Fall Thanksgiving Gratitude & Contentment Homeschool Lesson Plan Freebie

This book is the perfect catalyst for conversation about contentment with your kids.

Rachel Cruze just created this awesome book which teaches your kids contentment and where true joy comes from. What better way to develop an amazing lesson in your kids than through a whole November study around gratitude & contentment!?

The benefits of instilling in our kids the habit of being grateful & practicing contentment:

There have been many studies that show gratitude actually changes the pathways in your brain. Imagine if we could teach our kids that they have the ability to choose gratitude. & the most beautiful thing of all — Once they start, it becomes a habit. Both for you, and for them.

This practice when done consistently, creates new neurological pathways in our minds. Gratitude releases dopamine and serotonin. These neurotransmitters target our emotions specifically and give us that ‘good’ feeling, increasing our joy immediately. Our mood instantly changes.

The more I did this practice when I used to teach in the classroom with my students, the better their days went, & my days went in the classroom too. You dictate the atmosphere of your teaching setting, whether as a homeschool teacher or classroom teacher. You set the tone.

All to say — Your mindset shifts as you practice being thankful. This isn’t just a fun fall lesson. It’s a key for lifelong training into joy & contentment.

Gratitude & Contentment Lesson Guidelines:

Once you have the book — have your kiddos share how they can choose contentment & what they are grateful for. Below is a lesson plan to help guide your teaching further. 🙂

What to say to your kids:
“Did you know that contentment changes your heart & mindset?”

“How do we practice contentment? Through gratitude.”

Remind them what gratitude means & being grateful looks like:

“Gratitude is when you are thankful to God for the good things in your life. This could be things that people often take for granted — like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, and family. Gratitude and being content change how you feel about your day, help you appreciate what you already do have, and change how you see the world around you.”

Continue by asking the main take away question:
“What are you grateful for?”

Helpful tip: Write this final question on a board or piece of paper  – visual learners especially (but all learners) need to SEE not just hear what you are asking to process the information well! Always try to draw a picture to help explain!

Bible:

These two verses are great to teach in the month of November:

“In everything with prayer… give thanks to God.” – Philippians 6-7

“Everything is from Him & to Him” – Romans 11:36

Write these on notecards & have them copy down a word at a time. Or write it on a chalkboard & have them copy the letters (kids love writing on chalkboards or whiteboards!). Write it in their notebooks & create pictures with each word in the verse to help remember the verse as a whole with visual picture reminders in their mind!

Art & Nature:

    ⁃    Write what they are grateful for on leaves you make with construction paper or find some actual leaves outside. Then, at the end of the day, either during dinner time, or right after, write it on the leaf as a family. Once you’ve each filled out a leaf, tape them directly on a window, around their room, or clip them on a string, & do this once a week or even every day – thank God for the days leading up until Thanksgiving!

Language Arts:

Depending on ability have them answer in these ways:
    ⁃    Younger kids: Draw a picture of what they are grateful for on a piece of paper or have them act it out & you guess what it is (ex. food, they are eating cereal)

    ⁃    Older kids: write a thank you card to whoever they are grateful for.

    ⁃    Additional Language Arts Writing Project for Older Kids: Have them write paragraphs (~3rd grade & beyond)
    1.    Paragraph 1: they should explain in the first paragraph what they learned today about the power of gratitude, how it changes your heart & mindset.
    2.    Body paragraph(s): Depending on age & ability, they can either right one body paragraph, or three paragraphs for 4th grade & beyond. Have them write three things that they are grateful for in the body paragraphs (with three sentences each for complete paragraphs). After the first opening sentence mentioning the thing or person they chose, they explain why they are thankful for that specific choice in the second sentence. Then, the closing sentence in each body paragraph is giving details or rephrasing how great that thing or person is.
    3.    Conclusion paragraph: The closing paragraphs restates why they are grateful and that they want to continue to practice being grateful every day in the month of November.
    •    Important note: Remember! It isn’t wrong to give starting sentences, especially when kids are just starting to learn structure in paragraph writing – I’m grateful for.. The second thing I’m grateful for.. I’m grateful for this, because.. Gratitude helps my heart and mind everyday, because.. Guidelines create learners! You can’t expect them to know how to create sentences correctly without modeling first! We always say in teaching “I do, We do, you do!” Most often, we are frustrated in teaching or homeschooling because we haven’t modeled correctly.

This book also ties into teaching your kids how to give, not always hold tightly.

This leads perfectly into a December Giving teaching moment for your family. Once you start the discussion of contentment in November, you can use it as a spring board to begin this December giving lesson. I would love to share a lesson plan for that with you as well. You can have this lesson sent directly to your inbox when it goes live by subscribing below. Thanks friends! 🙂
You’ve got this. – Lauren

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