Last week I spent several days discussing thankfulness with the 24 kindergartners in my classroom. I think many times kids don't understand that what they have is something worth being thankful for. If nobody has ever made you aware that you are not guaranteed the things you have then how would you know? We read lots of story books about being thankful and then began making a list.
Our list included:
- Moms & Dads
- Brothers & Sisters
- Grandmas & Grandpas
- Toys
- Beds
- Food
- School
- Homes
- Being able to play
- Clothes
The list continued, but as we discussed each item, I began to tell my students that there are children their age around the world that don't have the things that they put on the list. They looked at me with expressions of disbelief because up until this point most of them had assumed that everyone does have these things even if they might look a little different. Of course, I don't fault my sweet 5 and 6 year olds for this misunderstanding. That is nature the nature of young ones to assume that everyone has what you have, but sadly, it just isn't the case. We took it a step further and I had my students imagine how they would feel if they didn't have anything to eat for dinner or they didn't have a home to sleep in or toys to play with. Their first reactions were that they would be sad and then they had lots of questions. I told my students stories about my time in Romania this summer and how I met sweet children just like them who didn't have all of the items on our list or even some of them. My students were even moved to act. We had a school wide food drive and many of my students chose to bring canned food in for kids that don't have food to eat.
Sometimes I think we, as adults, are like children in this way. We are so wrapped up in our own lives and what we have that we are blinded to the injustices of this world. We forget to teach our children to be thankful for what they have and to display our own thankfulness. I am just as guilty of this as the next person. November is a month that focuses our eyes on being thankful. It gives us an opportunity to talk to our children and to think about all that we have. I hope that you won't miss this opportunity to talk with your kids about what it means to be thankful. Kids are quite perceptive and open to differences. Honestly, my students reminded me to be thankful for many things that I hadn't even thought of!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join me in showing our thankfulness by contributing to my Christmas Campaign. This year we are working together to ensure that the children that Another Child Foundation serves at the Point of Hope Development center have a warm meal at school each day. Often times, this might be the only meal that these children get. Together we can show our thankfulness for what we have and bless others this Christmas season. As if that's not incentive enough, there is an iPad giveaway going on! :) For every $25 donation to Another Child Foundation, you will receive one entry in to the iPad giveaway! Win, Win! Find out more about how you can enter to win the new Apple iPad by clicking here!
