Gratitude

We can never teach gratitude enough!  If we said "thank-you" more often there would be more peace.  Those hyphenated  words are powerful, indeed. The Primary Songbook has 24 songs listed under "gratitude."  How many do the children know and how often do we sing them?  I am going to put more of these songs into our repertoire and help the children understand the importance of being thankful -- and this month is a great time to begin.

"Autumn Day" is a perfect song for this time of year.  It is about the abundance we have at harvest time.  The rhyming phrases are very helpful in learning this song.  Cut our 10 apples (I used red and yellow paper for the apples).  Make them large enough to print the word at the end of each phrase.  Draw a tree on the board and tape the apples on the tree so the children can see the words.  Sing the song for them and have them listen for the rhyming words.  Sing two phrases, then have the children sing the phrases with you.  Ask a child or two to pick the apples that match the phrases and put them in the order that we sing them.  I like to put the apples in a row under the tree.  When you have all the apples/ words in order, explain the importance of the last two phrases - or ask the children to tell why the phrases are important.  What should we learn from this song.

If time permits, sing "It's Autumntime" on page 246.  Ask the children what we could be thankful for in this song.  Answers could include: beauty, colors, our eyes that we can see the beauty, raking leaves with friends or family - thankful that we can serve, be with friends and family, etc.