Giving thanks

A few posts ago I talked about how we incorporate character development into our homeschooling days. We have since included (or I should say re-introduced) another element to our circle time. It is a time to reflect on what each of us is grateful for that day. We used to do this at bed time awhile back (as a way to review the day), but Rylan seemed to lose interest in it, so we let it go for awhile. With Thanksgiving coming up in a few days, it seemed like the perfect time to add this into our routine again.

This morning we discussed everything we had been grateful for over the weekend, and then studied our virtue of the week - “Thankfulness”, of course! We followed this with making thankful wreaths. Now, I have watched all the wonderful fall leaf crafts being posted throughout the blogosphere in recent weeks, however, here in Hawaii (not that I am complaining!) winter is like a slightly cooler summer, so everything is still green, green, green! As such, we had to make our own fall leaves to give our wreath a Thanksgiving kind of feel to it.

On a homeschooling note, the outlining and cutting of these leaves also happened to be a good fine motor skills activity.

Damian was heavily assisted by mama, however, the items on his list were mostly his (Rylan added a couple on to it). I asked Damian, “What makes you happy, what does Damian like?” and that’s what he came up with!