Attentiveness

Attentiveness....
Our new character word is Attentiveness.

I picked it thinking I just wanted to work on the kids paying attention when I was speaking but there is so much more to it! I love this character trait!

Definition:

Attentiveness describes the concentration we apply to each of the five senses. It is the key to information gathering.

It means to show the worth of a
person by giving full concentration to his or her
words.

Here is the poem the kids are working on, it is by Character First

I will look at someone speaking
And I'll listen all I can.
I will sit or stand up straight
Like a soldier on command.

I will not draw attention;
I will guard against distraction.
I will learn to ask the questions
That will help me understand.

Commitments are important steps
To guard us from disaster.
And just to show we know them well,
Lets say the even faster.


Scriptures...

Matthew 13;15 For this peoples heart is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Matthew 13:16 But blessed are you eyes, for the see: and your ears, for they hear.

Luke 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me

James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let everyman be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.


I was talking to the kids yesterday and we were talking about why being or causing a distraction wasnt being attentive, and we discussed a soldier being at ATTENTION. He is not fidgeting, or looking around. His attention is solely on the Commander or whoever he is listening too.

We talked about how much more respectful it is to really pay attention to someone by:

* sitting or standing up straight

* looking into their eyes

* either repeating what they said or at least acknowledging them once spoken to

I am so pleased with how the kids are responding to all the character training. Simply opening them up to the words and definitions is wonderful, but taking the word and using it throughout the day in various situations is awesome! Dave is helping me pick the words that we use. And the other day I heard his say... was that thorough job? I so appreciated him remembering our character word and using it to train the kids! Very exciting stuff!