Big-Hearted Families™ Blog — Doing Good Together™

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Teach Kindness

Teaching Kindness in the Classroom: Why It Matters and How to Do It

Teaching Kindness in the Classroom: Why It Matters and How to Do It

Learn ways to include kindness lessons in educational settings and beyond! Through learning about kindness, children learn empathy and compassion and can begin viewing the world around them through the eyes of others as they appreciate diverse perspectives. By building kindness activities into regular educational practices, we prepare kids for life as an adult who cares and contributes to the world around them. 

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Loving Hearts, Loving Kindness: Exploring 4 Lesser-Known Types of Love for Children and Families

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Loving Hearts, Loving Kindness: Exploring 4 Lesser-Known Types of Love for Children and Families

Valentine’s Day often stirs strong feelings, often over-celebrated with material gestures. Our guest contributor shares how her view of the holiday was shifted by a homemade card, revealing the day's deeper potential. Learn how teaching young children about varied forms of love can foster empathy and enrich lives.

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Celebrate Kindness this Valentine’s Day with Doing Good Together™

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Celebrate Kindness this Valentine’s Day with Doing Good Together™

This Valentine’s Day take the time to celebrate kindness with the ones you love with these simple and fun Valentine’s activities!

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Create a Family Mission Statement This Resolution Season

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Create a Family Mission Statement This Resolution Season

Research shows that families who co-create mission statements and continually revisit their shared values feel more connection to one another and a sense of responsibility to others. It also aligns with the values of families who are Doing Good Together! Does this sound like something you and your family would like to try? Here are some tips to encourage you in writing a mission statement that reflects your family’s values and centers your efforts to identify and continually practice your family’s mission.

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Navigating Difficult Conversations with Children

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The last few years have pushed us to our limits as we watch our world become more and more polarized over conversations around gun laws, mental health, the pandemic, race, and a war that rages in Eastern Europe. It seems almost impossible to take a breath. I struggle with how much to share with my children, but I ultimately know that they need to hear the truth – in age appropriate ways – even when it breaks my heart to share it with them.
Here are my suggestions on having these challenging conversations along with some resources that have helped me – and might help you as well.

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The Inner Work of Childhood: How (and Why) To Become a Family of Philosophers

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The Inner Work of Childhood: How (and Why) To Become a Family of Philosophers

There is a certain amount of “Who am I?” and “Why are we here?” work that needs to happen during our early years. At Doing Good Together, we have found that a great deal of the inner work happens when kids have the opportunity to ask big questions with adults in their lives. Our latest post gives you the scientific benefits of philosophical inquiry and offers practical tools to get you started.

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6 Ways to Work for a More Compassionate Community

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In his rendition of Stone Soup, Jon J Muth offers a lovely example of the way individual generosity can lead to a more compassionate community. Building on this inspiration, Doing Good Together offers several practical suggestions to help your family enrich your community in simple, everyday ways.

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Want to raise empowered kids? Teach advocacy!

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Try our new, printable tools to take positive action on a cause you care about. Advocating and volunteering for a cause is the best way to empower your family and let legislative leaders know that they represent everyone in their district, including your family and the causes that matter to you.

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Understanding Immigration: Exercises in Empathy & Advocacy for Families

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As the crisis at the border floods the news, your children may have questions. You may feel helpless to respond.  Our latest blog post can help you navigate this heartbreaking issue with your kids. As our blogger concludes, “Doing Good Together has always relied on two essential truths. In every crisis, there is something you can do to make a difference. And your family's actions, along with your empathy, will shape the next generation of helpers and heroes.”

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Unfrazzle Family Life: Make More Time for What Matters Most

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Even when you're doing your best to keep things simple, family life can be full at best. Often it's downright frazzled and unruly. To help your family make room for kindness, Doing Good Together™ has created a unique Family Meeting Agenda designed to unfrazzle family life.