FHE Schedules and Planning

Last year, I was looking for someway to revamp the way we do Family Home Evening. A friend of mine shared with me, her family's way of doing FHE which was to schedule lessons, etc. We finally decided to implement something similar and I love it.

1st Monday: Lesson
2nd Monday: Family Learning
3rd Monday: Lesson
4th Monday: Fun
5th Monday: Service Project

I don't plan to go in this particular order every month. Some months we might have two lessons in a row or mix it up. We are using the Gospel Principles manual for our lessons this year, which eliminates trying to figure out what to teach each week.

For fun, you can do anything: you're only limited by your imagination and interests. On this past Monday, our fun FHE was to watch the newest episode of Doctor Who together. We hadn't seen it yet and it is one of our favorite television shows. Now that the weather is warmer, we will be venturing outside more.

For Family Learning, I am going to do things like teach my boys how to do a load of laundry, and iron a shirt or properly load the dishwasher, clean a toilet, etc. We may even incorporate Faith in God/Duty to God/Scouting requirements in there.

I love schedules and having a plan. It means we're more likely to have FHE and it means we stay consistent, which is so important to me.

FHE Lesson: Gospel Principles--Our Heavenly Family

Lesson 2 of the Gospel Principles manual is called, "Our Heavenly Family". The original lesson can be found online, here.
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We used this lesson as an opportunity to review the Plan of Salvation. My husband has a set of visual aids from his mission which explain the Plan of Salvation. Our boys love playing with them and enjoy explaining the plan themselves.

It was a short and sweet, very easy lesson on an important Gospel topic. It easily adapted for very young children as well as easily expanded for older children or teens.

You can find your own Plan of Salvation visuals at lds.about.com and the Friend and Pratt's FHE Box.

A good companion lesson for this one is found in the March, 1994 issue of The Friend magazine titled, "The Plan of Salvation Offers Me Peace".

FHE: Ideas

LDS Living has a online magazine you can subscribe to. Each Monday, the issue includes a ready-made FHE lesson that includes a song, scripture references, lesson, activity and refreshment recipe.

Go here to subscribe. It's free!