Entries Tagged 'Ages & Grades' ↓

AS WE continue celebrating National Poetry Month, I’d like to share a few more great (and free) online resources with you.

Poetry Links

Poetry-Writing Workshop with Karla Kuskin – Children’s poet Karla Kuskin helps children turn their words and ideas into descriptive and powerful poems.

Ms. Kuskin includes writing tips that she uses when she writes her own poems, as well as ideas children can use to revise their work.

10 Compelling Reasons to Memorize Poetry – Memorizing a poem can be one of the most fulfilling and fun ways to explore poetry.

10 Classic Poems - Some of the world’s most popular classic poems

Poetry Foundation – Browse for poems by title, poet, or subject matter such as ”Animals” or “Stars, Planets, Heavens” (both found in the Nature category).

Poetry in Homeschool - Need help incorporating poetry into your homeschooling? Jimmie of Jimmie’s Collage shares ideas, resources, and links.

Poetry-writing Tips for Children (or anyone!) – Plus a bonus list of 20 poetry anthologies to browse

Interactive Word Mover - Using this online too that’s similar to magnetic words, children can move individual words around to create original poems.

Poetry + Letter Writing = Fun

Not only is April National Poetry Month, it’s aslo National Card and Letter-Writing Month! Here are two ideas for incorporating poetry and letter writing.

Write a Letter to a Poet - Let the poets who you are reading know that you appreciate their work by sending them a letter.

Put a Poem in a Letter – Next time you send a letter or holiday hello, treat the addressee to a poem as well. You can put a poem directly into the text of your letter or include a typed or handwritten copy in the envelope.

Your Turn

Have you ever memorized a poem? What is one of your favorites?

As far as most kids are concerned, “editing” and “fun” can never appear in the same sentence.

In their minds, the very word editing conjures up images of a parent or teacher poring over their paper with a magnifying glass with a singular purpose: to find fault.

This can be disheartening, especially when Sensitive Susie honestly and truly believes her paper is perfect just the way it is.

Even when your child takes a stab at self-editing before showing her paper to you, she still may not make any changes. She likes what she wrote, and she doesn’t see the need to fix a thing.

How can you help her turn the corner? Is it possible for editing to go from a hated or dreaded chore to something she actually enjoys?

Yes!

At first, she’ll need your help during self-editing. It can take time—often a l-o-n-g time—for her to start seeing her own mistakes. This comes with much practice, so don’t feel discouraged when she doesn’t catch misspelled words or recognize her story’s lack of detail.

Edit Together

Self-editing is a bit of a misnomer. Even if your children use a reliable checklist that details the expectations for the assignment, their eye is not yet trained to seek out their errors. This skill can take years to develop, especially if you’re working with a younger child.

In truth, you’re training your children to become more independent self-editors. As you work alongside them, be patient through the process. As with any other skill we teach our kiddos, it takes time.

Look for the Good

How do we edit or proofread our kids’ papers? Typically, we grab our red pens and hunt down every sentence fragment, misspelled word, and errant punctuation mark until the page fairly bleeds with criticism.

May I whisper a simple secret to you that can absolutely revolutionize the editing process for you and your child?

Start by looking for things she did well.

Yup.

Before a drop of red ink touches your child’s paper, affirm her by helping her discover what’s right about her story or report, not just what needs fixing. It’s such a simple—and perhaps obvious—concept, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we can admit that too often, we focus on the errors.

Use an Editor’s Tool Kit

Last time, I introduced you to a cool editing kit called a Said It, Read It, Edit Bag. This tool will help you cultivate the skill of self-editing in your children as, together, you look for ways both to affirm and improve their writing.

Self-Editing Strategies

Working together, try these self-editing tips with your elementary-aged child:

1. Invite her to choose a highlighter marker from the Said It, Read It, Edit Bag.

• As you watch, encourage her to look over the paper by herself and highlight a difficult word she spelled correctly.
• Next ask her to highlight a sentence she wrote correctly by starting it with a capital letter and using the correct punctuation. Praise her for a job well done.

2. Make sure her writing project has all the elements it needs. If not, discuss ideas for improvement, having her write corrections on the blank spaces between the lines.

• Structure. Does the story have a beginning, middle, and end (or an introduction, body, and conclusion, if it’s an essay or report)?
• Organization. Is this a report? Make sure it the main points are organized.
• Character. If the story has a main character, check for descriptive details about him or her.
• Setting. Check to see if your child included details for the setting.
• Plot. Is it a mystery, adventure, or science fiction story? Make sure there is a problem that the character has solved in a satisfactory way.
• Details. Check to make sure your child used details to develop the story. If she wrote a report, are main points supported by facts and other details?

3. Help your child check her mechanics. Instruct her to read the Writing Project aloud (encouraging a younger child to also track each word with her finger). Have her examine each sentence to make sure she:

• Indented the first line of the paragraph(s).
• Began each sentence with a capital letter and used correct punctuation.
• Does not have any missing words in the sentences.

4. Look for dull or repeated words that can be replaced with strong ones. Invite your student to choose one or more weak or overly repeated words and replace them with a synonym. If she can’t think of one on her own, encourage her to use her thesaurus.

5. Have your child circle any difficult words whose spelling she wants to check, look them up in a dictionary, and write each word correctly on the blank spaces between the lines.

By trying some of these simple ideas, editing can become a no-more-tears event. I’m confident you’ll be able to add your own testimonial here one of these days!

“Editing was a dreaded day in the beginning but not anymore.” ~Susan, Florida

“[My daughter] actually looked forward to editing (biggest improvement because she used to hate it). ” ~Andrea, California

“Her self-editing skills really improved. She became more independent.” ~Mindy, Utah

Do you have a favorite trick or tip that inspires happier self-editors?

. . . . .

WriteShop encourages students to self-edit and revise in order to create a published final draft. These self-editing tips and The Said It, Read It, Edit Bag™ are some of the creative ways WriteShop Junior introduces and encourages self-editing.

Photo Credits: Creative Commons photos courtesy of Flickr.
Photo of girl in red © Vincent Angler. Used by permission.

“Editing is usually painless. The way WriteShop Junior has taught them to edit is awesome. They’re not afraid to look for errors.” –Kelley, SD

LEARNING to self-edit doesn’t have to be a dreaded or intimidating experience.

Through the use of fun tools, children can acquire helpful editing skills—and in doing so, grow to see editing as a natural part of the writing process. Self-editing becomes a task they can accomplish with both pleasure and success!

Assembling an Editor’s Tool Kit

To help your children gain stronger self-editing skills, prepare a kit of special editing tools. In WriteShop Junior, we call this their Said It, Read It, Edit Bag™ (“Read It” is pronounced “red it.”)

For storage, you’ll need a zipper pouch, small tote bag, plastic zip-top bag, or other container to keep all the editing tools in one place. Label it as your Said It, Read It, Edit Bag™ and keep it in your writing center so it’s always handy. Here’s a list of supplies to include in their bags:

• Correction tape
• Highlighters in assorted colors
• Colored pencils
• Sheets of tiny stickers such as smiley faces and stars
• Dictionary
• Thesaurus

Some children may want to wear a special hat or visor and refer to it as their Editor’s Hat. If so, they should use their hat for this unique purpose and store it with the supply of editing tools.

“It’s so fun to watch Gracie edit… She ALWAYS wears a jazzy black editor’s hat.” –Joanie, NJ

Tracking Tools

With a younger student (perhaps 7 to 9 years old), tracking each word on the paper will help him slow down and examine his work more carefully during the editing process. There are a variety of ways to do this, from pointing at each word with his pointer finger to touching each word with the eraser end of his pencil.

If your child wants to track words with his pointer finger, he could wear a finger puppet on that finger. You could also purchase a set of plastic toy fingers from a party supply store or costume shop and let him wear one as he tracks each word on his Writing Project. Alternatively, he could gather several colorful or distinctive plastic rings to wear while editing.

Using a pointer item is completely optional! One child may look down on such props while another sees them as great fun—so gather items to wear on a pointer finger according to your child’s interest and store them in the Said It, Read It, Edit Bag™.

Having a special tool kit is the first step in becoming a successful editor. Next time, I’ll share ideas for using the Said It, Read It, Edit Bag™ to edit a writing assignment.

Copyright 2012 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

. . . . .

WriteShop encourages students to self-edit and revise in order to create a published final draft. The Said It, Read It, Edit Bag™, and many more exciting editing ideas, come straight from the pages of WriteShop Junior.

IN MOST HOMES, it seems, the refrigerator door is the showcase for children’s artwork. From the tiniest toddler’s wobbly scribbles to a teen’s pencil sketch, the fridge gallery beckons everyone to enjoy the offerings.

The question is: Why don’t we do this as often with their writing?

A Purpose for Publishing

To make it more meaningful, children need an audience for their writing. If rough drafts are their only writing efforts—and they rarely (or never) rewrite, publish, and SHARE—it’s easy for them to lose heart. After all, they’re missing the point of writing: to share a published project with someone.

Granted, not all writing is meant for others’ eyes, such as diaries or personal journals. But for some reluctant writers, encouraging them to produce polished final drafts of their stories and reports can make the whole writing ordeal worthwhile.

Non-Crafty Publishing Projects

Publishing a project can be as simple as neatly rewriting the final draft and sharing it with Dad or Grandma. But there are loads of other ways to showcase a piece of writing, from plain and simple to craftily creative.

Since not every child will enjoy the creative element of publishing, an older student, or one who is not keen on crafty projects, may prefer displaying his final draft in one of the following simple but effective ways:

1. Computer Publishing

Type the story on the computer—or let an older child type his own. Add clip art, if desired.

2. Mat Mount

The quickest, easiest way to display your child’s story is to affix it to a slightly larger sheet of colored construction paper. The construction paper forms a simple mat that gives the final draft a polished, published look.

3. Book

This is another simple publishing idea. Your child can place his Writing Project inside a piece of 12- x 18-inch construction paper folded to resemble a book. Glue or staple the story or report inside. Have him draw a picture and write the story title on the cover of the “book.”

4. Presentation Folder

Don’t underestimate the value of using a purchased report cover or presentation folder. There are many kinds from which to choose, such as ones with page protectors or pockets, but any report cover will lend a more professional or “official” look to children’s stories and reports.

“My daughter … liked how clean and nice the published project looked in the report folder.” ~Heidi D.

5. Manila File Folder

You will need one manila file folder for each story your child publishes this way.

1. Decorate the inside left of the file folder with illustrations, photos, or clipart.
2. Staple the story along the top, positioning it on the inside right of the folder.
3. Write the story title on the tab and front of the folder. Let your child decorate the cover to match the story or report.

Each time your children produce a polished final draft, encourage them to share it with a grandparent or other special person. They’ll feel like real authors!

Copyright 2012 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

. . . . .

WriteShop encourages students to write, edit, and revise in order to create a published final draft. These ideas, and many more, can be found in both WriteShop Primary and WriteShop Junior books.

Fridge photo courtesy of Amy, who blogs at www.heartkeeping.blogspot.com

How can you encourage your teen when he feels stuck?

What should you tell him when he can’t seem to get started writing?

What advice can you offer when perfectionism rears its ugly head and he has trouble accepting his own mistakes?

Typically, you can’t say or do much—especially if he’s already in a funk. But if you can bite your tongue and sit on your hands till a teaching moment arises, he might be willing to consider one of these ten truths.

1. It’s not just you. I promise.

Writing isn’t always easy. I’m sure you think you’re the only one who suffers from writer’s block, but it might help to know that even famous published authors will agonize over a word, a sentence, or a paragraph.

2. There’s no penalty for a bad first draft.

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” ~Robert Cromier

3. If you’re stuck, explain to someone what you’re trying to write.

My adult son is a former reluctant writer. But even to this day, as a Ph.D. student, he’ll call me from time to time when he hits a writing roadblock. Often, I do nothing more than listen and offer the occasional “Mm-hmm.” But the act of thinking aloud and tossing around ideas can open up the floodgate, and he finds that the log jam of words will finally loosen.

4. Set a timer.

Having trouble getting started? Grab a kitchen timer and set it for 15 minutes. You can do anything for 15 minutes, right? And some days, you may not even hear the beep.

5. To write well, it helps to read well.

Reading teaches you how words work. You can become more attuned to detail, imagery, voice, and sentence construction. There’s no guarantee that being an avid reader will automatically make you a polished writer, but reading certainly lays a foundation for writing in many ways.

6. Style comes with practice.

Writing may not be second nature to you, but you will learn to develop your own writing style over time.

7. It’s better to write poorly than not at all.

You can always improve your rough draft. Don’t get hung up on perfection. Everyone revises!

“The first rule of writing is to write. The second rule of writing is to rewrite. The third rule of writing is the same as the second.” ~Paul Raymond Martin

8. Don’t write and edit in the same sitting.

I can’t tell you how many little errors I catch when I revisit a piece of my own writing even one day later! I know it’s tempting to just “get it over with.” But really, you’re much wiser to let that essay marinate for a couple of days. When you come back to it, you’ll be more likely to see it with fresh eyes and be willing to make changes.

[Of course, this means you can't wait till the last minute to write your rough draft. 'Nuf said.]

9. Learn to edit your own work.

This is one of the most valuable writing skills you can acquire. The more adept you become at self-editing, the less you have to rely on others to point out flaws. Before you turn your paper over to your parent or teacher, proofread and revise it first.

• Am I being too wordy?
• Repeating myself?
• Making my point?
• Varying my sentence structure?
• Using descriptive detail?
• Punctuating properly?

Your writing will always benefit from a second set of eyes, but learning to edit your own work is a lifelong skill every student needs to develop. While you’ll never be completely objective about your own writing, the ability to self-edit is equally important as having another person do it for you.

10. Edit your writing as if it were someone else’s.

Take an emotional step away from your paper. Imagine that it was written by the kid who flips burgers at McDonald’s, and begin to look for ways the writing could improve. It’s much easier to be objective when you pretend that your composition isn’t actually yours!

Copyright 2012 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

. . . . .

WriteShop  provides schedules, checklists, and detailed instructions that give teen writers direction and help them stay on task. Choosing WriteShop I and II will help you equip and inspire successful writers!

“The kids loved the Friendly Letter Boogie—that was a fun entertaining way to make the lesson stick. I still catch them doing it.” –Jennifer, NC

The early elementary years are the perfect time to introduce children to writing a friendly letter.

Part of writing a letter includes learning to format it properly. With all those headings and greetings and signatures, this can prove complicated for young children, who are still just learning about writing sentences and paragraphs.

That’s why mnemonics, songs, fingerplays, and motion activities are so valuable at this age—they reinforce trickier concepts, aid children in learning new skills, and help with recall.

Doin’ the “Friendly Letter Boogie”

Your children will enjoy this movement activity to help them remember the parts of a friendly letter.

Heading. At the very top of a friendly letter is the heading. The date goes here. Ask your child to pat her head to remember that the heading comes first.

Greeting. Second comes the greeting, such as “Dear Grandma.” Extend and shake hands to “greet” each other.

Body. Third is the body of the letter. Invite your child to wiggle her body to remember that the body of the letter comes next.

Closing. At the bottom of the letter is the closing, where she’ll write: “Love,” “Your friend,” or “Sincerely.” Tell your child to close her feet together for the closing.

Signature. To help your child remember to include her signature at the bottom of the letter, have her sign her name on the floor with her foot.

Isn’t this a fun way to practice and remember? Each day that you work on writing letters together, have your children do the Friendly Letter Boogie. In no time, they’ll have mastered the steps of formatting a basic letter!

. . . . .

WriteShop Primary, an early-elementary writing curriculum for homeschoolers, is filled with games and activities such as the Friendly Letter Boogie—fun ways to help you introduce important skills to your youngest writers.

Photo credits: Karah Fredricks. Used by permission.

Although it’s is one of the most necessary and helpful steps of the writing process, brainstorming can stump a reluctant writer—even if she’s using a worksheet, graphic organizer, or parent prompting.

You:    What comes to mind when you think of the beach?
Child: Sand and water.
You:    Great! What else?
Child: That’s all I can think of.

And that’s on a good day!

Prime the Pump

When students have a deep “well” of words and ideas from which to draw, their compositions becomes more vivid and concrete. That’s why WriteShop repeatedly emphasizes the need for adequate brainstorming as a routine part of the writing process. But if their well is dry and they can’t come up with enough words or ideas, their compositions will fall flat.

To keep ideas fresh and flowing, students need to prime their writing pumps on a regular basis. By practicing frequent brainstorming—especially when there’s no added pressure to write a composition—they’ll discover that they can think of words more quickly and abundantly. An activity like the Writing Well is a perfect training tool!

The Writing Well

The “Writing Well” is a freewriting exercise designed to stimulate vocabulary, ideas, and impressions on a particular topic. It makes a good pre-writing activity, but it’s really brainstorming practice in disguise!

Kept in a small notebook, these brainstorming results can also become a “seed book”—a resource, word bank, or collection of ideas—when writing future compositions.

Student Directions

1. You will find it helpful to keep your “Writing Well” in a spiral notebook for easy reference.
2. Use a separate page for each topic. You may use both front and back if you wish.
3. Before beginning, choose a topic and write it at the top of the page. Then set the timer to write for five full minutes.
4. The purpose of this exercise is to write down all the words, phrases, or sentences that come to mind about your chosen topic within the five minutes allotted.

If you get stuck, try some of these ideas:

• Picture the topic in your mind. Use your five senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell—to describe details.
• Ask yourself questions about the subject matter—who? what? when? where? why? how?
• Use a photograph or magazine picture to jog your thoughts.

At first this activity may seem difficult. You may wonder: How can I write about one thing for five whole minutes? Relax! Over time you’ll find that it has become more natural to transfer ideas from your head to your paper.

Some of these exercises will lend themselves to becoming compositions. Put a colorful star at the top of the page if you might like to develop this into a paragraph or story in the future.

Parent Tips

In the beginning, your child may have trouble writing for five full minutes. Perhaps you could set the timer for three minutes, then increase it to four, and finally to five over the course of several weeks.

If your student brainstorms very generally about a topic, you might suggest next time that she narrow her topic even further. For example, if she writes on the topic of animals, she’ll probably include a list of many kinds of animals. Next time, have her select just one of those animals (such as dogs, monkeys, or whales) and make a “Writing Well” for that subtopic, including as many details as she can.

Should your student repeatedly make lists of words only, challenge her to begin writing descriptive phrases, too. Sometimes these will be factual and sometimes experiential. For example:

If she’s writing about “red,” words and phrases might include:

• ketchup
• stop signs
• making Valentines for my family
• embers glowing in the fireplace
• fire engines
• Dorothy’s ruby slippers
• the crimson sunset on our vacation in California

If she’s writing about Grandma, phrases might include:

• baking chocolate cookies together
• lives in an apartment in Miami
• smells sweet like roses
• takes a ceramics class in her clubhouse
• silver hair
• favorite color is pink

The random list of ”red” words and phrases probably won’t ever be developed into a paragraph. On the other hand, the “Grandma” list definitely has potential to become a great descriptive composition at some point.

Writing Well Topics

Are you ready? Dip your ladle deep into the Writing Well and pull up a full, soaking draught of words and ideas. Then spill them over a fresh page—and let the writing begin. Here are some topics to get you started!

• a famous place I would like to visit
• my dream car
• gardens
• books
• animals (farm animals, jungle creatures, pets, birds, insects)
• birthdays
• the beach
• fishing
• obeying
• snow
• sounds that make me happy (nervous, afraid)
• my childhood toys
• my favorite meal
• my grandpa (or other family member)
• our pantry
• Saturdays
• things I like about myself
• heaven
• the color blue (orange, yellow, gray, green)
• things that make me feel cozy
• new uses for duct tape
• If cars could fly…
• If I had to live underwater…

Copyright © 2012 Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

. . . . .

“The Writing Well” is one of the supplemental writing activities tucked into the appendix of the Teacher’s Manual for WriteShop I and II.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr. Other photos courtesy of stock.xchg. Used with permission.

Write Christmas Stories with a Twist!

What’s this? A ragged fir tree helps a stranger on a cold night? A weary homeless man discovers a wallet full of money outside a bakery? A bad-tempered candy maker finds a magic candy cane and disappears into a snow globe?

What kid wouldn’t love to write a holiday story filled with such hope, whimsy, or intrigue?

Award-winning WriteShop StoryBuilders card decks help to jumpstart a creative writing project by providing children with the basic elements of a story—character, character trait, setting, and plot—laying a foundation for a joyful writing experience with some clever surprises thrown in along the way.

During the holidays, use the Christmas Mini-Builder to occupy bored or antsy kids and teens with these fun writing prompts. You get 96 cards to download and print, along with lots of suggestions for writing games and activities.

A Mom’s Story

But don’t just take it from me! Here’s a snippet from an email I got just this morning!

I just wanted to write a quick thank-you note for the Christmas Mini-Builder! My daughter, who is 11, is dyslexic and she tends to write as little as she can get away with when assigned a task. I printed out the story cards today and let her loose and she has written three short stories so far — and it’s only 8:20 a.m.! ~Erin

Christmas Mini-Builder Is on Sale!

Save 25%! Now through December 15, the Christmas Mini-Builder is only $2.95, so grab yours now!

As holiday decorations come out and the tree or menorah takes center stage, children can become increasingly distracted, sidetracked, and fidgety in anticipation of upcoming seasonal celebrations.

Homeschooling doesn’t need to fall by the wayside during December! The holidays can be a great time to assign writing activities that focus on the festivities, allowing children to immerse themselves in the fun while encouraging productivity. This month, have your kids write a paragraph describing a holiday-themed process where they explain, in a step-by-step manner, how something is done.

Process Paragraph: Choosing a Topic

Help them pick a process that isn’t too involved or complicated. With younger or reluctant writers, it’s especially important to keep the number of steps to a minimum. Also, the more familiar children are with the process, the easier it will be to write about it.

Here are some ideas to get them started. They can explain how to:

• Wrap a present
• Make latkes
• Decorate the tree
• Bake gingerbread cookies
• Build a snowman
• Be a “Secret Santa”
• Set the table for dinner
• Create a handmade greeting card
• Make a holiday craft project
• Play the dreidel game
• String popcorn
• Make a paper “countdown” chain

Process Paragraph: Writing the Rough Draft

Once your kids have chosen a topic (and narrowed it down to a specific task, if necessary), walk them through a few simple steps to guide and direct them.

1. If possible, have them go through the process themselves before beginning to write. Take digital photos of them as they complete each step.
2. Provide a graphic organizer to help them break down the steps of the process and plan the composition. Here’s a simple one that’s especially good for elementary ages. Here’s one can be filled in on the computer. Or download a free lesson sample from WriteShop I (grades 6+) that includes a Process Planning Worksheet.
3. Next, have them begin to write the rough draft, explaining the most important steps first.
4. Teach them to use transition words such as first, second, third, next, then, finally, or last.
5. If the paper isn’t too long, or if the steps are too vague, they can expand each step by adding sub-steps, more detail, or colorful description.

Process Paragraph: Making an Instruction Manual

Edit the rough draft together to ensure the steps are logical and easy to follow, and check for spelling and punctuation errors.

To publish their how-to composition in a fun way, have your children create an instruction manual. Here’s how:

1. Invite them to choose the photos they want to use to illustrate the process. They will need to print out 4-6 pictures. Let them tape or glue each picture to the top half of a sheet of notebook paper, using a separate sheet for each photo.
2. Next, have them copy their corrected composition onto the sheets of notebook paper, writing the sentence or sentences that each photo illustrates.
3. Finally, encourage them to design and decorate a colorful cover, including a catchy title. Assemble the instruction manual and share with family members.

Activities like this will keep your children happily writing, even during the busiest time of year!

Copyright © 2010 Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr.

Yesterday, I gave some suggestions for ways to cultivate gratitude in your children’s hearts in Encouraging Thankfulness: Part 1. Here are a few more ideas to try.

Dear God

A joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful. ~Book of Common Prayer (1892)

Give your child a small spiral notebook or special journal in which to write prayers. Encourage her to express gratitude and thanksgiving as part of each prayer she writes. She can thank God for:

• Creation. I’m thankful for crisp snow, pink sunsets, autumn colors, grass and flowers, giraffes and snapping turtles.
• Provision. Thank You for our house, food, clothing, toys, books, pets, family and friends; for Daddy’s job; that Mom can stay home and teach us; for hot water, warm blankets, and comfortable beds.
• Gifts and talents. Thank You that I’m musical, athletic, smart. I’m a talented photographer. I’m good at building Legos, mowing the grass, baking. I know how to raise goats and plant a garden. I’m kind, loyal, faithful. I’m a hard worker. I can dance. I excel at computers, math, science. I love reading, writing, drawing, building with my hands.

Every day, help her look for ways to be thankful for big and little things. Find more ideas for keeping a Gratitude Journal.

Do Unto Others

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~William Arthur Ward

Invite your children to make a list of things they can do to express gratitude to someone who has been kind to them or to show kindness to someone who needs it. Once the list is complete, have them act on at least one of them. Their list can include things like:

• Bake cookies.
• Make a handmade card.
• Mow the neighbor’s lawn.
• Obey the first time Mom or Dad askes me to do something.
• Do a favor without being asked.
• Do one of my brother’s chores just because.
• Invite Grandma over and make breakfast for her.
• Write a poem for my auntie because she’s so kind to me.
• Sponsor a child because I’m thankful I have a family.
• Volunteer at a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or food bank because I’m thankful I have food and a roof over my head.
• Fill a Christmas shoebox for a child who doesn’t have toys and treats, because I’m blessed to have so much.
• Be kind to someone who doesn’t deserve it because God does that for me.

Operation Beautiful

All that we behold is full of blessings. ~William Wordsworth

Gratitude doesn’t always mean saying “thank you.” Simply stepping out of self-centeredness and considering others’ needs and feelings is a form of gratitude, too.

Your child can make people smile or feel better about themselves by placing a sticky note somewhere random. Write uplifting thoughts, kind words, and encouraging quotes. I love Operation Beautiful for this!

Finally, don’t just save gratitude for Thanksgiving. Help your children look for ways throughout the year to express thanks, turning the focus outward. Everyone will be the better for it.