Our Family Home Evening topic last night was Gratitude (thanks to my HPG instructor!). So I invented a game similar to scattegories with the objective to help the children think of things they are grateful for; nothing elaborate but not a lecture at least. As with many FHEs in the past, the plan did not go quite as planned...the kids were having a little too much fun, and at one point I wondered about the whole thing. Then as I wrapped up with a thought from D&C 59:21 (And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments), one of the boys I thought was a bit checked out, shared a poem titled "To Be Grateful is to Be Happy" (the title of our lesson) which he wrote right there and then.To be grateful is to be happy
You should be grateful
For every little tiny thing that you receive
Even though you try
You can't deceive yourself
God gave you all you have
Be grateful
Be happy
OK, so the poem might not win any awards (though I thought it was pretty good, but then again, I've never been one to appreciate poetry very much, just ask my humanities teacher at BYU!), and I'll confess that I am not an expert at successful FHEs. But here is what I do know...
- Keep it simple (and short). Specially with little ones, they can't take it for too long. We try to chunk it up so we are switching modes and doesn't feel too long in any given activity.
- Involve them (a lot!). Last night Camille and Joshua (two youngest) helped me gather up all the materials for the lesson. They loved it! Camille felt so special because she got to conduct the agenda (we have a simple agenda template we use each week just so we don't forget to cover all the things we need to cover),
- Focus on specific needs. For me the key here is to be atuned to what the family needs. In this case, the prompting came during a priesthood lesson.
- Preparation matters. For me this is easier if I keep it simple. The FHE manual has some great ideas but many are a bit too complicated for me so I usually take the idea, simplify it and roll with it.
- Consistency matters even more. As Elder Bednar said some time ago, consistency is king (not exactly what he said but that's my interpretation of what he said). They may not remember the lesson, but hopefully they'll remember we had FHE on a regular basis.
I know this isn't advanced FHE material here but when my son read his poem, I felt glad and blessed that at least for him something had come to mind that may have been pure inspiration...or maybe just a reflection...maybe something else, but in any case, I knew the time was not wasted. And for that I am grateful...and very happy!
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I understand. We have a very difficult time with Family Home Evening with our 2 yr old and 9 month boys. They are usually 10-15 minutes. But then we try to make sure we do something as a family like a walk or miniature golf. I think the Lord sees our efforts and like Elder Bednard shared in his conference talk last year, if we are consistent they might not remember every topic or discussion but they will remember that we had it.
ReplyDeleteYes, ours were pretty short when we were just getting started. Now the kids actually teach some of the lessons but even now, we try go for short and to the point. Would love any ideas anyone has.
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