The Virtue of Kindness

Last week, we started on the virtue of Kindness.  Each day we spent about 10 minutes on the discussion of kindness.

The first thing we did was turn to our We Choose Virtues cards.  We discussed the definition of "kind" and we discussed words which are the opposite of "kind".  Words like selfish, sarcastic, rude and hurting others (intentionally) would be the opposite of being kind.

On another day, we discussed what mocking is and why it's not kind.  No worries.. my girls do not have a problem with mocking.  But they regularly encounter it and it upsets/hurts them.  Understanding what mocking is can help them to better deal with their own emotions; deal with the person who did it; and also reinforces to them why it is so wrong.  On the chalkboard, I broke it down for them:

• Mock: Tease or laugh at in a scornful or contemptuous manner.
• Contemptuous: Showing contempt
• Contempt: The feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.

Obviously, mockery shows evidence of the need for a change in attitude on the part of the one doing the mocking. They need to understand this so that they can avoid internalizing the mockery and judging themselves to be worthless.

On another day, we discussed things which we would consider acts of kindness which led to the fun project.   They were asked to go through magazines (which I'd collected from Freecycle since no one here reads magazines) and make a collage of images which showed others being kind.

They found all sorts of things: Children hugging kittens; vets taking care of animals; husband's and wives holding hands; young people enjoying a meal at a sidewalk cafe..

What types of projects do you have going or planned?


Happy Homeschooling!