Fall Dinner Schedule

We have a dinner schedule posted on the fridge but I won't say we always get around to doing it.   When we do it is cool, though!

SUNDAY - Polite Cafe and Manners
This is on-going because, well, the need is on-going...  We still practice using our forks and knives in the European fashion, and we learn to sip the sparkling cider instead of gulp it.  (Let me say here that for the girls this dinner is really about the sparkling cider.  They would prefer a mug of it instead of our little dainty glass.)  We still read and discuss the American Girl Manners book, and we're always working on elbows off the table and chewing with your mouth closed.  Basics, we're going for the basics.

MONDAY - Moral Choices
We still pull these from The Family Dinner Project, and we just learned that The Deseret News provides topics for conversation too.  Helping kids make choices and role play before actually getting in tough situations arms them to choose the right.

TUESDAY - Critical Thinking
We're still making our way through Red Herring Mysteries, but I have another cool book in the wings called Becoming a Critical Thinker.

WEDNESDAY - Learn & Tell
This is new.  Tennie is to tell us about an article in the Economist, and Ceci and Adele tell us about an article in ASK magazine, or something else they've learned.

THURSDAY - Dinner Cards
Still working our way through Family Table Topics.  Have you ever noticed how kids turn conversations to themselves when talking with their friends?  (Or is that just my kids?)  To encourage deeper levels of conversation we take turns asking the person who answers the question three additional questions (total) about their answer. 

FRIDAY - Doodle Drawing
My kids still love these Doodle books.

SATURDAY - Game Night
We really don't get to this one very often because we're often out or separated as a family, but on the occasion that we do play a game at the table we pull it from The Family Dinner, or google an idea.  There are plenty out there.

A little side note, my mother-in-law gave a Christmas gift to some of her married kids and their families last year based on these ideas.  It was a Family Dinner theme and she gave the Doodle book, the Table Topic cards, and a poetry book (which we used last year).  Many of these things make great gifts!