So, the other day, I think I had an inspiration. I say 'I think', because I don't always feel very inspired. But, now and then I think it happens. I had been reading a few different books about parenting and research on what is/isn't effective with kids. They were really interesting, and I felt really enlightened. Except, eventually I also felt a bit overwhelmed. I was trying to figure out how I can implement all the things I had read/learned, and how I could make sure that I somehow taught my kids all the things I deemed important.
And voila - a inspiration came. I've decided to call it "Project FHE" because it's a work in progress. My idea came after we had another average, lame-o, last minute prepared FHE. After Sophia went to bed I thought about how I can make FHE more meaningful and pondered the purpose of FHE altogether. My conclusion was that FHE has two purposes: 1. Bring the family closer together by spending (hopefully) quality time together and 2. to be a learning place of truth/principles/values.
Once I decided that, I thought why not make FHE the place to teach/practice/discuss all those things I consider important - be they gospel truths or general behavior issues or whatever. Then I thought why not design a filing box with the 20 or so issues that are most important to us - the things we want to teach our kids. I made a list and it includes topics such as:
- honesty
- compassion
- service/work
- learning
- morality
- healthy living
- balance
- Jesus Christ
- repentance/forgiveness
- self-reliance
- communication
- Holy Ghost
- prayer
- family heritage
- Temple
- Prophets
- Scriptures
and a few others. Now what I'll do with those topics is prepare games for various ages that go with those topics. Then I'll add to those scriptures, talks, stories, personal experiences, thoughts, questions, etc. that also go along with those topics. I've started cutting out things from the "Friend" version of the German Liahona that go with those topics, and I'll just start assembling things, and try to have a variety of things that go with each topic. All of those things will be put into the filing box under the appropriate topic. I'm planning on having 24 topics total, which would add up to 2 topics per month per year. I figured, as we discuss and teach those things over and over, from different angles, and with various age-appropriate activities, I'm sure the message will sink in. And even if it doesn't, then I know that I've made an active effort to teach those things to my kids. And last but not least, it should be pretty easy from now on to have a somewhat meaningful FHE. Games, lessons, etc. should all be more or less ready to go, and all you have to do is pull out a topic and decide what you want to do.
I'm super-excited. Oh, and if you have any good ideas on any of the topics I mentioned (games, simple object lessons, stories, whatever) feel free to post them here. I'm happy about input. I'll also be happy to share whatever I gather if anyone else is interested in this. Anyway, I just had to write about this. I feel so good about this idea, and so excited to put it all together and to hopefully have lots of fun family home evenings that strengthen our family and bring us closer together.
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7 comments:
That is awesome. Thanks for sharing your great idea and organization.
This sounds fantastic! I've thought about doing something similar. I know that there are several women in the ward that had/have a FHE activity and lesson group. I think Kacey Basset and Melanie Talbot are in one. You might consider talking to them for ideas, or ask where they get their ideas. Also, for the last RS activity that I helped with I was introduced to a website with all sorts of neat things - FHE ideas included. I think it was called ideadoor.com or something like that. I'll let you know for sure, and hopefully you can get more FHE stuff there.
p.s. The name of the site is theideadoor.com. Also, Ruth Moore gave a RS lesson on FHE awhile back, but I think that you were in Germany at the time. She had a ton of great info. So, if you are still looking for more stuff, you might try asking her too. Hope this help. Let me know how it all comes together.
Here are a couple of great web sites:
http://ayearoffhe.blogspot.com/
My friend put that together...geared toward the pre-school aged kid. Hopefully you'll find some lessons that match up with your topics.
I've also been using this web site for various reasons...church callings and FHE prep:
www.sugardoodle.net
Behold Your Little Ones (which you can find with the other manuals on lds.org) is technically the Nursery Manual. I found it useful when trying to figure out how to gear FHE toward pre-school aged children, because it gave me ideas about how to teach in a way that would be engaging to such young children.
I'll definitely be checking out the other websites recommended on the other comments here.
Way to listen to the spirit. I am sure this will be a great blessing to you and your family now and in the years to come. On a side note, sugardoodle.net is Gusti's next door neighbor and the site I would have suggested too for gleaning more ideas for your topics. It is the number one site used by lds people for things like that and has been for quite a few years. Good luck, I'll keep you in mind if I run across anything pertinent.
Well, thanks for all the input. I already checked out www.theideadoor.com and www.sugardoodle.net and both of them had a bunch of ideas/materials that I'll probably use. A lot of those sites though seem geared towards younger children, which is great. But I plan to gather ideas and materials that will I can use at any age. The plan is to teach these topics over and over and over for years, until our kids leave the house. :) I'm excited.
I didn't check out Emilie Ahern's site, Angie, because I've seen it before. It's nice, but not my favorite. So,...too bad for Emilie. Haha!
At any rate, it's fun to have a project to work on that I feel so good and so excited about. I really felt so inspired when I had the idea, and I think it'll will be indeed a great blessing.
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