Organized and calm coexistence in the classroom is an indispensable condition for the normal unfolding of life in the early childhood centre. It means a responsibility that not only the teachers but also the children assume that they have to pay attention to and take care of what they do or decide, within norms that are general and applicable to all.

Of course this implies two important things: One, that the rules are appropriate to the characteristics of the understanding and behaviour of the children, and two, that they are followed strictly with consequences when the rules are disobeyed or ignored.

Given the possibilities of the age group, the small children have to be motivated to pay attention to and take care of what they do. We have to teach them the rules that they have to follow, and to praise them when they do so, or to let them know when they breach the norms. This has to be done during any of the classroom activities, and the rules should not turn into a Decalogue of actions to be fulfilled far from the activities of their daily life.

For this it is indispensable that the children assume the fulfilment of the norms as their "own commitment", and not as one that prevails as an authority symbol. The norms must be internalized by their own decision, and not imposed from outside, although it is to be expected that given the characteristics of the child age there will be frequent breaches for diverse reasons. As they learn to follow the rules, their behavior becomes a pattern and gradually become a personality trait.

As an initial part of the course, or of the term, the children should be taught the norms, and the educator has to develop several activities to teach them.

The parents have to know these rules, in such a way that at home they reinforce the behaviours that the school is trying to form.

ACTIVITY No 1
"TO LEARN TO COEXIST IN THE CLASSROOM"

Summary of the activity: There will be a meeting in the classroom to help them agree on the rules to be followed and to establish a commitment of everyone with respect to the rules, and to talk about how people act when they commit themselves to do something in benefit of the others.

Objectives:
• To develop in the children knowledge on the norms that are to govern the life in the classroom.
• To obtain an initial acceptance of their fulfilment.

Procedures:
• Explanation
• Conversation
• Questions and answers
• Analysis and synthesis

Material Resources: Typical materials for an art activity, a mural or notice board, cardboard, a cassette recorder.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator tries to make an initial diagnosis on the knowledge that the children have on the norms, for which he will make questions such as:
Do you know what a rule is? What is it?
How do people act, or what do they do when they follow a rule?
Why are rules important?
What classroom rules do you know?
Do you fulfil them well or badly?
Do you know someone who stands out for fulfilling the norms? How does he behave?

2nd Part
After the initial diagnosis, the educator will talk with the children about it, in order to familiarize them on what the rules are, completing the things that they could have said badly or in an incomplete way.

He will summarize this part after explaining that a norm is a type of behaviour that is established so that life and the stay in a place are calm, organized and harmonious, this is why it is necessary to pay attention to and take care of what we need to do to follow the norm, which is a very pretty quality, and that the people who fulfil the norms are loved and respected by all.

This is why they must be children who fulfil the norms and who must carry out them well and until the end.

3rd Part
In this part, the children will propose the norms that will be established in the classroom, their opinions will be put to the group’s discussion and approval. The educator will try that the norms that are suggested be appropriate for the conditions and the age of the group. Such norms could be:
Not to hit each other.
Not to shout in the classroom.
To order things after each activity.
To maintain the classroom clean and without papers on the floor.
To say please, thanks, you’re welcome, whenever they are needed or something is given to them.
To take care of the material and the classroom equipment.
To respect their classmates’ turn.
To help the educator when they are asked for.
To pay attention to the activities.

With these the educator can select some rules, because an excess of norms is counter-productive and limits independence and autonomy.

Whenever a child says a norm, for example "To maintain the classroom clean..." the educator will explain what the norm consists, so that each child understands what it is intended with this norm. After all the doubts in each norm have been explained, one will turn to the group voting, for which each child will raise his hand.

The educator has to reinforce that once the norm is approved, each child acquires a commitment to fulfil it, and that will be praised or criticized, according to their behaviour.

The educator has to record all the session, in order to extract from the recording the most important moments. We can use the recorded explanation of each norm and the approval of each one of them, to remind the children when they listen again to the recording at other times that they have made a commitment.

4th Part
There will be an art activity in which the children will try to draw an image of each norm, for example, gathering papers on the classroom floor, ordering the shelves, etc. The educator will draw a much more complete and explanatory image of those norms, which will be placed in various parts of the classroom next to the children’s work about the same norms.

5th Part
At the end of every week, or in the lapses that the educator considers appropriate given the characteristics of his group, he will hold brief meetings to evaluate the fulfilment of the norms in the period, he will praise and award the reliable children, and a critical analysis to the unreliable ones will be done, in order to urge them to overcome their difficulties in the following period.

ACTIVITY No 2
"THE BEST ONES OF THE NORMS"

Summary of the activity: This activity is to organize a place in the classroom where we will set up a place of honour for the best followers of the norms. Later the educator will explain why they will create that place and finally the children will choose those who should go be in the honour list.

Objectives:
• That the children feel stimulated to fulfil the norms.
• That they learn to evaluate the good behaviour of their classmates.

Procedures:
• Practical actions
• Conversation
• Explanation

Material Resources: A mural or a blackboard, a table with an album, a table cloth, photos of the chosen children.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator will explain to the group that he is going to prepare a place to stimulate the children who fulfil the norms, and where they will put the photos of those who are chosen by the group as the best ones.

He will make an effort so that everybody takes part in the activity of organizing the place together, thus they will clean the part of the classroom where they are going to place the photos, others will prepare cardboard frames to put the photos of the chosen children, others will make a paper table cloth to put on the table, some will help the teacher to cover and to decorate beautifully the mural where the photos and the diplomas will be hung, etc.

2nd Part
Once the honour place is prepared, the children guided by the educator will value their behaviour in the period, and they will vote in group for those that they consider the best ones in the fulfilment of the norms.

3rd Part
Every week, or in the period that the educator considers appropriate, he will have a meeting with the group to determine the children who in that week are the best ones, and whose photos will be put in the honour board.

The educator will try that the evaluations are fair. For this he could choose the children by himself, but this does not have the same educational effect as when the children guided by their educator do it. The intention is to value their own commitment that has been acquired in the previous activities.