OK, I’ve done it.  Not being the biggest Halloween fan, I have successfully forced myself into festive-mode this year.  I even went so far as to wear a horrible turtleneck with pumpkins on it to A.P.’s school party.  I put it on immediately before entering the school, and removed it in the parking lot – but still.  So now it’s over, and so is fall apparently.  We have one more Autumn/Harvest activity you’ll read about later this week, then we’ll move on to something else.

Here is a lesson that fit really well with our current theme.  The program it came from is really neat I want to do a post about it.  Plus, I told some of my Great Start buddies Brenna and Rachel that I would so now I have to. Nothing like accountability to keep you blogging along.

Last month, I went to (and blogged about) the Hearts At Home Conference.  One of the speakers was Kirk Weaver.  He is from an organization called Family Time and did a presentation called, “Deepening Your Child’s Faith”.  Now before I lose some people, I’ll repeat something he said.  Although this is developed around Christian principles, they can all be converted into non-religious character building lessons for children.

The idea is that parents, not church or school, hold the primary responsibility for building their children’s faith and character.  We need to do more than send them off to Sunday school, no matter how fantastic it might be.  They need to hear these principles taught at home.  Family Time offers a format and specific lessons to help you.

Mr. Weaver said that we have 10,000 minutes in a week.  20 of them should be used to help our kids grow spiritually. That’s the plan; once a week for 20 minutes.  It should not be called “BIBLE LESSONS” or “CHARACTER BUILDING” or anything like that.  Call it “Family Time” and kids won’t even know they’re learning; they will be as excited as they are during a rousing family game of Candy Land.

The lessons outline for you:

• A teaching goal
• Scripture (as a note, I use the Message Bible with modern language because it’s easier for kids to comprehend – now is not the time to worry about the original Greek word for this or that)
• A list of materials needed
• Music, if appropriate
• Lesson outline

You can buy books with lessons for different age groups.  You can also buy an online subscription. Or, you can get free lessons from the website.  We did the “Slow Down And Look Around” lesson last week.  You can click on the link for details; basically the kids find a leaf, then draw it.  Then they have to do back, and look at the details.

Neither my husband nor I grew up in a family that did these kinds of activities so it was kind of uncomfortable for us.  The kids loved it though, and we are going to stick with the plan and do it once a week, knowing that our confidence will grow with time.  Also, it’s super easy and pretty effortless for planning so that helps.  After all, if I can wear a pumpkin-print turtleneck to a school party - I can do anything, right?