The Stoplight Approach

12/19/2025

Thank you to everyone who made this conference possible. 145 participants joined us, including new schools and leaders who chose to begin the Stoplight journey. These photos offer a glimpse into the energy, learning and connection made possible through your support.

Our hearts were so encouraged by those who have been at previous conferences sharing stories of real change in their own lives, schools and homes using the Stoplight Approach.

10/28/2025

Listen to pastor Patrick’s testimony.
Sponsor Patrick and other teachers to be able to come to the Ugandan Stoplight conference!!
https://www.thestoplightapproach.org/donate

10/23/2025

Donate Today: The Stoplight Conference is only a few weeks away. You can sponsor a teacher or student leader (like Jeremiah in video) to attend the conference for just $200. You can help transform Uganda one school at time.
Donate: https://www.thestoplightapproach.org/donate

09/27/2025

Support a Teacher to attend this year’s Stoplight training in Uganda!!!
$200 per Teacher — our goal is to sponsor 50 Teachers, student leaders, and heads of schools.
Help transform a country, school by school.

https://www.thestoplightapproach.org/donate

07/24/2025

07/18/2025

Kindness for little kids can mean sticking together - ‘we’re a group and we watch out for one another”.

Watch to see what happens when ‘sticking together’ is a classroom value that kids embrace to show kindness. When authentic kindness is the classroom culture, teachers don’t even have to tell their students to be kind - they just are! That’s shifting external motivation (rewards) to internal motivation.

07/17/2025

Try this fun summer activity that models how important kindness is to our communities and families.

07/15/2025

Kindness isn't just a lesson, it's a classroom culture.

In Part 5 of our Kindness in the Classroom series we’re exploring simple yet powerful strategies to make kindness a natural part of your classroom (or home!).

When kids consistently see, feel, and practice kindness, it transforms how they learn, connect, and grow.

Whether you’re a teacher or a parent, these tips can help build a community rooted in respect, empathy, and compassion.

Let’s raise kind kids for a kinder world.

07/12/2025

Try this with your kids!!

Years ago Cherilyn Orr started an informal ‘bread ministry’ with her little kids. They would make bread dough before nap time, let it rise, and have fresh loaves ready by dinner. Then they would watch by the window for neighbours to get home from work, and run over with a warm loaf to give!

These little encounters with neighbours built friendships and community, and became powerful lessons. Her kids weren’t just baking, they were wiring their brains for connection.

It can be those little acts of kindness that show people around you that you see them, and they matter.

Most importantly, baking bread to brighten your neighbour’s day shows your kids that kindness is fruitful and can lead to many rich moments in life. It teaches your kids to look beyond themselves to the busy lives of those around them.

Not to mention the valuable social skills meeting with neighbours can bring.

So go ahead! Bake some bread (or any other food your family enjoys) and share it with a neighbour. Kindness tastes good!

Find out more at thestoplightapproach.org

07/10/2025

How do we teach kindness without using rewards?

Move kindness from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation. Ultimately, kindness must be authentic. We want the children in our care to take initiative for their acts of kindness. We don’t want them to feel bribed or shamed into being kind—we want them to choose kindness.

If there are kids in our care who struggle with acts of kindness because they come from difficult homes where kindness is scarce, we don’t want to discourage them with sticker charts that set unrealistic goals.

Learn more about the brain science behind kindness at thestoplightapproach.org/resources

07/08/2025

Nurturing Kindness in Your Child
Not every parent knows that:

1. Acts of kindness can only happen when your child is in Green. That’s when they feel emotionally secure and can think beyond their own needs to the needs of others.

2. Kindness must be modeled first by caregivers. There are so many simple and creative ways to include acts of kindness in your children’s lives so that kindness becomes a habit, not just an afterthought. As caregivers, it’s up to you to lead the way!

3. You want your kids to adopt kindness as a part of who they are and what they do. That personal initiative won’t grow through bribes and rewards-based teaching. Thankfully, kindness itself releases feel-good hormones (dopamine, serotonin, endorphins), so external incentives aren't necessary.

Start small, stay consistent, and watch kindness take root as a natural part of your child’s everyday life.

For more resources to help your child become the best version of themselves check out thestoplightapproach.org/resources!