VAN NUYS : For Homework, Say ‘Please’ and ‘Thanks’

About 500 students at Valley Schools in Van Nuys spent time Monday learning lessons more fundamental than reading, writing or arithmetic.

They practiced manners--simple acts of politeness such as standing when an adult enters the room, listening when someone speaks and raising a hand before talking.

It’s all part of what may be the nation’s first comprehensive school curriculum on manners, which was created last year by Valley Schools instructors Deborah Richmond and Diane Manchen.

“It’s a simple presentation of something that’s been missing,” Richmond said. “Diplomacy used to be a very important part of everything. Now it’s not.”

“Respecting Elders,” “Language: Appropriate & Not,” “Temper Control” and other lessons in the program stress desirable behavior, and dozens of school districts have expressed interest in the manners curriculum.

“We’ve received several responses from all over the United States, even from Alberta, Canada,” Manchen said. “The response is the same--’We want this. We need this.’ ”

At Valley Schools, the two-week lessons are customized by each teacher. On Monday, elementary and junior high students had completed a lesson about respecting elders and were focusing on classroom manners.

Sandy Jensen had her first-graders make construction-paper kites with their favorite good behavior written on the front. Leslye Ruditzky reminded fifth-graders of “manners money,” coupons awarded to students seen on their best behavior and redeemable for campus goodies. April Baldwin combined the teaching with her geography lessons, telling seventh-graders the importance of respecting other cultures.

Instructors say the program has helped after just one year.

“It brings out the good in the kids,” Baldwin said. “They’re pretty attentive. I think they want to be respectful.”

“It’s fun for them because they can come up with them [manners] on their own and they can try them out on the playground and in class,” Jensen said.

Some pupils have even surprised teachers by holding doors open, wishing them a cheerful “good morning” or tidying up a classroom at the end of the day.

“Just the smallest things, you see such a difference,” said Baldwin.