Teaching Gratitude During the Holiday Season | Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week Crystal shares how teaching your kids to have an attitude of gratitude will result in Improved self-esteem, resilience, and empathy.

Episode #27 –  As parents, we love giving our children gifts and seeing their eyes sparkle with delight. But we do our kids a disservice when we fail to teach them the blessing of having a grateful heart. On today’s show, Crystal talks about ways to encourage a grateful heart in your children, not just during the holidays but all year long.

Giving and receiving gifts is a wonderful blessing; however, the Christmas season tends to over-encourage a “gimme” attitude in children, which can lead to a feeling of entitlement rather than gratitude. Teaching your kids to have an attitude of gratitude has many benefits. An article published by The ImagineProject.org lists the following benefits of gratitude: “Greater sense of well-being; improved physical health; improved self-esteem, resilience, and empathy; decreased aggression; increased optimism; improved sleep.”

When we revisit negative thoughts over and over again, we are literally deepening those connective pathways in our brains, making us more prone to think negative thoughts.

The same goes for positive, thankful thoughts. We have to be mindful of where we let our minds go; we’re choosing our future thought patterns. This is why it truly is a gift you give your children when you teach them to be thankful and model gratitude in your own life. Material things come and go, but a grateful attitude is a blessing to everyone.

Ways to Teach Gratitude to Children

  1. Don’t overindulge your children – having too much fosters an attitude of UNgratefulness.
  2. Teach them to say thank you as a matter of habit from an early age. 
  3. Teach them to be grateful for each and every gift they receive or kind deed. 
  4. Teach them to count their blessings. Talk about all the things you’re grateful for as a family. 
  5. Encourage your child to write thank-you notes for gifts they receive.
  6. Have your kids earn money of their own to purchase gifts for family members or create gifts, like ornaments or painting pictures. Let your children give to other children at Christmas time through organizations like Angel Tree, Operation Christmas Child, etc. Many military bases host a version of the Angel Tree for military children.  Let your kids help pick out the gifts, wrap them, and maybe even deliver them.
  7. Serve others through volunteering – this takes the emphasis off of ourselves and puts it on others. 
  8. Grateful parents raise grateful kids. Modeling gratefulness in our own words and actions will go a long way to instilling that character quality in our children. 

Gratitude is a valuable life skill that has many amazing benefits.

It can help children to develop strong relationships, cope with adversity, and feel happier overall. Make sure to model thankfulness in your own life and encourage gratitude in your children. Not just during the holiday season but all year long!

Resources:

The Imagine Project, INC

Sponsor:

Upper Iowa University is committed to providing quality, affordable education to service members and their families. Service members, spouses and dependents qualify for tuition savings with their Military Family Grant on undergraduate and graduate degrees. 

UIU programs are available online, on campus and at one of their learning centers across the country. Work one-on-one with an advisor to reach your educational goals. Learn more at UIU.EDU/MilitaryHomeSchool

Join Crystal and her guests each week as they bring relevant information to equip you, stories to encourage you, and content to inspire you. You don’t have to go it alone, tune in to the Military Homeschool Podcast, and be energized in your military homeschooling journey!

How to listen:

  1. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or Stitcher
  2. Subscribe on your favorite podcast listening app
  3. Or listen right here (just scroll down)

Got questions, comments, or have show topic ideas? Contact Crystal via email at militaryhomeschoolpodcast@gmail.com or connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Please subscribe, follow, and share with all of your military homeschooling friends!

 

7 Festive Fun Thanksgiving Traditions to Cultivate Gratitude

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Finish Well Homeschool Podcast, Podcast #198, 7 Festive Fun Thanksgiving Traditions to Cultivate Gratitude, with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

7 Festive Fun Thanksgiving Traditions to Cultivate Gratitude

In “7 Festive Fun Thanksgiving Traditions to Cultivate Gratitude,” episode #198, Meredith Curtis inspires homeschooling families with meaningful ways to give thanks this year. God has been good to us this year and Thanksgiving is a great day to let Him and each other know how thankful we are! Traditions include Praise Breakfast, Gratitude Guessing Game, Thankful Tree, Blessing Place cards, Pass the Praise, Old-Fashioned Hymn Sing, and Thankful Poster. Try one this year and watch gratitude grow in every heart.

 

 

 

 


 

 

PowerlineProd.com Homeschool and Bible Resources

 

Powerline Productions, Inc.

Bringing Homeschool Joy to Families Everywhere!

 


Show Notes

God is good. His goodness is everywhere but we often focus on what we don’t have rather than our blessings. These traditions are easy and fun, yet they truly cultivate gratitude!

Praise Breakfast

Supplies needed: yummy breakfast food, instrument (guitar or keys), or online music, and words to songs.

Gratitude Guessing Game

Supplies needed: very small whiteboard, dry erase markers, and notebook paper for each family member.

Thankful Tree

Supplies needed: poster board, markers, and brown/orange/yellow/red construction paper.

Blessing Place Cards & Scripture Cards

Supplies needed: cardstock, markers, and Bible.

Pass the Praise

Supplies needed: basket of candy corn.

Old-Fashioned Hymn Sing

Supplies needed: hymnal and instrument (piano, guitar) or online music.

Thankful Poster

Supplies needed: poster board and colorful markers.

Sign up for our Newsletter

100 Homeschool Hacks by Meredith CurtisSign up for our updates and get your copy of 100 Homeschool Hacks FREE. Sign up here.

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

Celebrate holidays with these festive, fun books and unit studies:

Celebrate Christmas with Cookies Unit Study by Meredith Curtis Celebrate Christmas in Germany Unit Study by Meredith Curtis Celebrate Christmas in Colonial America by Meredith Curtis
Celebrate Thanksgiving by Meredith Curtis Celebrate Easter Devotions Celebrate Our Christian Super Heroes by Meredith Curtis and Laura Nolette at Powerline Productions, Inc. Christmas Thoughts and Prayers Journal by Meredith Curtis

 

 


Thank You to our Network Sponsor – CTC Math!

Special Replay: How to be Thankful-er

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast a special replay: How to be Thankful-er!

How to be Thankful-er

How to be Thankful-er

Gratitude is important, whether it is Thanksgiving time or not. In this episode, Sabrina, Vicki and Kym are together to talk about gratitude and how to be more thankful!

Thankfulness is a healthy life skill for homeschool high schoolers (and their parents) to learn and practice. So let’s get started:

We are thankful to you, all our 7th Sisters and 7th Siblings. (Who are our 7th Sisters? Well, there are six of us 7Sisters: Sabrina, Vicki, Kym, Allison, Marilyn and Sara. That means YOU are our 7th Sisters…or 7th Siblings for you dads out there.)

Max Lucado says in his book, Anxious for Nothing, that teenagers’ average levels of anxiety are comparable to the anxiety of people who were in inpatient mental health programs in the 1950s. Did you catch that? That is shocking information- so much pain for folks in America these days.

Why is life so stressful these days?

Our fast-paced, photoshopped, achievement oriented culture has put a lot of pressure on teens, such as;

  • Social media shows a picture perfect world
  • Pressures from the digital sphere often push teens to feel they need to live as if everything is an “event” requiring:
    • preparation
    • presentation
    • planning
  • FOMO (in case you forgot: Fear of Missing Out
  • We live in a high performance world that expects teens to achieve, achieve, achieve
  • Also, these days, the covid pandemic and other crises

What to to help our teens and ourselves feel less stress and anxiety?

We need to learn gratitude! The University of California’s Greater Good Science Center has studied things that make people feel better. They have found that people who practice written gratitude tend to improve in mood and health.

One study that Greater Good Science Center did found that people who did a written gratitude list experienced:

  • Improvement in anxiety and depression levels
  • Fewer sick visits to the doctor
  • Observable change in one of the brain’s calm-down centers

Imagine that! Science and research catches up with Scripture. We know that Scripture has been reminding us to be thankful for thousands of years!

  • Ways to notice the good things in your world
  • Ways to model gratitude for your teens and youngers

Kym recalled that being in seventh grade started a new school. It was a different setting than she was used to: from a school in the city to a suburban setting. On her first day there, she was feeling nervous. On her way back from gym class, she realized,

“Wow! I could just be positive and it would make my life better. Not only that but it might make life better for someone else!”

Kym is so grateful today that God wired her for gratitude. It has helped her through stressful times and struggles ever since that time. Here is a resource Kym finds inspiring:

The books of Jon Gordon. He is a person who was naturally negative but learned to be positive after being challenged by his wife. One of the thankfulness practices that Kym learned from him is to take a daily “thankfulness walk”.

Kym also practices a nightly review of the positive things that:

  • She has done that day
  • Others have done for her that day
  • Anything else she can think of to be thankful for
  • Here’s a post with more Kym-like ideas for thanksgiving

Sabrina points out that Kym has been a gratitude inspiration to her and her son-in-law during a beach trip their families all took together. In fact, Sabrina’s son-in-law told her that when he “grew up” he wanted to be Kym because she was so enthusiastic and noticed the good things in life. Sabrina noticed that Kym was even blessed by seeing the well-done lines in a parking lot!

Vicki also mentioned she enjoys the encouragement of books by John Maxwell.

It is much harder to angst and spazz when standing before the throne of God if you start the prayer with gratitude!- Sabrina Justison

Start prayer with gratitude

Sabrina has found that whenever she is troubled about something, she wants to pray about it. However, she found that when she starts the prayer with “thank you”, she actually feels better than starting with the troubles.

With that in mind you can remember Sabrina’s favorite quote:

It is much harder to angst and spazz when standing before the throne of God if you start the prayer with gratitude!

How do you help teens learn to be thankful-er?

Teens sometimes think parents are irritating if they lecture about any topic. However, you can model gratitude for them!

  • Take them on thankful walks and talk about what you are doing on the walk
  • Model thankfulness and gratitude
  • Keep a gratitude journal daily (and let the family see you work on it sometimes)
  • Pray that God put role models in their lives who will live a lifestyle of thankfulness
  • Model “taking a break” for self-care and gratitude

You can also ask them about ways they could practice being a grateful person. (They might have an app for that!)

Also, be sure that you:

  • Occasionally thank them for daily good behaviors
  • Alway thank them for special kindnesses they have done
  • This attitude of thankfulness tends to improve relationships and work habits!

Join Sabrina, Vicki and Kym for lots of tips on how to be thankful-er.

What are some good resources that you have found for learning or practicing gratitude?

In the meantime, enjoy a few helpful posts from Vicki’s coaching business and 7SistersHomeschool.com!

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER

  1. Follow this link to our Apple Podcasts page.
  2. OR take this IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on 
    1. View in “…your favorite podcast source”
  3. This will take you to Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast source and our own podcast page.
  4. Click SUBSCRIBE.
  5. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!)
  6. Thanks!

OR PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE

  1. Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone
  2. Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen
  3. In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast
  4. Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon
  5. Tap *Subscribe*
  6. Please tap *Ratings and Review*

How to be Thankful-er

 


Uncover the Happiness Myth

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

The Roadschool Moms tackle the happiness myth in Episode#165. This first episode of the team’s three-part Mythbusters series reveals shocking truths about this superficial state of mind. The replay is a live recording by the Roadschool Moms team from the road. Kimberly Travaglino, co-founder of Fulltime Familiesbroadcasts from their SouthEast Florida Coast. Across the country, Mary Beth Goff, the Road Trip Teacher calls in from west central Indiana. The OTR duo are on a mission to bust up the happiness myth to Roadschool Moms everywhere. Hit the replay to hear more about this revelation that will unsabatoge your homeschool and your life.

Fact

When googled, happiness comes up 567,000,000 times. In addition to the definition of happiness, guides to finding it, secrets to keeping it, and an official happiness index can also be found. If visual happiness is what you’re looking for get your scrolling finger ready as you can find hundreds of thousands of images of smiley faces, sunsets, rainbows, and unicorns to represent. What does this mean? The world is obsessed with focusing on this temporary, external instead of reaching deep inside to find joy from within.

Myth

Happiness isn’t a real emotion. In fact, happiness isn’t even a feeling. Even Websters agrees it is just a state. Happiness comes and goes like the wind. Finding joy, now that is real. Make a joyful noise, no matter what the situation. The more joy you activate in your daily life, the stronger connection you will have to your faith, your family, and the life surrounding each.

More about Roadschool Moms

Looking for a roadmap for your next learning adventure? Scroll through the RSM library on iTunes to find more than 150 podcast replays.

Homeschool enrollment is on the rise. As a result, more and more families are moving into a home on wheels. Further, the Roadschool Moms record this broadcast to present resources that meet the challenges of today’s roadschooler. Kimberly Travaglino, co-founder of Fulltime Families, and Mary Beth Goff, the creator of Road Trip Teacher, team up every week to offer listeners a fresh take on homeschooling while traveling full time across America’s backyard.

Roadschool Moms:  Season 12


 


HSHSP Ep 86: How to be Thankful-er

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on HSHSP Ep 86: How to be Thankful-er!

HSHSP Ep 86 How to be Thankful-er!

HSHSP Ep 86: How to be Thankful-er

Gratitude is important, whether it is Thanksgiving time or not.

Max Lucado says in Anxious for Nothing that teenagers’ average levels of anxiety are comparable to the anxiety of people who were in inpatient mental health programs in the 1950s.

Why?

  • Social media shows a picture perfect world
  • Social media requires a lot of preparation, presentation and planning if you’re going to escape FOMO

What to do?

We need to learn gratitude! The University of California has studied things that make people feel better. They have found that people who practice written gratitude tend to improve in mood and health.

Imagine that! Scripture has been reminding us to be thankful for thousands of years!

  • Ways to notice the good things in your world
  • Ways to model gratitude for your teens and youngers

Have you read the books of Jon Gordon or John Maxwell. Both are great sources for learning gratitude.

Or remember Sabrina’s favorite quote:

It is much harder to angst and spazz when standing before the throne of God.

Join Sabrina, Vicki and Kym for lots of tips on how to be thankful-er.

In the meantime, enjoy a few helpful posts from Vicki’s coaching business and 7SistersHomeschool.com!

The Healing Power of Thankfulness

Simple How-to Guide to Create a Gratitude Journal

A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Whole Family

 

HSHSP Ep 86: How to be Thankful-er


Special Thanks to our Network Sponsor!


We’d like to thank our Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network sponsor Sony and their new movie, The Star, the Story of the First Christmas – Coming in Theaters November 17th!

Visit TheStarMovie.com to learn more.


How Homeschoolers Can Express Gratitude

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

We all want to raise grateful children. But it can be a challenge to find ways to teach them to express gratitude. In this episode, I share groups of people who are deserving of our gratitude as homeschoolers and unique ways we and our children can thank them.

Unique Ways for Homeschoolers to Express Gratitude: Podcast


SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES or ON STITCHER

You can also read this podcast as a blog post.

Links

How to Leave an ITunes Review from Your iPhone or iPad

Black Friday Savings on Psychowith6

the homeschool motivation on demand podcast episode

2:1 conference

Grammar Galaxy

Which of these unique expressions of thanks do you want to make first? Let’s chat about it on Facebook.

Have a happy homeschool week!

Ways to Teach Children Gratitude

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Who doesn’t want grateful children? In this episode, I’ll share six powerful ways for teaching children gratitude. They have made a difference for my family.

Powerful ways to teach children gratitude: podcast


[box] SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES or ON STITCHER[/box]

Teaching Tip of the Week

Our Journey Westward Nature Studies – use code FALL FUN for 20% off

Our Journey Westward

LINKS

World Vision

YWAM Biographies

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn from 7Sisters American Literature

Feed My Starving Children

Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox ministry

Prayer Journal– Get your free download and also receive updates from Psychowith6, including sanity savers and exclusive discounts

 Grammar Galaxy

MBFLP 106 – Teaching Gratefulness

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

MBFLP - Learning Gratefulness V

This Thanksgiving-week episode looks at the mandate to be grateful – it’s an expectation and a command in the Bible to be thankful people, people who aren’t marked by discontentment, grumbling, and strife. We’ve probably read and memorized lots of verses about that … but how can we teach it to our family? How can we live it ourselves? In a fallen world full of uncertainty and fears, can we find beauty, delight, and joy? Emphatically YES – join us and find out!

Laundry and Dishes and Dust–Oh My! FAH Episode 8

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Laundry dishes dust

Laundry and dishes and dust–oh my! Laundry and dishes and dust!

Do you ever feel like you’re walking through a dark, creepy forest, but instead of the unknown threats of lions and tigers and bears, you’re facing a never-ending mountain of laundry and dishes and dust?

Sometimes the busyness of life can overwhelm us and tempt us to forget the profound significance of our work as homemakers. In this episode, we’ll consider the importance of homemaking with a grateful heart; learn some practical tips for housework, organization, and cooking; and find encouragement in the real significance of even the seemingly small tasks of our daily lives.