Sa. Migdalia Negrón Martínez
Spanish Teacher

Perhaps, it is the time of year when we think of reasons to be thankful. We, at Leaning
Another Language, want to thank each and every family that gives their children the opportunity
to be part of our Spanish classes. Without a doubt, fostering in our children the knowledge and
love of a new language represents a valuable opportunity for openness and sensitivity towards
other realities and cultural riches.
However, although it is nice to count blessings as part of our respective Thanksgiving
celebrations, being grateful throughout the year can represent benefits for our quality of life and
that of our families. In fact, gratitude can be one of the most overlooked tools that we all have
access to every day. Cultivating gratitude does not cost money and certainly does not require
much time, but the benefits can be significant. Living in gratitude can represent a valuable
contribution to the healthy development of our children. Gratitude forms empathetic, respectful,
happy and resilient children. Recognizing all that we have to be grateful for, even during the
worst moments of our lives, equips us with the necessary tools to face our daily responsibilities,
as well as the unexpected experiences that may come into our lives. We all have the ability and
opportunity to cultivate gratitude, so taking a few minutes to focus on all that you have, instead
of complaining about everything you think you deserve. Developing an “attitude of gratitude” is
one of the simplest ways to improve your satisfaction with life.
We can find in various writings various benefits of being grateful. Among these we can
mention:

• More and better relationships with other people
• Improves physical and emotional health
• Increases empathy and reduces aggressive behaviors
• Promotes better rest
• Strengthens self-esteem
• Increases resilience
  One of the possible activities that we can practice with our children to encourage
  gratitude, according to a 2011 study published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, is
  to write in a gratitude journal. The article states that spending just 15 minutes writing down some
  feelings of gratitude before bedtime helps you sleep better and for longer. Practicing gratitude on
  a daily basis can represent a small change that we won’t regret. That’s why I invite you to answer
  yourself every day, I’m grateful for…

Below, we share some online resources that you can enjoy as a family and talk about:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-
happier#:~:text=Gratitude%20is%20a%20thankful%20appreciation,the%20goodness%2
0in%20their%20lives.&text=Gratitude%20helps%20people%20feel%20more,adversity%
2C%20and%20build%20strong%20relationships.