Teaching Gratitude

When I was teaching, I always made it my goal to purposefully include social/emotional instruction into my curriculum. For young children, this translates to plenty of role-playing and modeling of specific, desirable behaviors. At my current school, we focus on two virtues each month. I work with my teachers to develop lessons entirely focused on each virtue, while also including them in discussion regularly throughout each day. I am always amazed at how even young children build their vocabulary with character trait words and begin imitating favorable, virtuous actions, just because of intentional introduction. In my opinion, one of the most important things that we can teach children is to be grateful.

Gratitude can, of course, be demonstrated through a simple spoken, "thank you" when someone else does something special for you. But perhaps a dying form of gratitude is the "thank you" note. My preschoolers learned that it's best to always send a "thank you" note to anyone who did something special for us--the firefighters who came to visit us, the parent who brought in cupcakes for a birthday, the administrator who got us new writing supplies. The notes started out as a whole-group activity. We would sit together crafting the words to use and everyone would then sign the end-product. Towards the end of the school year, though, something completely amazing would happen. The children began writing thank you notes on their own. They would thank each other for little things--opening the door for recess, sharing toys, being good friends. They would write thank you notes to their parents and siblings. It was a wonderful transformation to see for four- and five-year-olds. Of course, the best way to teach gratitude, along with other character virtues, is to model what you want to see from children in everyday situations. Consistency is key!  

Here are a few other resources on teaching gratitude: 

http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/behavioral/teaching-children-to-be-grateful/

http://www.familycircle.com/teen/parenting/discipline/teaching-gratitude/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenny-witte/10-ways-to-teach-kids-gratitude-this-thanksgiving_b_4338606.html

http://familyshare.com/how-to-teach-kids-about-gratitude

Prep them to be grateful, 

The Prepped Parent