Written by Ms. Nikita Patel
(Grade 1 Home Room Teacher)

Thursday, 10 December 2020

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"Temperament is the thermometer of a character." - Honore de Balzac

The literal meaning of 'Temperament' is a "person's or an animal's nature as it permanently affects their behaviour."

Every human being has one basic predominant temperament out of the four temperaments. Sometimes two temperatures predominate, with varying degrees of the other two/three mixed in.

Children are universal being. Till the age of three they all are the same – immaterial of their caste, creed or to which country they belong to. It is only after this age that they get influenced by their environment. Children should never know about their temperaments; it is for us – adults, to figure out and understand which temperament the child belongs to.

The Four Temperaments are:

Personality: Children havingSanguine temperament are like airy, changeable spring season, the child is unsteady, cheerful, briefly depressed, confident, full of life, cheerful, talkative, sincere at heart, curious, versatile, helpful, an extrovert, the talker and an optimist.

Weaknesses: They talk too much, are self-centred, disorganized and immature and fickle minded.

Solutions: Children having this temperament are very scattered and multi-tasking and so they try to be everywhere. Hence, we need to gather them by giving them some planned activities like peeling peas, beading, drawing, painting etc in which they sit in place and do the work allotted to them.

Temperament	Choleric
Colour	Red
Element	Fire
Humor	Yellow bile
Seasons	Summer
Ages	Youth

Personality: Children havingCholeric temperament are born leaders, competitive, dynamic, active, confident, risk takers, strong willed, independent, self – sufficient, the doer and can run anything.

Weaknesses: They are compulsive workers, impatient hence cannot handle people, right but unpopular because of the bossy nature.

Solutions: Children having this temperamentshould be kept within limits, too many choices, make them bewildered. Restrict them by not giving them too many choices in their clothes, footwear, food etc. These children are born leaders and should be taught to respond to the leadership of others too. These children should be corrected when they argue too much and to learn to apologise.

Temperament	Melancholic
Colour	Blue
Element	Earth
Humor	Black bile
Seasons	Autumn
Ages	Adulthood

Personality: Children with Melancholy temperament are organised, deep and thoughtful, analytical, serious and purposeful, sensitive to others, super planners, factual in communication and adheres to rules. They are very good actors and can act very well. They find friends of the same temperament and discuss their woes.

Weaknesses: They are easily depressed, have low esteem, they procrastinate, shy, need their own space, they put unrealistic demands on others, they are the introverts and the pessimists.

Solutions: Children of this temperament are easily offended and so they have to be handled carefully. They get upset easily and talk of extremes like committing suicide, hence we need to be tactful while talking to them. Eg. A class teacher once said, "I know who's the one behind this mischief." A melancholic child takesit on him and will feel offended. These children feel life is unfair to them and walk away with heavy footsteps. In case you have a melancholic child in the class, the teacher should speak to the class as a whole unit.

Temperament	Phlegmatic
Colour	Green
Element	Water
Humor	Phelgm
Seasons	Winter
Ages	Old Age

Personality: Children havingPhlegmatic temperament are calm, cool, patient, well-balanced, easy going, consistent, quite but witty, kind hearted, good team players, good listeners, sincere, keep emotions hidden. They are introverts, watchers and the pessimists.

Weaknesses: They resist change, they cannot take decisions, they are very lazy.

Solutions: Children having this temperament loves all the life's comforts, they plod and love to sit all the time, they don't feel bad or hurt if talked about something. For these children, the teacher or the parent should plan active interactive games where they have an active participation. These children should be given small tasks to be completed for active involvement, they are very slow and stubborn and so a deadline should be given to them for the completion of their tasks allotted.

Thus, I would like to conclude by saying - We are born with our own temperament traits. It would be difficult for a Melancholy to become a Sanguine or vice versa or even a Choleric to become a Phlegmatic or vice versa, but it is definitely possible for all of us to chisel a little bit. We should strive to balance our temperaments as we grow older.

"Trials train temperaments, temperament trains attitude."

Thank you,
Regards,
Ms. Nikita Patel
Grade 1 Home Room Teacher - Birla Open Minds International School Walkeshwar