2010 FHE Lesson Schedule

As I've mentioned before, we have a rotation for FHE lessons.
1st Monday = Love; 2nd Monday = Me; 3rd Monday = Princess1; 4th Monday = Primary Program songs; 5th Monday = Special Activity

In 2011 (can you believe that's in less than 1 year now?), Princess2 will become a Sunbeam. As a Sunbeam, she'll start giving talks in Primary. So we are going to add her to our FHE lesson rotation in 2010 so she gets used to presenting before she starts Sunbeams. We also decided we needed to be more organized, with a purpose for each FHE lesson.

The new 2010 FHE Lesson rotation is:
1st Monday = Love = 1st Presidency Message in Friend magazine
2nd Monday = Me = Monthly Theme from Primary Outline
3rd Monday = Princess1 = Scripture Story
4th Monday = Princess2 = Scripture Story
5th Monday = special lesson or practice Primary music

We have decided what those scripture story lessons will be for the whole year.

1/18 Adam and Eve
1/25 Enoch
2/15 Noah
2/22 Abraham
3/15 Isaac and Rebekah
3/22 Jacob
3/29 (5th Monday) Story of Easter
4/19 Joseph
4/26 Baby Moses
5/17 Moses and Pharaoh
5/24 Ten Commandments
6/21 Joshua
6/28 Samson
7/19 Ruth and Naomi
7/26 Samuel
8/16 David and Goliath
8/23 Solomon
9/20 Elijah
9/27 Elisha
10/18 Jonah
10/25 Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego
11/15 Daniel
11/22 Esther
12/20 Birth of Jesus
12/27 Job

WFMW - FHE Outline

As I promised last week, here is how we do Family Home Evening...

Opening Song
Opening Prayer
Practice Song - the song they are learning this month in Primary
Family Calendar for the week and highlights coming up
Lesson (usually 5-10 minutes)
Closing Song
Closing Prayer
Treats (You HAVE to have treats every week - isn't that what FHE is all about?)

Generally the opening and closing songs are from the current year's primary program to continue to practice them. But we occassionally will do other favorites (Morgan always asks for Follow the Prophet).

Overall, FHE takes about 30 minutes, including gather the family time.

Now on the 4th week, which is Singing FHE. We replace the lesson with the songs from the primary program and Follow the Prophet.

Treats - this is your excuse to make all those dessert recipes you have in your recipe box.

Now many families will follow treats with an activity. But we haven't gotten that into our regular schedule yet. Maybe when the girls get a little older and FHE isn't followed immediately by family scriptures and prayer and bed.

And this works for our family. Go here for more Works for Me Wednesday!

What do you believe about heaven and hell?

We were recently visiting with our neighbors and it came up that our neighbor had once been told "If you don't believe the same as I do, you're going to hell." I've heard that before, but usually in the phrase "If you don't belong to [this religion], you're going to hell." I immediately wanted to jump in on my husband's conversation to say "We don't believe that." But didn't get the chance. Yes, a missed missionary moment... but I did talk with his wife a few days later and let her know we didn't agree with that statement.

As I pondered that and Princess1 being around kids of the full range of religious thought at school, I wanted to make sure she knows that we don't believe that. And to help her know what our Church teaches about "heaven and hell". So that's my FHE lesson topic for September. Explaining our viewpoint and what the prophets have taught is easy. I'll be doing something similar to this.

Princess1 already understands that not everyone believes Pres. Monson is the Prophet of God. And not everyone follows what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches. If you know Princess1 or Princess2, you've probably heard their comments about "He's a naked kid" when they see someone without their shirt on. They both know that modesty is important in our family but that not everyone follows that. Now, to teach them to not point it out loudly when we're at the park :)

Here's where I need your help. I also want to be able to let Princess1 (and Princess2) know what others they are around may believe. Rather than trying to go off my memory or guess what other religions or non-religious friends believe, I decided I would post it as a question. What do you believe (and/or what does your church teach) about heaven and hell. In your response, please include what religion you are, if any. My intent with this information is to show Princess1 how we believe the same and how we believe different from those around us.

Thanks for your help and for being willing to share your beliefs with us.

WFMW - FHE Schedule

I always come up with great Works for Me Wednesday topics, but not on Wednesday. Wednesday finds my mind blank about what works for me. So when I got my idea today, I decided to go ahead and do my post.

Monday night is Family Home Evening (some people call it Family Night). Next week, I'll post what Family Home Evening means for us as far as what we do. But the main focus is some kind of lesson or discussion. It used to be, though, that I ended up ALWAYS doing the lesson. But when Princess1 got ready to enter Sunbeams in Primary, we knew we needed to change things so she could practice presenting (starting in Sunbeams, the kids take turns giving a short talk to the other kids during Primary - it's assigned for each week). So to help her be more comfortable, we came up with a lesson schedule for the month.

First Monday - Love/Daddy gives the lesson.
Second Monday - Mommy (me)
Third Monday - Princess1
Fourth Monday - Primary Presentation Songs
Fifth Monday (as needed) - special activity

This week was Princess1's turn. And the first time she did it all by herself. In the past, I've helped her select and prepare a lesson. Now before anyone gets all amazed, when she was 4 and 5, I created the lesson and whispered it to her and then she repeated what I said to Love.

So on Monday morning, Princess1 calls to me from the living room. "Mom, who's turn is it for the lesson today?" "It's your turn." "What should I do?" I then gave her the August issue of The Friend magazine and told her to read through it and pick out a story to read to us for her lesson. She did and read it to me that afternoon to practice. Then at FHE time, she read it to everyone. She did awesome! And we praised her for doing it all herself.

The month's schedule really helps us remember who is responsible for preparing the lesson. And that works for me. Now we just need to work on assigning out the other responsibilities too.

Princess1 is really starting to grasp the concepts of the Gospel. I can see her growing and preparing for baptism.... 17 months to go!

For more tips this Wednesday, head over to Works for Me Wednesday!