Mormons Launch New Family Night Website
Filed under: Basic Beliefs of Mormons, Families, Family Home Evenings, Family Traditions, Gospel & Doctrine, Gospel Principles, Practices & Precepts, Jesus Christ, Music, Teaching Children, Teaching Values
A Mormon family enjoys a family night lesson.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are informally known as Mormons, has launched a new website designed to help strengthen families in these challenging times. It focuses on a program practiced by Mormons that can be easily adapted to families of any faith. This program, Family Home Evening or Family Night, brings the family together one night a week to learn and play as a family. It is generally a time just for families—no friends or guests are normally included.
Mormons usually hold this family night on Monday evenings, a time that is traditionally pretty calm. Of course, if Mondays are impossible, another night can be chosen, but Mormons hold no church meetings or activities that night, making it the easiest time for most families. It is set aside as a time dedicated to family life. Read more
Teaching Toddlers the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Filed under: Parents/Leaders, Scripture Stories, Teaching Children, Teaching Values, Uncategorized
Each week, I teach one to three year olds about God, Jesus, and the Bible in my Mormon nursery class. Every month,
we learn a Bible story, repeating it each Sunday for the entire month, and we also have a lesson on a basic principle of Christianity. Over the past year, I’ve learned a great deal about teaching religion to very young children.
It’s never too soon to start teaching our children. As a family, we can read the scriptures and make sure even our youngest children are in the room as we do. They are listening and will absorb whatever they are ready for. Read more
Teaching Your Child to Entertain Himself
Filed under: Entertaiment and Recreation, Motivating Children, Parents/Leaders, Teaching Children
I was watching various teenagers today as I drove around town doing errands and noticed none of them seemed to be comfortable with their own company. They talked on cell phones or were plugged into music as they waited for school busses or walked down the street. Merely walking and thinking seemed to be out of style. Read more
Can I Make a Difference?
Sometimes, when a caring person looks around and sees how much need there is in the world, he can become discouraged. It might seem like it’s hardly worth helping, when your help would barely even touch the hardship the world is facing. A person who can afford to give only three cans of soup to a food bank might wonder if those three cans could make any difference at all when so many are hungry.
The New Mormon Nursery Manual
Filed under: Parents/Leaders, Teaching Children
Mormons believe you’re never too young to learn, so classes for children begin at eighteen months. The nursery is for eighteen month olds to three year olds. In January, a child who will be four by the end of the year moves into the regular children’s program, known as Primary.
Mormon Marriage and Family Relations Course
Filed under: Parents/Leaders, Teaching Values
Mormons attend church three hours each week. After the basic service, they attend two other classes. In addition to the regular courses, there are optional courses offered periodically in wards (congregations) as needed. One is the Marriage and Family Relations Course.
Lead Me, Guide Me
There is a children’s song that has lines in the chorus:
Children in Church
A friend of another faith attended a Sunday service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (known as the Mormons). She was surprised to see (and hear) so many children of all ages in attendance. At her church services, small children were tended in a separate room until the services were over.
In the Thick of Thin Things
It is far too early to be thinking about school starting. I am savoring the summer, enjoying the fact that we still have more to come. I enjoy the longer and slower days and the easing of schedules and responsibilities.
With Patience and Longsuffering
I read yesterday of a family with four children who were removed from an airline flight because of their noise and restlessness. One son had autism and a daughter had cerebral palsy. It was the childrens’ first flight. On another flight, a family was removed because their 3-year-old was crying. What surprised me the most about these stories was the enthusiastic “Kick them off and good riddance” chorus in the follow-up commentary.
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