How to teach gratitude in your homeschool. With November we often look for ways to incorporate thankfulness into our homeschool lives. Well, look no further than these fun ideas to use in your homeschool this November.
Around our house we had just passed Halloween, and I do mean ‘just’, we are talking like a day past, and I found my kids already obsessing about the next “big day”. Counting down the days until Thanksgiving and the Holiday season.
And no not for family time, but for feasting, treats, and generally party time and gifts.
Had we just done themed Halloween costumes for the whole family? Yes. Had we just traveled an hour each way out of our little part of the country to get to a bigger town to tricker treat? Again yes, twice in fact.
Two night of costumes and candy…
So as a parent it can seem easily overwhelming. Like, aren’t we grateful for what we just got!!
So I knew we needed to shift focus, and since thanksgiving was just around the corner I knew it was the perfect time to start putting gratitude back in focus.
In daily life we must realize that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but it is gratefulness that makes us happy. A grateful state of being will set you free from the prison of disempowerment and the shackles of misery.
-Unknown
With new and emerging research science is beginning to show us what the “old ways” always knew, that gratitude and having a deep appreciation for what we already have has astounding benefits to us.
Since we know that having gratitude and an overall feeling of thankfulness, it certainly is one great trait to pass on to the next generation, here are. few fun ways to do that in your homeschool.
Related Reading:
Why we Start our Homeschool Days with Meditation
Homeschooling & Teaching “Lost Skills”
Meaningful ways to teach gratitude in your homeschool
Contrary to what you often hear people say kids often do not have a problem with gratitude but they are simply imitating what they see in life. This means that often us adult are not showing gratitude for what we have in our lives, and that just trickles down.
So taking up a practice of gratitude can help not just kids but all of us. Here are 4 Easy ways to make gratitude more of a center focus in your homeschool life.
1. Gratitude countdown
I got this one from one of my favorite meditation apps Calm. Simply put it goes like this. As a regular practice like say over breakfast or the dinner table start the conversation with your kids about what they are grateful for. Take turns and start at 10 then count down to 1.
So to play that out it can go something like this…
Mom: Ten- I am grateful for warm fires on a cold night
Dad: Nine- I am grateful for how sunrises look in the snow
Child: Eight- I am grateful for the cat who cuddles with me at night
Then you continue going around like that until you have counted down to one. You may find as I have, that when you do these, you can find way more than 10 things to be grateful for, and you actually do stop and start feeling grateful for even the littlest of things.
2. Gratitude tree
One fun and hands-on way to put gratitude in the spotlight this year is to make a Gratitude Tree. These gratitude trees (which can be found all over Pinterest, and can be anything from paper trees on the wall to a faux tree in a vase with leaves that hang around branches.
The gratitude tree is an easy and fun project where you make a tree that you add leaves to each day that you write something you are grateful for. You can do this all month or heck, for as long as you want.
When my kids do this they of course put the easy thing on there first like “my toys, friends, family, etc” but the real treat begins when you see them start to add things like “sunshine, fresh air, and bedtime reading”, that’s when I know what they really appreciate in life.
3. Gratitude Reflection
One easy but very practical way to practice gratitude is an open reflection time. Ending the school day or actual day (bedtime is great for this one) in a time where you sit around and reflect on something that day that you were really grateful for.
Not only is the perfect calming pre-bedtime activity, but it also helps the brain to refocus on good things, things to be grateful for just before sleep. That can bring anyone to a place of better and more relaxed sleep.
4. My Gratitude Journal
Having your kids start a gratitude journal sort of has a dual purpose, therefore a double bonus. Not only will your be thinking about all they are grateful for they will also be working on hand writing, grammer, english and punctuation.
This can be an easy to do writing prompt you kids can do during school time.
Here are a few ideas to try:
I am so grateful for…
My top 10 reasons I am grateful for my family are..
The summer experience I had that I am so grateful for…
10 Things about myself I am so grateful about…
Related Reading:
The Relaxed Homeschool Planner
How to Help Homeschool Kids to Focus
Gratitude is something we could all put more focus on and it would improve so much. The awesome thing is we don’t need to do to much to make that happen especially in your homeschool life. With so many fun and easy ways to teach gratitude in your homeschool your home environment will be bursting with feelings of thankfulness ♡♡♡
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From our family to yours, thanks for stopping by
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Beth is a mother of 6 living on a handful of acres in an old farmhouse in central Kansas. Beth has a background in the military and health and fitness however her passions come from her homestead life. Beth is an enthusiastic homeschooling mom, avid organic gardener, chicken & goat wrangler, who is obsessed with herbs and natural remedies and maintaining an all-around Do-It-Yourself lifestyle. Beth loves to share all she has learned about and sustainable living. While striving for a healthy, natural life, family-centered life.