Tuesday, September 23, 2008

FHE Lesson Plans

I'm back from my long absence. My stupid internet has been on the fritz, and it has been very frustrating. It's still not completely fixed, but I can at least get on the internet occasionally instead of never.

For this post I would like to introduce to you all my biggest reason for starting this blog. It seems to me there aren't many ideas out there for FHE lessons geared toward young children- sunbeam age and younger. Sure, there's the Sunbeam lesson manual, but am I the only who's noticed that it's way too mature for three year olds? I still use the lessons, I just condense them like crazy. I want to know what other things you all have done with your families. I would love for this blog to become a great source for FHE lesson plans.

So, the plan: I'll post a topic, and I'd love for all of you to leave a lesson in the comments that you've done with your families. Even though I myself am looking for lessons for younger children, if your lesson isn't geared to little ones I still want you to share it! We all have kids at different stages. Obviously, my children will grow up, and I'll need to adapt my FHE lessons as they grow. So, share share share!

The topic I will pose first is: REVERENCE (I was very surprised to find that is not a lesson topic in the Sunbeam manual).

Don't feel like you have share something grand. Simplicity is almost always best anyway. The more ideas that are shared, the more fun it will be.

Thanks!

5 comments:

Christianne said...

This is so easy but it has helped- you probably already do it. I bought a Gospel Art Picture kit and I pick 2 or 3 stories for FHE. They even have the condensed stories on the back--a short paragraph. When we are doing the lesson the kids have to sit revently on the couch. We tell them when we talk about imporatant things we need to sit still and listen and then we practice during these lessons. I don't know if that is really a lesson but they are so much better in church because we talk about it every week

Christy said...

Hi! My name is Christy Hodges, I saw the title of this post on Andrea's blog. I am always trying to find ways to teach my kids with new FHE lesson plans and activities. My little girl is also 3 years old and it is hard to keep the lesson simple enough for her to understand and be entertained at the same time. I would love to follow this blog and learn things and add things I find that could help other mothers too. I have a list of websites that I have used on my blog...Doing crafts and such with kids. Recently we bought a "Hooked on Bible Stories" kit that we have been using for FHE. ANd although it's above her age level and not by the church, we condense it and change it some to make it appropriate for her. Anyway thanks for making a blog about teaching children. I think that is great! I would love to add this blog to my blog links...I am going private with our blog in a few days, so please if you would like an invite you can email me at Christyeve2001@hotmail.com. Thanks!

Sharlee said...

I love christianne's comment. That is kind of what we use to do when our older kids were really little and I had forgotten about the good 'ol gospel art kit. It is hard to try to teach an FHE lesson with the ages our kids are, 4 being the youngest, and 13 the oldest, and keep everyone's attention. But I do think (no, I know) that teaching them to be reverent during a lesson at home is how they are going to learn to sit through sacrament meeting, and other classes. We have had various lessons on reverence throughout the years but of course I can't remember anything specific that I thought was brilliant. I do have an idea that I got from Kimi from a sharing time she did recently, that I adapted for FH , about the holy ghost/our eternal goal/celestial kingdom. As soon as i get it written up I'll send it to you with pictures of what we did. You can use it on your blog whenever you like (if you like).

Marianne said...

When I created this post I was running short on time, so I didn't include my own reverence lesson we did a few weeks ago. Here it is:

I tried to find some pics of people being reverent at church. Then I asked N how we show reverence: sit still and quietly, walk quietly, listen to prayers, think of Jesus, etc. I asked him if he could show me how to be reverent.

Then, we sang "Father, I Will Revernt Be." I always try to include songs in our lessons, but when I do, since my kids are so young, I try to use songs that you can easily add actions to, otherwise I lose their attention.

After, I asked why we show reverence, and I quickly explained that it shows love and respect for Heavenly Father and that when we're reverent we feel the Spirit.

For a game/activity, we walked around our living room and kitchen like we would at church- folding our arms, walking quietly with our feet, etc. And as we walked we sang "Father, I Will Revernt Be" again. (An idea I had for a game that we didn't do was to have Daddy sit on the couch and act irreverently and have N help him be more reverent. If N were a little older I think that would have worked.)

In conclusion, I quickly challenged our whole family to be more reverent at church and promised that if we would we would feel the spirit more.

Our closing song was "Chapel Doors" (p. 156 in primary songbook)- N likes this one because he gets to go "Shhh"

I was pleasantly surprised how well the lesson went. Thanks to all the other suggestions. I love love love your comments!

Megan said...

I don't know you, but this is great that you have FHE ideas on your blog. I googled reverence lessons and found you.

Anyway, I found an idea. Have the kids close their eyes and try and guess the sound. First I have a shoe and dropped it on the floor then a bunch of markers and their bags that I put a little snack in. (I tried to pick things that they use at church that makes a lot of noise.) Then we are going to talk about how to make these things more reverent, because if we can guess what these sounds are now then everyone else at church can too and we should be listening to the speakers.

I thought this was a good visual lesson. Anyway, I am trying it out tonight.

Thanks for the other ideas.