Excuse Me, I Am Sorry

Basic courtesy,etiquette and manners are generally assumed to be automatically imbued on learners; Syllabi at elementary level contextually(arguably) devote little content on these aspects of child’s character development.I was motivated to write “Excuse me,I am Sorry,the A-Z of courtesy, etiquette and manners” , after observing my two children and their interaction with customers at my workplace,after school.Words they used like ‘excuse me’,’am sorry’,’please’ and such like, won admiration from the customers,so I decided to share my thoughts in a book so that other parents can benefit as well.The book has 26 chapters(representing letters of the alphabet),with the following salient features:

• Simple and easy to understand, written English.
• Relatable situations where courtesy, etiquette,manners and respect are applicable.
• Memorable characters,i.e Zabuu & Nina.
• Use of non-human character-lady bird-to enhance and reinforce concepts in an interesting way.
• Illustrations for every unique aspect of courtesy,etiquette, manners and etiquette.
• Quiz at the end of every section to reinforce understanding by child.
• Glossary section for new words learnt.
• Use of Swahili names for people and places to spice text and drive the message home.Examples include Mr.Muungwana and Heshima.
• Engaging conversations with characters in the book.
• Structured in a smooth, flowing way for ease of recalling what has been learned in previous chapter.
• Teacher-parent-pupil friendly content and stimulating graphics