3 Empowering TIPS for Teaching at Home with “Come Follow Me”

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3 Empowering TIPS for Teaching your Family at Home with "Come Follow Me" The shift to more gospel learning at home may be unfamiliar, but it doesn't have to be intimidating! As a homeschool mom and one who used to be SO INTIMIDATED to teach my children at home, I have honed in on three things that I feel are MOST IMPORTANT and HELPFUL when it comes to teaching the gospel at home. They have helped me to LOVE and really appreciate this time teaching my kids and I hope they will help YOU too! #lds #comefollowme — (notice Thea’s interest in dressing herself as of late)

The shift to more gospel learning at home may feel a bit daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! As a homeschool mom and one who used to be SO INTIMIDATED to teach my children at home, I have honed in on three things that I feel are MOST IMPORTANT and HELPFUL when it comes to teaching the gospel at home. They have helped me to LOVE and really appreciate this time teaching my kids and I know they can help YOU too!

This can apply to daily family scripture study, family home evening, or any come follow me lessons.

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE

There are A LOT of additional resources available, but you don’t have to use them! You don’t! (Did you just breathe a little easier?)

Stick with the “Come Follow Me” manual and your scriptures and you can expand from there as your family and the Spirit directs. Simplicity CREATES SPACE for you to be guided in a way that will be best for you and your family.

My kids just turned seven and four (my toddler twins usually just play while we do this) and often when we sit down to read, we might only get through ONE VERSE and a whole discussion starts from there. That’s when the Spirit can guide.

I ask them questions and we start talking. If they have questions, we talk more. If they don’t seem to be interested or understand, I might pull out some pictures or we’ll look up a video or find some other object that will help them grasp the lesson better. All IN THE MOMENT. I rarely ever plan our daily studies ahead, I definitely study the material ahead of time and gain my own insights, but then I pray and let the Spirit and my family guide. Things grow so well that way.

Some days we just read a few verses and we’re done, especially if we’re having trouble staying focused or participating.

It’s EBB AND FLOW. Some days will be better than others, we often struggle to get everyone to sit and stay “focused,” but we are GROWING and I can already see the beauty from it.

2. FOLLOW THE SPIRIT

The Spirit of God is our greatest teacher and most powerful resource for helping us to know what our family needs to learn, and then helping them to learn it.

Begin with a prayer to invite the Spirit and PRAY on your own each day to know what your family needs to focus on. Direction will come as you move forward and do things the best you know how. (Don’t wait for it.)

Don’t be afraid to go on TANGENTS, those are often prompted by the Spirit through you or your children.

Bear brief TESTIMONY when you can– how you’ve seen the principles work in your life. Let the Holy Ghost witness the truth to them. Those feelings are often the only things we remember after a lesson, but they are the most important.

3. CONNECT

Teaching is as much an opportunity for your kids to CONNECT with you as it is for them to LEARN from you.

Keep calm when gathering everyone. The rest of the house may not be calm but you can help set the tone. KINDESS precedes connection.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in parenting young children, it’s that the way you treat them sends a stronger message than what you teach them. If we teach them with all the LOVE we can muster, they are more likely to be receptive to it. And if we speak with love, the Spirit will be more able to reach them.

Kids are more capable of learning and understanding than we often assume. Ask questions beyond the basics, questions that will SPARK THEIR INTEREST and allow them to contribute in a way that is meaningful to THEM. Tune in to what interests them. Notice where their interest peaks and capitalize on that.

As for making a family home evening (or any weekly lesson),

FIT IT TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY–

If you like to make crafts, make crafts, if you like to bake treats, bake treats. If you like to have someone else prepare a lesson for you, go online and find one (there are lots!! — @Familyhomeevening123 @comefollowmefhe and sugardoodle.net are great. There’s also a whole host of other places for inspiration and resources like Pinterest, Google, and LDS.org). But remember that you don’t have to! Do what works for you!

*My biggest & SIMPLEST go-to resources for any lesson with young kids are:

PICTURES (the gospel art book is often all you need) and I love the Gospel Stories Book from the LDS Distribution Center (for just over $4!!) (Sometimes we read these at night as part of our bedtime stories and the kids really like it.)

ACTIONS (let them act it out, hold something, point to something, imagine a scenario with eyes closed, do hand motions, anything that gets them INVOLVED.)

-Teaching about Lehi’s family in the wilderness and they don’t seem interested?

*Let them IMAGINE what it feels like when they’re really hungry.

* TELL them the story about how Nephi’s bow broke and how they couldn’t get food.

*ASK them how they might FEEL and what they might DO about it.

*Let them ACT it out.

This could all happen in just 5 or 10 minutes! You can have a conversation about faith or prayer or how God will help us with our problems. You could even go around sharing experiences if you have time. It’s that simple! (And can be so powerful!)

I could go on about this, but these have stood out to me as the most important. I hope they are helpful tips for you! Teaching at home may seem intimidating at first, especially with young children, but if we practice these things, it won’t be! And we can even feel empowered to do so.

We can keep it SIMPLE, teach by the SPIRIT, and CONNECT in meaningful ways with our children. And there’s not much more important than that. 🙂

Seven

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Dear Ava,

It seems you’ve been seven long before today. Sometimes I forget how little you are. You recall little details, understand big things, and make friends of adults too.

But you’re still little.

The other day you had a meltdown about something I can’t remember, and as I held you in my lap you held your hands out to keep your sparkly nail polish from smearing. They are so little still.

You are colorful and fun and seem so much to want to connect your heart with others. You love creating and painting, wrestling on the bed, and you love to learn from stories. You can’t get enough stories.

I was surprised with your birthday request this year. I guess I figured you’d be interested in other things, but sure enough you twirl on your toes and love to take pictures, like me.

You asked for a camera for your birthday, and you couldn’t be more thrilled. You’ve been taking pictures all weekend, carefully selecting your favorites and deleting all the rest. All the while repeating things like, “Oh mom I just love this camera so much!” and “I’m just so happy I have this.”

We are so much alike— the way we dance for a pick me up, thrill in the sunshine, and cuddle up for books and good words.

I love spending this time with you.

You are light to me you know. Brilliant, beautiful light. You seem to be drawn to it too, soaking up every bit of truth and really recognizing it. I’ve thought often how quickly a soul can grow once here, because I’ve seen it in you. I’m sure you were much prepared in heaven.

You are ready to be here, Ava. Ready to do your part in this great time of times. That part will be important, I’m sure. I feel it in your excitement for life, your thrill for learning, and your testimony of truth.

Just glad you are still little, still growing, and that I still get to be a part of that.

We love you dearly Ava. You are a gift to the world and a beacon of light. Please keep sharing. Keep gathering that light and shine it like you do.

All my love,

Mom

#mamanotes #birthdayletters

It’s Alright Mom

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I pulled up to Ava’s dance studio six minutes late, again (and again and again ). As she crawled over the backseat to the door I said to her, “I’m sorry Ava, please tell your teacher I’m sorry that you’re late. Someday your mother will get you here on time.”

I had such a heaviness of heart. I was dragging behind on so many things and had a hard time holding up against the whines and tears and messes overlapping all day. I had just listened to a twenty minute meltdown about not having enough goldfish for a snack and if I could have, I would have slumped to the floor of my suv while dropping her off late, again.

All is well, it really is, but some days are just really hard to hold up, despite that.

Ava leaned over to open the door and responded in a kind voice, “It’s alright mom.”

If you can picture the kindness in her eyes, it was just what I needed.

She offered me the mercy I was withholding from myself and I marveled at the simple power of it to help me see what I was really lacking— not effort, but grace. I’m still going to try to be on time to her class next week, but I’m going to try to adopt her kindness in the meantime, even for myself. #mamanotes

The Light & Liberation Project

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I’ve been sharing about this on my social media, but so much of my heart has been in this project the past few years that I thought I should share a little bit on here too.)

A few years ago I was driving from our home in Houston to Austin, Texas for a job interview for my husband and I read an article that opened my eyes to the terrible reality of the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world–sex trafficking. My heart ached and I wept as I read about an estimated 2 million children being some of those victims. I was reading it out-loud to my husband and I could hardly get through it.

But the article also talked about one man’s effort to do something about it and the organization that has since grown into an incredible source of hope for these children. It’s backed by the support of local law enforcement and the hopes and hearts of hundreds of thousands around the world.

That organization is Operation Underground Railroad, made up of skilled former CIA, Navy SEALs, and Special Ops operatives that locate and rescue trafficked children and provide for their rehabilitation.

I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be a part of the effort to help them.

My mind raced with ideas. Over the next few months I created a photography presentation and shared a few hours of my knowledge in a few locations to raise money for the effort. But I wanted to be able to reach more, to help more. I prayed and prayed to know how.

While driving in my car one day, I had the idea to involve other photographers, to enable others to learn from their talent and experiences too. I spent the next few months praying, planning, emailing, and searching for top talent in the areas I felt would be of great value to learn.

And that was just the beginning. I clung to every bit of courage and inspiration and encouragement I felt as I was stormed by doubt amid the discouragments. The process was slow, but came together bit by bit with the courage of those who were willing to join me without ever having met me. These amazing photographers trusted me enough to give their time and share their knowledge to be a part of the rescuing too. That was powerful to me.

I feel I have been stretched in every way, but guided and strengthened through it as well.

It has been a project of patience, trust, and a whole lot of heart, from all of us. And it is finally ready to be shared with others and on its way to doing some good for these children in greatest need.

It’s an affordable, all-in-one course for anyone wanting to improve their pictures or learn how to use their SLR camera. Nine photographers teach the thirteen topics in this course, and they are amazing at what they do. It’s inspiring and easy to understand, just over two hours long (we know you’re busy), and downloadable so that you can watch it at any time and as many times as you’d like. It is a course that will get you excited about your photography and equipped with the tools to help you capture loved ones in beautiful, meaningful ways you’ve only hoped you could. You can read more about it and purchase it on the course page here: gum.co/ourlight.

ALL proceeds will go to Operation Underground Railroad. It’s the neatest thing. If you think you know someone who might be interested, please share it with them and join us in this great cause! I know this has the potential to do so much good — for the kids and for those that get to learn from this course.

-Tami

*Update: Thank you all so much for your support!! I am so grateful for this good we can do together. So many have shared or purchased the course and we thank you! LDSLiving also wrote a wonderful article about the Light and Liberation Project that had me all teary with gratitude. You can find it here.

Remember this week there is a discount of $30 off with code “ourlight” if you purchase by wednesday 11/14/18. (This course is at an incredible deal already and we intended it that way so that we can reach more people and do the most good. So if you have a camera you’ve been wanting to get or one you’ve been putting off learning how to use, this is the greatest way to learn–and do a lot of good!)

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

For All the Hard Things

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For all the hard things in my parenting experience, there is far more good. I’m convinced that family life is a powerful, intentional crucible for experience, LOVE, and profound growth.

I cried to Jake on the phone the other day while the babies napped and the kids watched a movie in the other room. I had these feelings I was trying to sort out earlier in the day and their energetic little bodies followed me into each room I quietly slipped into. I guess the feelings never got sorted out because I ended up in tears, but I felt just fine after talking it through and letting it go, when I had the moment to.

Sometimes when I’m going from one dumped cup to another crying child and then to the sink to clean out poopy underwear I think there’s just no way to recount the series of events involved in each day of raising young children. It’s hard work and it’s hard to explain.

But that is so very much with the way I feel about it too. It’s hard to explain how fulfilled I am by it. How much I love it. Or how grateful I am to have them— they are the greatest blessings the way they fill cracks in my heart and refine my soul and paint life with the happiest joys. They are beams of light in our home and every whisp of curl and fold of skin and the sweet, silly way they do things and learn things brings me wonder at the beautiful creation of life! And how blessed I feel to be a part of it.

Glad I get to fill bellies and nurture hearts and be the one they want to follow into every room. It is such a gift.

#mamanotes

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE​

2. FOLLOW THE SPIRIT​

3. CONNECT

1. KEEP IT SIMPLE

2. FOLLOW THE SPIRIT