Kids Learning Service

As I drove up to the Capitol to meet my children this afternoon, I realized that there is another type of service that can be fit into a busy schedule (and can be done from home!). Advocacy can be service because it is standing up for something you believe in to make the world a better place. I know not everyone has a friend who tells you they are taking your kids to the State Capitol to advocate, in this case for our after school program, but there are other ways to help children serve through advocacy. Find something that is meaningful to your children, either an issue that is up for debate, or even just a concern or compliment (to show support for their work). Figure out who the appropriate person/people are to contact, find their contact information. This morning I googled the email address for our representative and senator (I typed in "state representative for Kearns Utah"). Other people that children can advocate with are teachers and school officials, safety org...

J volunteering at a First Lego League robotics competition T eaching our kids how to serve can take time and effort, and who doesn't have a busy life? Serving doesn't mean we need to stop everything and spend a large chunk of time (or money), it just means we need to use some creativity. One of the best ways to do this is by finding opportunities in things we are already doing. Every year our school hosts a First Lego League  robotics competition. This year my two youngest girls competed on teams (Cosmic Caribou and Robo Kitties, could they be any cuter?) while I volunteered. Needing a large amount of help, teenagers are welcome to volunteer and J loves to spend the day with his friends, the snacks, and silly hats (a requirement for volunteers!). So, while this event actually took an entire day, it was somewhere most of us needed to be anyway. It didn't take any extra time or effort, and kept him from sitting around at home playing video games all day. Are there ...

There is unimaginable suffering going on in our world. The news shows people facing natural disasters, slavery, abuse, accidents, etc. We may not be able to solve these issues, but we do have the power to change the world for someone. Maybe it will be ourselves and our children that we change, but just think about what a whole generation of kids learning how to serve can accomplish.  Teaching kids how to serve can be frustrating, but with entitlement and lack of motivation to get off the video games or instant TV, it has become more important than ever for youth to learn how to look outside of themselves.  My son has been known to announce "I haaaaaaate service!", but if you're now wondering why I thought it would be a good idea to author this blog, I work at a Service Learning school and have the opportunity to be around amazing people doing amazing things all the time. And even though he may hate service, my son knows how  to serve. It felt like a win when I me...