For Parents
Your child's teacher is using Be The Buffalo to help students learn how to handle hard moments, work through frustration, be kind, and make good choices.
What Is "Be The Buffalo"?
When a storm comes, buffalo turn and walk toward it instead of running away. By facing the storm head-on, they get through it faster.
That idea is the heart of the program. Your child is learning that hard moments are part of life, and that facing them with courage, honesty, and support is how we get through.
When your child's teacher says "let's be the buffalo," that is what they mean: we do not run from hard things. We face them together.
What Your Child Is Learning
Each week, your child's class works through a lesson together. The lessons cover things like:
- Managing frustration and strong emotions
- Being kind, even when it is hard
- Solving conflicts without yelling or shutting down
- Asking for help when they need it
- Taking responsibility for their choices
- Showing empathy and understanding other perspectives
- Trying again after making a mistake
The lessons use stories, songs, discussion, and classroom activities. Your child does not use a device or log in to anything. The teacher leads the lesson and the class talks through it together.
The Characters
Your child may come home talking about these characters:
Benny
A young buffalo who faces everyday challenges that kids relate to: frustration with schoolwork, disagreements with friends, feeling left out, making mistakes, and learning to try again. He is not perfect. He struggles, pauses, asks for help, and figures things out.
Bella
Benny's friend. She shows up in stories about kindness, teamwork, perspective-taking, and helping others. When lessons focus on friendship, empathy, or working through conflict with someone else, Bella is usually part of the story.
Together, they give your child characters to talk about instead of being put on the spot about their own behavior.
How to Use This at Home
You do not need to teach a lesson or know the curriculum. Just use the language.
Use the buffalo metaphor
If your child is frustrated or avoiding something hard, try: "What would the buffalo do?" or "Can you be the buffalo right now?" They already know what it means.
Ask about the characters
"What happened with Benny this week?" or "What did Bella do?" gives your child a way to talk about what they learned without feeling like they are being quizzed.
Name the skills, not just the behavior
Instead of "stop being mean," try "that sounds like a conflict. How could you solve it?" Instead of "calm down," try "what does your body feel like right now?" These are the same prompts their teacher uses.
Normalize mistakes
The program teaches that mistakes are part of learning, not something to be ashamed of. If your child messes up, you can say "Benny makes mistakes too. What matters is what you do next."
Privacy
Be The Buffalo does not require student accounts. Your child does not log in, does not create a profile, and does not have personal information stored in the platform. The teacher uses one account to lead the lesson. That is it.
Questions?
If you want to know more about what your child's class is working on, ask their teacher. They can share the weekly theme or topic so you can follow along at home.