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Persistence is explained as the action of staying firm or constant to something or as the insistence on obtaining something wanted. Moreover, in this respect, it is something that lasts for a long time.

To develop persistence in the small child entails patient and systematic work, since his psychic processes are involuntary.

The child at the age of zero to six years does not direct his conduct voluntarily, he has just begun to develop his will, to the extent in which the education stimulates this development and the activities aim at this objective, the wilful intent of the psychic processes is formed little by little.

Given what was previously said it is absolutely valid to work on persistence in the child as a psychic value, and to teach him to finish what he begins, so that he persists until obtaining results although the activity may be difficult.

This is not an easy task, in particular with the little ones; nevertheless the child in the pre-school or pre-primary school has to have reached an acceptable level of persistence, which is what allows him to obtain an appropriate performance in educational activities.

ACTIVITY No 1
"THE WEDDING ROOSTER"

Summary of the activity: The first part of this activity consists of a story with pictures, "The wedding rooster", in the second part there will be a conversation and the third part will consist of a drawing contest.

Objectives:
• To develop knowledge on persistence in the children.
• That the children understand the necessity to be persistent to be able to arrive at the proposed objective or aim.

Procedures:
• Narration
• Conversation
• Questions and answers
• Practical Actions

Material Resources: Pictures of the story "The Wedding Rooster", brushes, watercolours, paper and other art materials.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator will narrate the story, and he will show the pictures.

"The Wedding Rooster”

Well sir: this was a rooster that was going, clean and elegant to the wedding of his uncle Perico. On the way he found a pile of garbage and he stepped aside not to soil himself. But in the middle of the garbage bin he saw a grain of maize. The rooster stopped and thought:

If I do not peck
I lose the grain,
And if peck,
I stain my beak
And I will not be able to go to my uncle Perico´s wedding
What shall I do?
To peck or not to peck?
At the end he pecked
And he soiled his beak

Then he asked the grass:

Grass,
Clean my beak,
Because I will not be able to go to my uncle Perico´s wedding.

But the grass said:
"I do not want to do it."

Then he asked the ewe

Ewe eat the grass
because he does not want to clean my beak
so I can go to my uncle Perico´s wedding.

But the ewe said:
I do not want to do it

Then asked the dog:

Dog,
bite the ewe
that does not want to eat the grass
that does not want to clean my beak
so I can go to my uncle Perico´s wedding

But the dog said:
I do not want to do it

Then he asked the log:

Log,
beat the dog,
that does not want to bite the ewe
that does not want to eat the grass
that does not want to clean my beak
so I can go to my uncle Perico´s wedding

But the log said:
I do not want to do it

Then he asked the fire:

Fire,
burn the log,
that does not want to beat the dog,
that does not want to bite the ewe
that does not want to eat the grass
that does not want to clean my beak
so I can go to my uncle Perico´s wedding

But the fire said:
I do not want to do it

Then he asked the water:

Water,
extinguish the fire,
that does not want to burn the log,
that does not want to beat the dog,
that does not want to bite the ewe
that does not want to eat the grass
that does not want to clean my beak
so I can go to my uncle Perico´s wedding

But the water said:
I do not want to do it

Then the Rooster looked at his friend, the Sun:

Sun,
dry the water,
that does not want to extinguish the fire,
that does not want to burn the log,
that does not want to beat the dog,
that does not want to bite the ewe
that does not want to eat the grass
that does not want to clean my beak
so I can go to my uncle Perico´s wedding

And the Sun said:

Right now

Then the water said: No, I’m sorry, I will extinguish the fire.

And the fire said: No, I’m sorry, I will burn the log

And the log said: No, I’m sorry, I will beat the dog

And the dog said: No, I’m sorry, I will bite the ewe

And the ewe said: No, I’m sorry, I will eat the grass.
And the grass said: No, I’m sorry, I will clean your beak

And it cleaned it.

Then the rooster gave thanks to its friend Sun with a long cock-a-doodle-doo. And he started to run to arrive on time at the wedding, and to get some of the sweets and wine of the party.

2nd Part
The educator will talk with the children on the attitude of the Wedding Rooster. He will tell them that thanks to his persistence, the rooster could arrive at his uncle Perico´s wedding.

He will reinforce that the rooster stayed firm and insisted until he managed to solve his problem, and that as well as the rooster, when the children have a problem they will have to insist to solve it and to obtain what they want to achieve, in the case of the rooster it was to clean his beak to go to his uncle Perico´s wedding and for that, he had to ask for help to the grass, to the ewe, to the dog, to the log, to the fire, to the water, without getting tired until the sun helped him.

He will clarify that if the rooster did not want to soil his beak, he should not have pecked the grain of maize in the first place, but if he already did it, he had to solve the problem, and thus with much persistence he managed to solve it.

He will reinforce to them that when they have problems in an activity and they cannot solve them, they will have to insist and to look for different solutions, and if they cannot do find them, they will do as the rooster that asked for help to his friend the sun, so they can ask a friend, the teacher, their parents for help, but they must always try to obtain a result.

After this commentary, the educator will ask the children

What was the thing that you liked most in the story?
What new thing have you learned in this story?
Could we say that the rooster is persistent? Why?
What has the rooster gained with his persistence?

3rd Part
There will be a drawing contest on the topic "The Wedding Rooster", the children will draw the characters of the story and the best drawings will be rewarded and shown in an exhibition.

The prizes will be granted by the educator and the children who will act as jury, the teacher will give to the members of the jury some elements to evaluate the works, for example, the use and the combination of colors and shades, etc.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They knew how to explain why the Wedding Rooster was persistent.
They needed help to explain why the Wedding Rooster was persistent.
They knew how to explain what the rooster won with his persistence.
They needed help to explain what the rooster won with his persistence.
They showed interest in doing the drawings.

ACTIVITY No 2
"THE BLIND LITTLE CHICKEN"

Summary of the activity: This is a motion game, in which persistence stands out as a value.

Objectives:
• To develop in the children experiences on persistence.
• To interest the children in overcoming obstacles and insisting on reaching the proposed goal.
• To exercise.

Material Resources: Blindfold to cover the eyes, crates and ropes that will serve as obstacles in the race.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
We will play the game "The blind little chicken".

Organization of the game:
A circle is done, a blindfolded child is placed in the centre, she will try to touch some of her friends that are in the circle, but they will stand back and run away towards the goal to avoid being touched by the blind little chicken. Once they reach the goal they will be out of danger.

The child who plays the blind little chicken will only have the eyes covered until the educator tells him to take off the bandage, this will be done when he arrives at the obstacles, from then on he chases the children with his eyes open to avoid tripping and falling.

The goal can be put several meters away from the place from where they leave and to should not be very easy to arrive to in, from the second meter, there should be obstacles, crates to jump over, ropes at 50 centimetres height in order to go underneath them, and stones that will have to be put away from the path.

The children who play the blind little chicken will be rotated.

Rules of the game:
The children touched by the blind little chicken will leave the game.
All the children who arrive at the goal without being touched by the blind little chicken will win.

2nd Part
After the game is concluded, the educator will explain as a summary that it is necessary to have new goals every day, that today it was to run very insistently to the goal without being touched by the little chicken, but there are other goals to which one has to aspire, for example, to learn a lot every day, to behave well with the adults, etc. and for that they must be very persistent, to stay firm or constant to something. To insist like the Wedding Rooster on obtaining what they set out to do.

Later the children will express their criteria and opinions on what was said by the educator, and they will propose new conclusions.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They expressed interest in arriving at the goal.
They overcame obstacles with persistence to arrive at the goal.
They needed to be stimulated to continue the game.
They stopped at some moment of the race and showed little interest in arriving at the goal.
They related the arrival at the goal to the persistence of the effort made.
They exemplified persistent behaviours observed in their daily life.

ACTIVITY No 3
"THE PERSISTENT TURKEY"

Summary of the activity: The activity consists of the dramatization of a poem.

Objectives: To develop in the children positive emotions towards the characters who are persistent.

Procedures:
• Recitation
• Dramatization
• Conversation

Material Resources: Two puppets: a turkey and a turkey hen. A table theatre on which we can see the hen house with other birds well dressed to celebrate the wedding of Turkey Cent and the Little Turkey of the Sad Eyes.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator prepares a table theatre. The stage scene will be the painted hen house with several poultries.

The figures of the Turkey Cent puppet and the Little Turkey of the Sad Eyes puppet are placed on the scene. As we say the poem we move the puppets on the table. The puppets will have a cardboard base so that they are able to stand up.

The Turkey Cent
persists and persists
because he wants to marry
the Little Turkey
of the sad eyes.

She did not want to
but he insisted so much
today he gave flowers
tomorrow he gives perfumes
until she was convinced

(The Turkey Cent puppet moves
giving flowers and perfumes to
the Little Turkey)

In the hen house everybody
because those who persist
fight for what they want
until they are happy

(The turkey and the Little Turkey embrace
was very happy themselves)

2nd Part
We will talk about the characters of the poem, the educator will ask:
What have we learned with this poem?

He will let the children express their ideas and later he will comment:
"You have seen, those that persist prevail because they obtain what they want. Do you know how we would describe the Turkey Cent?”. "The persistent turkey" Do you know why?”

The educator will leave the children express their ideas. Later he will summarize the ideas expressed by them, defining with examples which is the persistent attitude and the benefits it can give us.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They showed positive emotions towards the Turkey Cent character.
They were disinterested in the Turkey Cent character.
They needed much stimulation to be interested in the Turkey Cent character.
They agreed with the behaviour of the turkey.
They related some of their own behaviours to persistent conducts.

ACTIVITY No 4
"FIND THE WAY"

Summary of the activity: This is a game in which the children will have to cross ways in a labyrinth until they find a suitable route to arrive at the goal.

Objectives: To develop persistence in the child.

Procedures:
• Game
• Explanation
• Observation

Material Resources: Several labyrinths drawn in fine cardboards or sheets of paper, fine pencils.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The game is explained.

The children will have to solve a task that consists of getting out of a very complicated labyrinth, in which they must find the way to arrive at a small house, without raising the pencil from the paper.

The labyrinths that are presented must be hard, they will have drawn several ways with many twists and turns and only one will take them to the way out.

The rules of the game are:
• To cross the ways without raising the pencil from the paper.
• The children who find the correct way will win.
• They can cross the ways as many times as they want until they manage to find the correct one.

2nd Part
Each child has a labyrinth and a pencil. The educator will have ready a sheet of annotations for each child and will observe:
If they insist on finding the correct way.
The number of attempts that they do.
If they change their strategy of working.
If they leave the task quickly.
If they get bored.
If they show signs of anxiety to finish.

Finally the works will be analyzed and the winners will be declared. These works must be placed on the mural of the classroom for several days.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They insisted on solving the given task until they found a solution.
They did not find the solution and they asked for help immediately, although they continued doing the activity.
They were interested, they insisted but they got tired quickly and they left the task.
They were disinterested from the beginning or after a short while they got tired, and they left the task.
They related the labyrinths to other daily life actions.

ACTIVITY No 5
"THE PERSISTENCE ALBUM"

Summary of the activity: It consists of preparing the "The Persistence Album" by all the children of the group to be shown during a future activity to the parents.

Objectives:
• To help the children to differentiate in their daily life activities that can be examples of persistence.
• To develop in them persistent conducts.

Procedures:
• Conversation
• Analysis, Synthesis
• Practical Actions

Material Resources: Album of photos or pictures, photos, cut-outs from magazines, glue, brushes, and other materials.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
In a meeting the educator explains the task, and he gives the instructions of what everyone is going to do, which consists of making an album of photos and cut-outs in which we will place those images that can be referred to a persistent conduct.

For this the children have to look in magazines, newspapers, and other graphical materials those images that must be placed there, and they can ask their parents to help them in this search.

2nd Part
It consists of the elaboration of the album with the materials contributed by the children. For this, whenever there is a proposal for inclusion the educator will analyze with them if what is observed in the image can be an example of a persistent conduct, why it is considered like that, considering all the opinions, in favour and against it.

The activity is concluded with the elaboration of the album, which does not necessarily have to be concluded in a single session.

3rd Part
In a session with the parents the children will show the album made and they will explain to them how they have done it and why they have elaborated it like that.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They understood the objective of the elaboration of the album.
They needed help to identify persistent conducts for the album.
They looked for cut-outs and photos for the activity with enthusiasm.
During the elaboration of the album they expressed criteria on the persistent conducts.
They knew how to explain to the parents the essence of what a persistent conduct is.

ACTIVITY No 6
CRITICAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE BLOCK
"WHAT WOULD YOU DO?"

Summary of the activity: This is a critical experience for the evaluation of the block, in which the educator suggests to the children complex situations to which they must give an answer after analyzing them. It has to be made in a group so that they reach conclusions in which all participate.

Objectives: To verify if the children have acquired knowledge on persistence and the benefits that practicing it gives us.

Procedures:
• Questions and answers
• Diverse Critical Situations
• Analysis

Material Resources: Texts of the critical situations prepared by the educator. Cassette Recorder if he considers it necessary.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The educator suggests to the children the following situations and questions:
1.- What would you do if a task is very difficult:
You would stop doing it _____
You would insist a little and try to solve it_____
You would insist a lot and try to solve it _____
You would work all the time to solve it _____
You would look for help ____
You would not look for help _____
The educator will note down the child’s answer.

2.- Maria’s parents have promised to buy her the doll that she watches every day in the window of the shop in front of the park, but for that she must wash up the dishes daily for a month.

But it happens that Maria hates the task, but she wants the doll with blond hair and green eyes. Then the girl washed up the dishes for several days, later she got tired of the task and some other days she only washed some dishes, and sometimes she did not wash up any. For that reason, her parents did not buy her the doll with blond hair and green eyes.

What would you do if you were Maria?
Do you think that the girl is a persistent person? Why?
Are you a persistent person? Yes____No ____ Why?

These are only some examples of how the block can be evaluated; the educator can create other experiences, situations, questions, etc.

2nd Part
The educator will play the cassette with the recordings of the criteria previously given by the children regarding persistence in the previous activities, and he will ask them to contrast them with the present ones, this will serve him to evaluate the progress (or stagnation) of the formation of this value.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They knew how to identify the persistent conduct.
They needed help to identify a persistent conduct.
They got to know the benefits that the persistence can have.
They needed help to know the benefits of a persistent performance.
They showed in their daily behaviour actions that denote an acceptable degree of persistence.
They evaluated in an appropriate way the differences between a persistent conduct and one that is not.