If at times you wonder if the lessons you are trying to teach your children are getting through, this is the blog post for you! Often kids learn from your actions rather than your words. What they see you consistently doing speaks volumes to them.
Last night a child came in to redeem her Summer Reading Log for her weekly reward – a coupon for a free cone at Tasty Twist in East Lansing (shout out to Tasty Twist for their generosity to ELPL!). She started jumping up and down and said, “Mom, can I take this out and put it in the food pantry?” I learned that every time this family comes to the library they bring food and toiletry items to our Empathy and Equity Box. This young child wanted to share her reward with someone who might be going through a tough time and not have treats.
This family is showing what generosity is in a very real way to their child. The child was able to experience paying it forward with something she earned. The person who uses the coupon has no idea who put it there, but will enjoy a delicious treat!
Do you want to teach your child(ren) about re-purposing? Work on a project together. Cleaning up trash? Take a walk and pick up debris around your neighborhood/school/library. They will start to learn by doing and hopefully some of these values will become a part of who they are.
What values do you hope to instill in your children? Here are some good titles with built-in lessons!
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