I thought I'd post this, in case it will help anyone. These are idea's that have worked well for our family. Every year I like to make up a very general yearly plan for our FHE's. Do we follow it exactly? No way. But it gives me a direction on those busy nights when I haven't planned anything and have to "wing it". I do not let myself feel guilty for not sticking to it, but use it as a guide.
Our topics include:
Week 1 - Primary theme for that month
Week 2 - Conference talk; Friend; or Ensign article from the current magazine
Week 3 - Pertinent Subject (whatever Todd and I feel needs to be taught)
Week 4 - Kid's teach (their choice of topic or scripture story)
Week 5 - Fun Activity (since there are only 4 of these per year, these are the times we get to spend $$ on bowling, or eating out, or whatever we decide).
As a backup, if ALL these idea's fail on any given night, we will work on Brayden's Scout requirements, or Faith in God goals.
We usually sing the song that they are learning in primary that month. After being a primary teacher for a year, I've noticed that there is not usually enough time for them to learn all the songs really well, unless they are also learning them at home.
Our lessons are pretty short. I used to think that I had to go "all out" and have flannel board stories, activities, etc. but then they weren't getting done because it took too much time. If the spirit is there, the job is done. Kids CAN learn without all the fluff. (but the "fluff" does help, so I'm still always seeking out object lessons, activities, songs, etc. It's the preschool teacher in me.) If you come up with something really great this year...PLEASE SHARE IT WITH ME!
Our "pertinent subject" often ends up being board games, playing lego's, or watching a movie because we tend to get so caught up in our jobs, that we don't have enough fun together. Gotta have those "wholesome recreational activities".
Something else we have done, is give our kids "callings" in the family. Dillon is the reminder (he helps us remember to read our scriptures every night). Caleb is the service coordinator (we set a family goal for 2009 to do a service project each month, so Caleb will plan them). Brayden is the Activity Coordinator (he plans a monthly family activity). We will change them whenever we feel like it. Dillon's last job was music coordinator (he led the singing at FHE). We haven't done so well at this in the past (except for Dillon), and hope to do better this year.
You can click here for a pdf copy of the Primary Outline for this year.
And last of all, this has been our most successful method for reading scriptures:
On either Sunday or Monday night, we watch one scripture "reader" story on DVD (from the distribution center). The next night we read it from the "reader". The next night we might read the SAME story from the Gospel Art Picture kit. This is new this year, but if we have a flannel board story, I'll have the kids tell it, and after we know the story or the subject REALLY well, then we finally read it in our scriptures. By then, it's so much easier for the kids to understand.
We've done *most* of the Book of Mormon this way, and this year we are going to do The Doctrine and Covenants.
Maybe it's not a good substitute for the actual scriptures every night...but my kids are enjoying it, and they are really learning the stories. Caleb and Dillon do their "personal scripture study" by watching the Book of Mormon reader on CD-ROM on their computer. Brayden reads out of the readers.
Another idea that has worked well in the past, is to post an article of faith on the fridge. We try to read through it during breakfast in the morning, and it's amazing to me how fast the kids pick up on them. We need to get back to it...
None of this happens regularly. I am probably the WORST at keeping a schedule like this, but I figure that anything that works for awhile is better than nothing. We go in cycles where we do really well, and then times where we get caught up in "life", but by using a schedule like this in the past, I feel that OVERALL we are taking baby steps in the right direction.
9 comments:
Thanks for sharing. Do you have any ideas for little, little kids? I remembered last night, after Sam was in bed, that it was Monday and thought, "I probably should have had some sort of FHE with Sam" (Jon was at work). I should work out a rough schedule...
And I think you're doing a fabulous job... even if it only happened once a month- never giving up is half the battle. Good for you. :0)
Thanks for the ideas. My girls are always fighting over who gets to do the lesson for FHE. I think I might try your plan.
Good ideas. We have also incorporated the new nursery books into FHE. It's easier for the little ones to understand and teach. We had a family goal last year to Memorize all the articles of faith. We got to 6 so thats still on our goal list this year.
Sandra,
We bought the new nursery manual, but I haven't even looked at it yet. That is a great idea for when I have my boys teach. We got stuck on A of F #5. Good luck with your goal this year :o)
Char,
The new manual would be a GREAT resource for really young kids. You could even teach the same lesson that he got on Sunday in nursery, and he'd probably enjoy it more the second time :o) Having a "formal" FHE is very hard when you have one little one. It in lot easier for me now, with more (and older) kids.
I'll look through my file and see what I might have for two-year olds. Anything that he can be involved in by holding something, or singing, or an interactive flannel board story, etc. is helfpful for toddlers.
A.MAZ.ING!!! I'm going to print this and read it later so I can ponder how it's going to help our family. It's going to, I tell ya! :) We do the family callings too... hopefully better this year.
I love this, Felicia!
I'm going to copy you...because imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?:o)
Great ideas! We get stuck in the same, read a story from the Friend rut each week.
Something I did last year that worked great was to write the monthly Primary theme and scripture on the kids' mirror with a dry-erase marker. When DD is brushing her teeth, she knows she needs to read through everything 3 times before she is done brushing. Two birds, one stone! And, she's learning scriptures!
We use a family Home evening board for the "callings". I love the idea of the subjects though. I think we'll mix that in!
Hey Felicia...it's Heather Maile. I was blog hopping and found you through Cami's. I love your ideas here...hope you don't mind if I use some of them. Hope all is well in LOA! :)
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