh heh, you know, like, you're, you're wrong.

And that's when I went back to myself and I said, I think there's a piece that we have to add here and I think it's a very important part of the book. And that is that sometimes we don't reach the "yet". We don't. We don't always succeed, even if we try and even put in the effort. And I think sometimes adults forget that part when they're talking to kids. What do we do? When we don't reach the "yet"?

Matthew: We'll be back in just a moment.
[BREAK]
Matthew: Welcome back.

Today on the podcast we're talking about perseverance with A Kids Book About author Yonina Schnall Lermer.

There's a line I keep coming back to in A Kids Book About Perseverance that connects with what Yonina shared before we went to break. It goes, "Effort doesn't always equal success. ...We can work hard. We can build stamina. We can persevere. And we still might not achieve that goal. But that doesn't mean we're back at zero."

Listeners, talk to me about what perseverance has looked like for you in the past.

Jonah: When things were hard with my friends, I feel like persevering to try to work those friendships, to work back up, and then they ended up resolving and becoming well. I think that would be an example of persevering.

Julia: When I went roller skating for the first time, I was, like, was really nervous, and I felt like I was going to fall. But I didn't because I was holding something to help me.

Yonina: You know, it really is my favorite part of the book also. When we talk about the fact that effort doesn't always equal success, because that's a hard reality that adults have to deal with.

And I think that that's what's so great about this publishing company, just A Kids Book About in general is because these kinds of things, adults and kids need to be talking about them together because on their own, I don't know if a kid can really reflect that way. They need the adult, the teacher, the parent in their life to talk about this with them.

And so this story that I told you about my student, it was all about the basketball team, which is why I included without saying his name, his little story in the book. And. You know, when he didn't make that team, I looked at him and I said, well, let's teach you a new word. Let's teach you the word pivot because it doesn't mean that you can't play basketball and it doesn't mean you're not good at basketball.

It just means that success is going to look a little bit different. And so what can we do so that you're still playing basketball because you love basketball, right? What can we do so that you still feel good about playing basketball? And we came up with some ideas. If there are other teams to try out for, if there are ways that you can teach basketball to other kids.

And my favorite part of the book is actually, it's got its own page there and it says, "Let success look different". And after I was working with that kid, with that student, I actually started talking to a lot of my friends and I realized that adults struggle with this all the time. They make goals for themselves.

And when they don't work out, especially now, right, when you're like January 1st, everyone comes up with these ideas and these goals, and if they don't look exactly the way they set out to do them, it's over. It's failed.

With this student, he had set out to make this basketball team. He had been waiting, uh, because you can only try out in fifth grade, and he already had his eye on the prize in like third and fourth grade. Two years! He's waiting for this boom doesn't make it so it means that clearly it's all over.

And what I started to learn as I spoke to my friends and adults and children is that if we allow ourselves to let success look a little bit different We'll realize that we actually have come very far. So for an adult it might be you know, I want to lose weight Well, you know what? Maybe just the fact that you took a walk every day for 30 minutes is success, right? And forget what it says on the scale. You know, now that you can teach other kids how to play basketball, you're still getting better at your skills, you're practicing them all the time, and now you're sharing that skill with other people.

So when we allow ourselves to let success look a little bit different, which is really hard to do by the way, and so that's why it's really good to be reflecting on this with somebody else. When we allow ourselves to do that, we'll find that we're actually more successful than we even realize.
[PERSONAL CONNECTION TO TOPIC]
Matthew: Letting success look different is such a powerful takeaway. But Yonina also shared something with me that feels like it walks hand-in-hand with self love. And that is that there are two major different ways that perseverance shows up in life: the want-to and the need-to.

Yonina: So sometimes persevering is very easy because we've set our eyes on something that we really want. And it's not, there's no challenge or obstacle. It's just something we really want. Okay, like, like my friend, my little student who wanted to be on the basketball team. It wasn't that he was put in an uncomfortable position and had to persevere. It was something he really wanted. And that kind of perseverance comes easy because you're just already inspired and you're willing to work hard and you know, you go for it.

So I think that for a large part of my life, that's the kind of personality that I had. So persevering was like, "Oh, okay. Like, no problem. I'll do hard things, you know, no problem. "

And I think that there's a different kind of persevering. There's persevering when we didn't ask for it. And we don't necessarily have a choice. right? Which is why you might have kids with their math problems. I laugh. As a math teacher, you know, I get, I get kids who are like, Oh, you know, when I say things. So sometimes it's as simple as that. Like, I didn't ask for this, but I, but I know you can do it. Let's talk about how.

Sometimes it's things in life that happen to us, right? You might have a relative that passes away. You didn't ask for that. And how do I cope with that? It might be a global pandemic that you didn't ask for that. And so you're forced to learn how to persevere. Okay.

And so I think that for me, I had both in my life. I had instances where it was easy for me to persevere, and I knew what was happening because I was excited about it. And then there were things that were really out of my control, and I had to learn how to persevere. And again, I had to make sure that I had support around me. But it's something that you do have to practice and that you have to work on.

Matthew: Our time's almost up. I'm about to send you back out into the world. So let's take a moment to remind ourselves of what perseverance might look like in our unique circumstances. And how it's okay to know that success takes all forms. Reaching a different goal or milestone than the one you set out to achieve is still, absolutely, a valuable and worthwhile achievement.

Yonina? Are there any actions that we, the listeners, can take to help others around us (classmates, friends, family members) to persevere when they encounter challenges?

Yonina: I think that the best thing is to remember that it's important to give people some space to persevere, right? So some things that we can say are, you know, "That sounds really difficult. What you're doing is really hard. What are you going to do about it? What's your plan?" Right?

And what's nice about that is that It gives them the space to think about it, and it communicates that you want to hear, you want to know. If someone doesn't want to know something, they're not going to ask you, what's your plan? They're going to say, Oh, well, it's tough. Okay. Bye. You know, but if someone says to you, what are you going to do about it? It means that they want to know.

And the most important thing for people who are persevering is that they know that they have. That support and that these are people who will cheer you on from the sidelines and they will help. You tell them how they should be part of the plan and they'll be part of the plan. But you got to come up with a plan. You got to think about how you're gonna take these steps. How are you gonna solve this? I think that's like the best thing to do for someone who is persevering.
[CLOSING]
Matthew: Thank you to Yonina Schnall Lermer, author of A Kids Book About Perseverance, for joining us today. Yonina had one last thing that I want to make sure you hear.

Yonina: I very much enjoy hearing stories of perseverance, hearing times that people use the word "yet". And at the very end of the book, I encourage all my readers to try it and to get back to me because I want to hear all the things that they don't know and haven't tried and can't do yet.

And so I always like to include my email address or my Instagram account because I really want to encourage communication. I want to hear and I want to support, also.

So my Instagram account is called KidKoach, but with a "K", K-I-D-K-O-A-C-H. And my email address is kidKoach1(at)gmail(dot)com, K-I-D-K-O-A-C-H-1 at gmail. com. And I really do want to hear.

Matthew: Special thanks to Julia and to Jonah for lending their voices to this episode.

Julia: Hi, my name is Hi, my name is Julia. I'm eight years old. I live in Maryland. What's your favorite thing, Jules? My favorite thing is my family and my friends.

Jonah: Hi, my name is Jonah, I'm 13 years old, and I'm from Maryland. My favorite thing is My favorite thing has gotta be hanging out with my friends or gaming.

Matthew: A Kids Book About: The Podcast is written, edited, and produced by me, Matthew Winner. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory.

And this show was brought to you by A Kids Co.

Follow the show wherever podcasts are found and check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.

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Yonina Schnall Lermer, author of A Kids Book About Perseverance, talks about reframing something you "can't do" into something you "can't do"...yet.

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Jackson Talks About Kindness

Episode Summary

Jackson Cooper, author of A Kids Book About Kindness, talks about how kindness is for everyone, and everyone can show kindness, every day!

Episode Notes

Jackson Cooper, author of A Kids Book About Kindness, talks about how kindness is for everyone, and everyone can show kindness, every day!

A Kids Book About Kindness ( view book)
Full Book Description:
Do you know what kindness is, really? Do you think being kind to someone means that you're weak? Do you think you can't be kind to yourself? Here's a little secret...sharing kindness is one of the coolest things you can do! You're never too old, or too young, or too busy to be kind. Anyone can be kind to others, and to themselves, every day!
About the Author:
Jackson Cooper (he/him) is an arts leader and writer based in Seattle, Washington. He has 15+ years of experience working in the arts, producing over 100 live classical music concerts, theater performances, film retrospectives, and chamber music presentations. He holds an MFA from Seattle University.

*If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you'd like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidsco.com and we'll send you the details.

Episode Transcription
A Kids Book About: The Podcast Jackson Talks About Kindness [INTRODUCTION]
Matthew: What is kindness? How do you define it? What does kindness look like?

Max: For me, kindness is being able to be nice to someone without any receiving any reward. Just from the good of your heart.

Jackson: Kindness is helping someone be the best person that they can be. It's something that you can do or receive that is meaningful to you and the person receiving it.

So kindness can be an action like sharing, giving. It can also be a phrase like thank you or I appreciate you. Kindness, to me has always shown up in actions. We will talk a little bit about how it can show up in words, but to me, kindness is this universal feeling of helping someone be the best that they can be and the person that they truly want to be seen as, you know, have their voice heard as you know, just be themselves fully.

Matthew: Welcome to A Kids Book About: The Podcast! I'm Matthew. I'm a teacher, a librarian, and I'm your host.

The voices you heard just a moment ago were from Max and Jackson.

Each week we talk about the big things going on in your world with a different author from our A Kids Book About series.

Jackson: Hi, I'm Jackson Cooper. I am a queer, male writer. And I am the author of A Kids Book About Kindness.
[TOPIC FOUNDATION]
Matthew: Hello, listeners! I love today's topic. I love it because I know it's something you show and I know it's something you notice. We're going to get into the details of kindness today and my hope is that our conversation helps you to be more intentional with how you demonstrate kindness throughout your day, as well as how you notice kindness happening to you and to others around you.

But first, Jackson used a word in his introduction and I want to make sure we break it down in case you have questions. Jackson introduced himself as a "queer, male writer."

Have you heard someone use the word "queer" to describe themselves? Here's what Jackson means when he uses that word:

Jackson: To me queer means that, uh, well, I do identify as, um, as gay on the LGBT spectrum.

And I use the term queer as an empowered word that means that I, that my identity, does not conform to maybe something that is familiar in the society around us. I am Jackson. I am my own self. And I have many different multitudes and identities within me. But I also am a gay person who prefers men. And so I'm very proud to be part of the LGBTQ community.

Matthew: Each of you, dear listeners, is unique. I am sure that statement is not surprising at all to you.

And now that you know a little bit about Jackson, let's begin digging deeper into kindness. We'll start with spotting kindness in our world.

What does kindness look like to you? What acts of kindness have you noticed recently in your home or your school or your community?

Turn to a classmate, a friend, a grownup, or whomever might be listening with you right now and share what kindness looks like to you. And if you're listening to this with headphones or by yourself, you can think your response or you can whisper it aloud to me. I may not be able to hear you, but I promise I am always listening.

What does kindness look like?

Max: Kindness looks like helping out somebody in need when you don't need to. Kindness can happen whenever you want.

Jackson: Yeah, kindness comes in all shapes and sizes.

Words and phrases, big, small, tall, huge. And also just even down to something as simple as like a high five or a good job. Even a phrase like, "Have a great day at school" or "You did great" is a simple, simple way to show kindness,.

But it can also mean something really big and meaningful, which means that you are grasping onto something that you remembered was special to a person or you want to help a person feel special and you bring them up and you pull them up and elevate them, show them that, uh, show others their success or celebrate their talents. It can mean putting someone else before you.

And making that decision to elevate someone's voice and celebrate them, celebrate their accomplishments. Or even for you to take a back seat while someone is being recognized and appreciated for their talents is a big form of kindness.

So it has a huge spectrum and it also means so many different things to so many different people, so many different cultures, and so many different identities. Even the ways that we show up in different settings like school or work or the playground. Kindness shows up very, very differently from place to place.

And yet what we have to just remember is that it can show up in terms of not doing something to help yourself, but to help others. And you also feel good in the process of doing it.

Matthew: Kindness is emphasized a lot in schools. We are reminded to be kind, to show kindness. We're asked, "Was that a very kind thing to do?" or "Were you being kind when you did that?"

But kindness isn't a given. We are not all born naturally kind. It's a muscle that has to be practiced and developed. It's something that has to be modeled and something that is learned.

Jackson: We all have the ability to be kind within us. Every day we have to decide whether to be kind or not,. Even hour by hour, minute by minute sometimes, but it's something that you're not born with. It's something that you practice. It's something that you are actively choosing to do in the moment every single day.

We're born with the traits of love and compassion for others, like a need to really want to help others and protect the ones we love, but it can be difficult if kindness is not practiced. Kindness stems from love and compassion. And so we're all born with the ability to love and be compassionate, but kindness is the actual putting, uh, an action to that love and compassion for others.

My mom taught my brother, sister, and I, when we were very, very young, that you have to do one kind thing a day to somebody, including yourself, to feel like you've had a really good day. It's kind of like making your bed, though. Like, you have to do it every day to be good at it, right? Or to feel accomplished. My mom would want me to tell you to make your bed every day so that you feel very accomplished.

But if you do it every day, like making your bed, if you do something kind for one person, including yourself every day, it stops becoming a practice and it starts becoming a habit. And then it starts to become part of your lifestyle and your character, and it becomes easier to do. It becomes more natural. And people begin to notice that and they begin to feel inspired to be kind. They begin to choose to say, "Look at what that person is doing. Maybe I will do that in my life" or "I will do that for my friends."

So it can be difficult for people to be kind because they haven't practiced it as much, or they feel like they need to do it around a special occasion, like a birthday party, or Christmas, or New Year's, or something where they feel like they have to give because there's a big party around it when really every day we all need to choose to be kind to one another because we all are struggling sometimes. And we don't actually know what each other is going through.

And so the thing that we need to choose to be to one another is kind. And the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Matthew: Let's take a quick break. And when we return, Jackson will talk about how kindness is a superpower that we can all access.
[PERSONAL CONNECTION TO TOPIC]
Jackson: I grew up with an extremely kind family. Kindness was actually a rule of the household.

And I have parents who still to this day tell my brother, sister and I, when we're navigating adulthood and which is a lot more complex than elementary, middle. or high school, even college, that kindness is the thing that people remember, and it's the thing that. at the end of the day, when your head hits the pillow, you can be very proud of.

Even in the face of bullies and resentment and anger. Even if it's not something you did and it's misdirected at you, if you are kind to people, that's what you're proud of at the end of the day.

And so I knew growing up that kindness was a superpower that my family had. And it was something that I wanted to express to others because I saw a lot of people my age as I was growing up not understanding that kindness was something that you did every day or that you had just had as a core value. And I just wanted to create a book eventually that sort of talked about that.

Matthew: We'll be back in just a moment.
[BREAK]
Matthew: Welcome back.

Today on the podcast we're talking about kindness with A Kids Book About author Jackson Cooper.

Kindness isn't just an act, it's a feeling. And, listeners, I bet if you took a moment to think about the feeling you get from being kind or the feeling you've felt when someone is kind to you, it will bring those feels right back to the surface.

So, how does being kind or receiving kindness feel to you?

Max: I think that kindness makes me feel joyful, and that many people should have it, and that if you don't, that just isn't right, cause kindness is liberty.

Jackson: I feel very warm and fuzzy when I give kindness and when I receive it. I feel an immense sense of, I love this word, gratitude. Just truly being thankful for somebody taking the time to choose to be kind to me.

It takes a moment for me to recognize that, but then for it to really sit as gratitude and to say, "Wow, this person probably has a busy life like me, and yet they chose for a moment to be kind and to say thank you or to congratulate me on something".

Those little moments we can't take for granted. So I always feel warm and fuzzy. And I also feel very proud when I do something kind. Not as an ego thing, not to be arrogant or to say, "Oh yes, I helped that person", but to say "That felt good".

And kindness should always feel good. It should never feel like homework. It should never feel like a chore. You should always make it feel natural. Like, of course I would do something like that. Or of course I would help a person like that because I want to.

So I feel really, really good about that because I get to see that they received the kindness and they recognized it as well.

Matthew: Let me read to you one of my favorite lines from A Kids Book About Kindness.

"Kindness is a choice we make every day with everybody we meet."

Jackson has touched on this a few times throughout our conversation, but let's really break down what he meant when he says that kindness is a choice.

Jackson: It takes energy and it takes courage. And to be courage means to be vulnerable, which means we have to sometimes stand before the entire world and open up our hearts to say, "This is what I care about, and this is what I, I think needs to be done. This is how this person needs to be treated, or I need to do this."

And I feel like everyone has that ability. Oftentimes, though, we are in situations where we can feel pressured to act a certain way, either by our friends, our systems, sometimes maybe our family, and we just want to make the people around us happy.

And to break free of that, to truly be ourselves means to be very courageous. It means you will probably have to stand on your own and be vulnerable and say, "No, I am choosing to be this way. I am going to be kind."

But kindness at the end of the day is for you, it is all about nurturing the garden of your heart and building up this, you know, community through the choices that you are making. We make thousands of choices every day and oftentimes they're very fast. We make them in a split second. It's not like lunch where we can spend hours thinking about what we're having for lunch. Sometimes we have to make a split decision about picking something up or even just like, am I going to finish homework today or tomorrow? Yes or no.

But that's a choice. Kindness also is a choice. And you have the choice in a situation to be kind to everybody you encounter. So when you choose to be kind to everyone you meet, you make them feel like they're already part of your community, that they feel seen, that they can be themselves.

And I wanted in the book to really emphasize that it's a choice because I saw so many people who chose not to be kind, and I wondered why would somebody be so mean? Why are there bullies in this world? Why are there bullies at every stage of life from child to teen to adults? Why do people choose to be mean. And it's that they are choosing not to be kind.

So we can choose to either be very, very mean or to be kind. And again, as I've mentioned, kindness is shown in a variety of different ways. So it doesn't have to be big and grand. It can just be an affirmation, a thank you, a yes, a I'm here for you. I see you. Um, I, and it, The choice is yours at the end of the day.

Matthew: Our time's almost up. I'm about to send you back out into the world. So let's take a moment to consider what kindness looks like, both to give and to receive. And what kindness feels like, both to give and to receive.

Jackson? Are there any actions we, the listeners, can take to demonstrate kindness or to respond out of kindness to others, whether they be family, friends, or people in our community?

Jackson: Try to do one kind thing every day for a person. It could be sharing something. It doesn't even have to be something that you have. It could be knowledge. It could be a fact. It could be how you feel about them in a good way. "Thank you so much for being my friend. I'm so grateful that you're here." Give something to someone. tell something that you saw, something that they reminded you of them.

I also say when you do that, keep a journal, if you can, a kindness journal, that is what you did and for whom. And write that at the end of the day, but then also under it, write one thing that you did for yourself. And that can be maybe giving yourself some time to do something creative that you want to do or giving yourself the time to go for a walk. But keep a journal of kindness, because after even a week you'll see how much you've touched people's lives. And also how you've become a better person for yourself at the end of it.

Another very tangible thing I like to tell people is handwritten cards are not gone. And so if there is somebody in your life that you want to appreciate or say thank you to, a handwritten card is always good to do and a very kind gesture that people do remember and will keep forever.

So, if you don't want to keep a journal, at least write one or two handwritten cards to somebody in your life who's close to you, who's made a difference, and you'll be a very, a kinder person by doing that.
[CLOSING]
Matthew: Thank you to Jackson Cooper, author of A Kids Book About Kindness, for joining us today. And special thanks to Max for lending their voice to this episode.

Max: My name is Max Asher. I am 11 years old and live in Texas. My favorite thing is swimming, playing soccer, and playing video games.

Matthew: A Kids Book About: The Podcast is written, edited, and produced by me, Matthew Winner. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory.

And this show was brought to you by A Kids Co.

Follow the show wherever podcasts are found and check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.

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Jackson Cooper, author of A Kids Book About Kindness, talks about how kindness is for everyone, and everyone can show kindness, every day!

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A kid's book about kindness

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this podcast talked about: What kindness is and what it looks like.

one thing i learned/one thing i found interesting: kindness can be something as simple as a high five.

i liked this podcast because kindness is free in the would and its not always a word and its not hard to do at all. and to just remember Ur kindness is always making someones day.

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this podcast talk about how Alex Bellos tell Robert that the first humans ever used numbers. I learned that Alex boles is a writer, I kinda like it

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it was boring and long

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Be kind with people and be nice, when some one is around you, community, your parent are kind, your friends, your dog. Sharing toys with people.

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This podcast talked about: perserverance

One thing that i learned is that not a lot of people understand perververance when lerning it for the first time

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this podcast talked about: perseverance

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this podcast talked about perseverance

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I learned that every angle is important and has a meaning

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Her name is Yossi, she goes to school, she likes kids. The goals is you keep trying and work hard enough doing your work. if you don't that be a problem, you have to do it. if you don't focus, you need to be focus.

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this podcast talks about what kindness means to you and other people

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I like this podcast because, it teaches other kids to show kindness everywhere.