Truthness

y Childhood Educators___________________________
1
We define truthfulness as a human quality. The truthful person is the one that
always speaks, uses or professes the truth.
It is a value that must be formed very early in children and as any value, it can
be worked on in all their activities, either at school or at home.
The Roman poet Horatio, referring to truthfulness, considered truthful what
seems true according to the established standard by classic myths, which are
the hierarchically expression of the social values. This statement of Horatio is
valid regarding the fact that truthfulness is controlled by socially established
norms and values, therefore, it is susceptible to education, and can be taught to
our children.
Although we propose pedagogical activities with this objective, it is necessary
that the teacher knows that it is not enough; that he must use all the
opportunities available in daily life in the early childhood center, to teach the
children to be truthful and to know that the truth helps us to live in peace with
other people.
It is very interesting to encourage children to tell the truth in those situations
that require it. We should be cautious of not confusing fantasy with the absence
of truth and avoid the creation of situations that prevent the development of
fantasy: that is a characteristic of the child’s mind. The work must start in those
situations in which it is important to tell the truth. For this, the example of the
adult plays a fundamental role. He should never lie to children, he should
always give logical and real answers that favour the imitation and
comprehension of the reason we must tell the truth.
For example, if the educator asks what the children did during the weekend, the

important thing is that they tell what was really done, although, the story takes a
little fantasy, since for them, fantasy and the real thing interrelate and
complement each other. Everything a child says is very important, it should be
heard and the child should not be scolded when expressing his fantasies: the
child is learning to express thoughts.
There are situations that require the child to tell the truth, for example, when
asked, who broke the toy? Or who won the competition? In these cases, we must
be cautious when managing situations in which telling the truth may involve the
disapproval of the adult.
This value can be worked through conversations, stories, narrations, adaptations,
puppet shows, etc.
The results are achieved through patient and dedicated work, having always the
care not to make demands above their possibilities. It must be remembered that
some unimportant lies are normal in children behaviour, although, these should
not be encouraged. To praise when children tell the truth is very useful, and
parents should be orientated to keep a consistent attitude towards their children
in this issue.