My daughter said her daughter is a mini grandma. She has several journal books she uses and she has several different colors of bags and totes for her books and journals. Just like her grandma. Hey, at least I am not guilty of setting a bad example. Anyway...
My granddaughter is only four years old, but she is well on her way to becoming a lifetime journaler. She expects to learn a new word each day. Besides the new words they discuss in her preschool class, she wants her grandma to give her a new word of the day too. Now they are not just your ordinary words most preschoolers want to know. They have to be big and interesting sounding words. They must catch her attention. Words we have been discussing are "extraordinary", "outstanding", "possibilities", and so on. We did "blizzard" since we had a blizzard with a snowfall of almost 6 feet overnite. Occasionally I will give her a word that her teacher used in class. She will say "I already know that word grandma." She will use the word of the day somehow in a sentence with everyone she talks to that day. Oh, Reader's Digest Word Power is going to become my favorite tool with her. We will be learning how to spell soon and then I will work on definitions and dictionary drills with her too. For now she learns the meaning and how to write it. Afterall she is only four you know. Well, there are times I forget that. She tends to include herself in our adult conversations. She gets bored playing with children her own age. Okay, I know. Grandma is bragging, but she really is pretty smart and as a preschool teacher myself, I adore her and her love for learning. Everything we do is a learning experience with her. She questions everything. And she has some pretty intelligent opinions about things, especially things she has just learned and wants others to know that "she is smart" as she will tell us. Our times together are constantly new and "exceptional" as she learned the meaning of and loves to use all the time.
During one of the days I got to spend time with her (my husband and I babysit the grandchildren after school on the weeks they are at home with their mother - our daughter.) we were watching one of the programs she enjoys (I Carly is her favorite right now) and I told her I wanted to color instead. She asked why because she enjoys coloring too but she was interested in her show and was deciding which to do. So, I told her because I did not want to watch the show and that I love coloring. She put her hands on her hips and told me you should love people not things grandma. So, that led to some very lengthy conversations about things you can love and things we can love or people we love etc. And then we talked about things we don't like. In our household we don't use the word hate very often so we discussed things we "strongly dislike". Then our conversations led to Jesus loves us and hates sin. We are to love everyone but not like the sin they do. We never got to the coloring until much later in the day. And I learned a lot from a four year old that day.
When I got home I started listing all of the things we had discussed for my journal and low and behold I realized she was not only a journaler like her grandma, she is also a prompter. She made me think of so many new things I could journal about. She is "amazing" (one of her favorite words). So, I will share the different prompts I was able to get from my day with a little person...
Things I love...
People I love...
Things I love to do...
Things I would love to do...
Things I love about my husband, other family members...
Things I love about my friends and other relatives...
Books I love to read...
Creative art projects I love to do; would love to do...
Crafts I love to do; would love to learn...
Ways I love to journal...
Things I love to eat...
TV shows I love to watch...
What I love about my job...
What I love about my town...
My favorite places I love to go to...
The time of day I love the most...
The season I love the most...
Writing utensils I love to use...
Moments in my life I love to recall...
Things I love about myself
And then you can use the same ideas and substitute the words "don't love", "don't like", or "dislike".
For a more extensive activity you can do a word study in the Bible using the words "love" and "hate".
You can write the verses that relate to those words. You can find poems/sayings that involve those words too.
You can do a study on how Jesus loves us and you can journal the different ways that Jesus has shown His love for you. You can journal the different ways you show Jesus you love Him. Or the ways you would like to show Him you love Him.
You can write in journals assigned to your different family members and write them love letters.
And for the scrapbooker/journaler you can include pictures of people and things you love.
Hope this long post was helpful. I love sharing prompts with you and I truly love talking about my granddaughter. I will share more of her prompts with us again.
