Dr. Coles uses a story by Leo Tolstoy called "The Grandfather and the Grandson" to illustrate how moral thinking can develop in children. He uses this story to explore morals with children in classroom settings, but you can do the same at home with your children. The story, paraphrased is as follows:
The grand father got so old that his legs didn't work any more, he was blind, deaf, and he didn't have any teeth. His daughter-in-law got tired of the mess he would make at the table, so she made him eat behind the stove out of a cup.
One day he fumbled with the cup and broke it, making a mess. The daughter-in-law began grumbling about that and said from now on she would feed him from a wash pan.
A day or so later the daughter-in-law and son were watching the grand son play with blocks on the floor in their home. The boy was obviously building something with a concentrated passion. His father asked him what he was building. The small boy replied, "Why, Mother, Father, I am building a wash pan, for when you get old I will be able to feed you from." The daughter-in-law and son began to cry and held their heads in shame.
From then on they set a place at the table for the old man, and the daughter-in-law no longer grumbled as she had about the messes the old grand father made.
The End.
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