I currently work with a very special population of students who are all classified, and many deal with anxiety, depression etc. When I meet one-on-one with these students, they are usually very negative and have a hard time finding positivity in their lives. I try my best to provide them with positive reinforcement, but they often have a hard time accepting it.

Unicorn Growing Up Grateful is a journal that children can use to record positive aspects of their daily lives. There are a few different journal options to choose depending on the individual child that will be using it. The two themes are unicorns or dinosaurs. There are also two versions- one for students with disabilities or writing difficulties, and one for students who can write.

I work with students with disabilities and dysgraphia, so I chose the unicorn journal for that population of children. Visually, the journal looks like a coloring book with adorable images of a cuddly unicorn.

One of the best tools to offer students with writing disabilities is a graphic organizer. The organizer provides lots of space for a student to write or draw each day. There is a space to practice writing the date and a sentence starter for what a child is grateful for that day. My favorite aspect of the organizer is the happiness scale. Kids draw the mouth on the unicorn to indicate how happy they were that day. There is also a section for kids to reflect on the best part of their day.

I see this product being used more at home than in school. The book is a 66 page habit forming journal, so it can be used effectively during after school hours. Personally, I would have my child complete a page in the journal after dinner during reading time. Kids can use crayons,  markers, or colored pencils to color and fill in the graphic organizer while we talk about their day. I can see this as being a very powerful tool to help kids reflect on the day, their actions, etc., and to recognize the positive moments that happen every day.

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