Memory & copy work on the habit of Responding Cheerfully, to be used as a tool to help reinforce the habit of responding cheerfully.
Having the ability to respond cheerfully to circumstances and to people needs to be a reflection of your inner self; not a means to mask inner turmoil. There can be so much joy in pain, but to hide ones inner pain behind a phony mask of cheer is not right, and the distinction must be made clear to children.
We aren’t setting about to be fake, but rather to cultivate an attitude of gratitude with a deep awareness of our God that leaves us in complete awe, filled with joy – that overflows from our lives into cheerful responses to whatever may come.
We do copy work every day – it first started out with me writing it on our homemade whiteboard and they sit at their kid size table. Their eyes look up, read, retain, write down, repeat. This method has helped them memorize the work they are writing, as well as teaching spelling, and, of course, writing neatly! We no longer have our large white board, but copy work is done in a similar manner. The graphics here with verses and quotes on the habit of thankfulness are created so you can click on them to enlarge and your children can copy straight from your screen. No copying or printing for you!
Our memory and copy work includes a definition of our habit, Bible verses, a hymn, and quotes.
Responding cheerfully means to communicate that you are willing to do something without complaining.
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. – Proverbs 17:22
A glad heart makes a cheerful face,
but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. – Proverbs 15:13
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25
Unless a man is courteous toward others, he is at a disadvantage in the world, even though he be the possessor of every other good trait and quality possible to humanity. – H Clay Turnbull
“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
For the tune and the rest of the lyrics check out this site here.
