Values and Virtues

**Value: noun Principles or standards of behavior**

**Virtue: noun Behavior showing high moral standards**

Please join your Nia House community for an afternoon of art, tea, and appetizers anytime between 4:30-5:45pm. All are welcome! Please extend this invitation to grandparents and family members. Toddler families are welcome to participate and Preschool families are requested to.

This year, the children at Nia House will identify the values and virtues that strengthen, unite, and shape the way we create community. At Nia House we acknowledge that values differ across family and culture and yet commonly guide us towards shared virtues.

The children will make artwork that depicts the way our common values and virtues guide us on a collective path of peace. We will explore the layers of community and the components of our character that strengthen us collectively.

We ask that your family also reflect and participate. Please:

1) Have a family discussion, and together choose:

a. one value/virtue that is a strength in your family and …

b. and one value/virtue that is a challenge in your family and a goal to practice working towards.

c. record your reflections and drop them in the Nia House mailbox.

Here are some examples of prompts that may aide in getting the conversation started. In all of these examples, peace is the chosen virtue and can be substituted with other values/virtues such as kindness, generosity, honesty, strength, or whatever feel important to your family right now.

· In our family, what are important things we do to help us remember to be peaceful?

· What does our family do together that celebrates our peacefulness?

· When are times in our family that is challenging to be peaceful?

2) Have your family photo taken here at Nia House during the event. We will use the photos in a permanent Community Values Tree collage that will be displayed on our yard as a visual touchstone for unity during turbulent times. If you won’t be able to make it to the event, no worries, just send in a family photo from home, so that your child can be included in the artwork.

Thank you so much for participating in this meaningful event. We look forward to sharing and learning more about one another.

In Community,

Your Nia House Teachers