March 16, 2019

Quote of the Week

"Life's most persistant question is," what are you doing for others?" - Martin Luther King Jr.

Kindness: How You Can Teach Children To Care For Others

"How do we increase the happiness and well-being of every child?

We start by teaching children to care about others every day throughout the year.

Learning to be givers shapes children’s values and provides opportunities to develop kindness, a virtue that improves lives and reduces violence and bullying.

Empathy is our ability to recognize and respond to the needs and suffering of others. We can see empathy-in-action all around us. In Tomorrow’s Change Makers: Reclaiming the Power of Citizenship for a New Generation, young people describe the transformative power of empathy and how it motivated them to make a difference for others. An important part of our internal compass, empathy includes the ways we show caring and compassion to people in our lives." [read more]

Reading Corner

Title: Because Amelia Smiled
By: David Ezra Stein
Ages: 3-7

Why? "Because Amelia smiles as she skips down the street, her neighbor Mrs. Higgins smiles too, and decides to send a care package of cookies to her grandson Lionel in Mexico. The cookies give Lionel an idea, and his idea inspires a student, who in turn inspires a ballet troupe in England! And so the good feelings that started with Amelia’s smile make their way around the world, from a goodwill recital in Israel, to an impromptu rumba concert in Paris, to a long-awaited marriage proposal in Italy, to a knitted scarf for a beloved niece back in New York. Putting a unique spin on "what goes around comes around," David Ezra Stein’s charmingly illustrated story reminds us that adding even a small dose of kindness into the world is sure to spur more and more kindness, which could eventually make its way back to you!" - Publishers

Be the Change

Come up with ideas as a family for a Kindness Project this week!  Take some time to reflect on what daily practices you would like to take up as a family to cultivate kindness into a habit.   Here are some cool service ideas that you can practice as a family each month!