Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Amigui. Amigui was a very active boy. He had so much energy that he would run in the classroom and make everyone feel unsafe.
He would climb on the tables and lean back in the chairs. The teachers were afraid Amigui would fall and hurt himself!
At school, Amigui had trouble making friends because the other children thought Amigui might hurt them on accident.
All this movement made it hard for Amigui to learn. During circle time Amigui got up, lay down, and made it hard for the other children to learn, too!
Amigui liked playing with the toys. He would get several of them off the shelf and out of the toy box. When it was time to put the toys, Amigui didn’t want to help.
Amigui started crying and screaming as soon as the teacher said it was clean up time. He did not want to help the other with the easy chore.
Amigui’s unsafe behavior created many problems for Amigui. He had changed schools several times when the teachers could no longer put up with Amigui’s behaviors.
Amigui found unsafe places to play on the school playground. He always played away from the other children, refusing to take part in their games. One day, his teacher found him swinging from a high tree limb. He could slip and hurt himself! His teacher was worried. Something had to be done to control Amigui’s unsafe behavior.
The next day was gloomy with a gray sky. Amigui’s mother came at 5:00PM to pick him up. Amigui’s teacher told his mother about how he acted since he started at the school. The teacher told Amigui’s mother that he ran and climbed during class, which was dangerous to everyone and made it hard to learn. She also talked about how he played in unsafe ways on the playground.
Amigui’s mother did not think that he meant to be unsafe. She knew that Amigui loved to learn. After talking with the teacher, Amigui’s mother felt the school was not doing enough to help teach Amigui about how to correct his behavior. She decided to move Amigui to another school.
The next day, Amigui and his mother went to his new school. It was a bright, sunny day with a beautiful blue sky. Amigui felt happy and knew the new school would be the place he would learn how to behave correctly.
As Amigui walked towards the front doors of the new school, he could see books lining the windows. As he and his mother entered the school, Amigui saw bookshelves full of books. "I like this school!” Amigui thought. “This school is much better than my last school!”
Finally, Amigui and his mother stepped into his new classroom.
Standing
by the door was Amigui’s new teacher. She looked at Amigui and gave him a big smile, “Welcome to class, Amigui! We will have fun and learn a lot of things today!”
As the teacher talked to Amigui’s mother, Amigui looked around the room. He saw happy boys and girls, bright colors, and a lot of books. “I like this room,” he said, “I hope we get to read a lot of these books!
Amigui’s teacher came over as Amigui’s mother left the room. His teacher invited him to enjoy circle time with the other students.
After they all sat down, the teacher talked to the group. “This is Amigui. He is our new friend. He is new here, so please help him as much as you can.” Amigui felt the friendliness of his classmates and loved the new environment.
During story time, the teacher read a story about the vowels. Each vowel introduced itself in the story.
A said, “A is for advice to be wise.”
E said, “E is for emotions, our feelings set in motion.”
I said, “I is for intention that increases our attention.”
O, said “O is for observation that gives us motivation.”
U said, “U is for Unstuck that always cheer us up.”
Amigui was amazed by the story. He raised his hand because he had a question. The teacher called on him. “What do the vowels mean,” he asked.
His teacher said, “Vowels help us to speak and sing. They are also very important for learning how to read and write.”
“The vowels from this book are magical; they are going to show us how to handle our emotions as well.”
After the teacher told Amigui about the vowels, she took the class to the playground so they could have physical activity time.
Amigui was so happy and calm playing. The teacher announced that play time was over. Amigui came inside to the classroom. He started crying, screaming, and threw himself on the floor. Amigui accidently kicked the bookshelf and a book fell down next to him.
It was the book with the magic vowels. Mysteriously, the vowel A brought advice to Amigui and put a pillow around him to prevent Amigui from getting hurt. A advised him that “by kicking you can get hurt or you may hurt others. It will be best if you stop kicking.” Immediately, Amigui stopped kicking.
Next, the vowel E for emotions came out from the book. E encouraged Amigui to connect with his emotions “Are you feeling really mad because you left the playground?” E asked? Amigui just looked at E for emotions and sighed. “Yes,” Amigui said, and lay down on the floor.
Then, the vowel I for intention came out of the book. I showed Amigui how to focus his attention on his breathing for relaxation. “Breathe in through the nose, breathe out through the mouth,” I said. Amigui did what the vowel I told him, and started to relax.
Finally, the vowels O for observation and U for unstuck came out of the book. The vowels found a drum and played music to cheer up Amigui. Amigui took control of his emotions by listening to the vowels and doing what they told him.
Before the next play time, the teacher showed Amigui a bell. “When you hear the bell ring, Amigui,” she said, “it is time to stop playing, line up, and go happily back inside to the classroom.”
Outside on the playground, when Amigui heard the bell, he immediately ran to line up with his other friends to walk to the classroom in single file.
Amigui felt loved and accepted in his new school. He enjoyed learning and wanted to keep feeling positive and in control of his emotions.
One day, Amigui was building with blocks. He wanted to build a tall tower. Suddenly, a classmate started knocking down what Amigui built.
“Hey, stop that,” Amigui said. Amigui became very angry at his classmate. He picked up a block and threw it towards his classmate. The block hit the child’s forehead and caused a large bump to grow.
The boy was crying, and screaming. Amigui did not know what to do, so he ran and hid behind a door. Then he saw a box and decided to hide inside it. He was feeling scared and sad. “What if they make me leave the school,” Amigui thought. “I really like it here.”
Amigui looked around in the box. The magic book with the vowels was in the box with him! He picked it up. From a distance, he could hear footsteps coming toward him. “What I am going to do now,” Amigui thought.
The teacher found him in the box. She reached in, picked him up out of the box, and stood him on the floor. Amigui was holding the magic book.
Amigui told the teacher he wanted to practice what he learned from the vowels. First, he listened to A for advice, and for apologies.

He walked over to the child and apologized. Amgui said, “I am sorry to hurt you. I do not like when I am building and someone knocks my building down. Next time, please let me know that you want to play with me, so we can play and built something together.”
Amigui’s apology was sincere, and the child accepted it.
Second, Amigui remembered that E is also for empathy. Amigui went and found the first aid kit so he could help his friend feel better.
Third, Amigui remembered that I is also for important. “Helping someone,” Amigui thought, “is important because it shows you are sorry for what happened.”
Fourth, Amigui remembered that O was for observation. O had taught him how important is to observe his emotions before he acted. “I should have observed I was angry,” Amigui said, “and focused on my breathing.”
Fifth, Amigui recalled that U is also for Understanding. Amigui started asking himself questions about what happened in the situation. “Why was I feeling that way,” he asked himself. He did not like it how he felt or what he did. Amigui told himself, “I would not want to play with someone who does not know about kindness and who does not play nice. If I am not kind or nice, who will wan to play with me?”
That evening during drop off, Amigui’s teacher told his mother how much he had learned today, and all the amazing improvements in his behavior he had made.
Amigui very proudly told his mother everything he learned. He told her how helpful the vowels were. Amigui asked the teacher if he could take the vowel book home. The teacher said yes!
Amigui asked his mother, “how would you feel if I take this book home to practice what I have learned with you, dad, and my siblings?” Amigui’s mother thought that was a great idea. Very happy with how his day went and how much Amigui had changed, he and his mother took the book home.
And ever since that day, Amigui has shared this book with other schools and other families, so they can practice the lessons he learned!!!