Like I promised, here is the first lesson from my “Mom’s Missionary Training Center”. Honesty isn’t one of the nine Christ-like attributes that is listed in “Preach My Gospel ( it technically falls under the “virtue” section), but I felt like my children needed some specific attention in this area. So depending on what your children need you could use some of these activities during the month you focus on “virtue” or you could use it separately like I have done. I have included a few scriptures and stories from The Book of Mormon but most of them are from the KJV Bible. Feel free to use as little or as much of this as you like and to adapt it to the needs of your family.
These lessons are to be designed to be done every day (or every few days) for a whole month. Don’t do all the stories and all the activities for the week in one day! The idea is that with constant exposure and repetition of the virtue (from several different angles) that kids will start to internalize the message. With my kids I have taught them the song and the scripture the first week and then work on those every day. Then I usually teach a scripture story, do an activity, or read a story book to illustrate the principle. I don’t do more than one story or more than one example in a day, and if a lesson went really well I will sometimes repeat it again the next day. Usually the total lesson, with song and scripture, takes about 15-25 minutes.
At the end of the month I have the kids do a “program” for their Dad, usually for Family Home Evening. In the program the kids sing the song they have learned, repeat the scripture, and each child shares something they have learned that month. Sometimes that means having Dad read them their favorite story book from that month, or dressing up and acting out a scripture story. It is also a time for them to share an art projects they have worked on that month.
As far as the books go, I get all the story books from the library. I just request them all at the start of the month and since our library lets us check things out for three weeks we have them most of the month. I try to leave the stories I read on a special shelf and read them to the kids as many times as they request throughout the month.
For scripture stories I usually find a picture online, save it on my ipad, and then hold it up while we talk about the story. The Gospel Art Book is also a good resource (though it doesn’t have some of the more obscure stories) and LDS Church distribution center also sells packets of primary pictures that are helpful. Also, I don’t play the piano and so I use this FREE app on my ipad (also works for an iphone) to play the songs, it works great. Though, if you have a piano player that would be better!
If you have other questions about how we use this curriculum in my home let me know and I will do my best to answer them!
to God
to others
to yourself
Song: I Believe in Being Honest, pg. 149 in Children’s Hymn Book
1—Introduction to Honesty
Key concept:
Ananias and Sapphira were greedy and kept back part of the
money they said they would give the church. Not only were they greedy
they were afraid to tell the truth and so both of them lied. Through the
Holy Ghost Peter knew that they had lied and God dealt harshly with
them. God won’t always kill us every time we tell a lie, but He always
sees us and we will have to be accountable before him someday.
Ideas to Discuss:
and Sapphira do?
4. Does God always know when we are lying?
only cares about big lies or do you think He cares about little lies, too?
that’s true and something that’s not true? Then give them examples of things and have them tell you if it is ‘True’ or ‘Not true.'” Start with easy observable facts and then move toward more abstract things, for example:
green. (Kids say, “Not true.”)
This is my head. (Kids say, “True.”)
than elephants.
eyes.
nose.
chickens.
out of a jar and eat it. Then say, “I didn’t eat the cookie.”
the couch. Then say, “Yes, I left my toy on the couch.”
true and not true, can’t you? Do you know what it’s called when someone says
something that’s not true? It’s called a lie.”
it’s true and ‘Lie’ if it’s not true.”
on the floor. Then say, “I didn’t find a dollar.”
food to someone else. Then say, “No, I didn’t eat all my food. I gave some
of it to.”
For older kids you might also try telling half-truths and see if they can pick up on them.
This is also a game that can be played at any time during the day when you find a good teaching moment.
Sweet detectives (from Kids of Integrity)
include melted marshmallow, icing sugar, pudding, Oreo® cookie crumbs and
melted chocolate with pretzels to dip in.
may sample one of the treats. (With younger children it is wise to have an
adult stay to supervise quantities.) When he/she has sampled one treat, he/she
calls the others back in.
Note any deceptions the “sampler” has used, such as spilling some extra crumbs
on the table to make others believe that they had actually sampled that treat.
Take turns until everyone has had a chance to be the sampler at least once.
concept with your children that no matter what we do, God is always watching.
Take time to explain that even if we conceal our sin from others, God knows
what we have done. Let your children know that concealing truth is still
considered lying. Choose one or more of the verses listed below to pray in
closing.
discussion
- How
could you tell what treat had been sampled? - Even
if we guessed wrong, who knows exactly what the sampler ate? - Who,
other than the supervisor, knows how much the sampler ate? - Have
you ever tried to cover up the truth only to find out that some little
clue led your parents or teacher to the truth? - Is it
wrong to try and cover up the truth, even if you don’t say anything? - Can
you lie without saying anything at all? - Even
if your parents or teachers never know what you have done wrong, who
knows?
Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen
by Dr. Seuss
Honest
Key Concept:
Christ was perfectly honesty, even when it was hard. If he had told a lie the soldiers might have let him go but he always told the truth. Christ was like his Heavenly Father and Heavenly Father is always honest. Satan is the “Father of lies”, he always tells us lies or half lies and so he can’t be trusted. God always tells the truth and so we can always trust him to keep us safe.
* Have you ever told the truth even when it was hard?
* How did it make you feel to tell the truth?
* Have you been stuck? How did it you get out?
* How can we choose to be like Jesus?
Show the kids a video of a spider catching a fly in its web, or if you are able to go outside and find a real spider web with a fly in it is even better.
This YouTube video is a fairly good video to use
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| My kids wanted the spider web up all day, they loved playing in it! |
Fire by Diane deGroat
Teeny Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin
and the Truth by Stan Berenstain
Eve Bunting
Others
The
story of Achan (Joshua 7)
But as much as God hates lying and stealing, He will forgive you when you are
truly sorry about what you have done. Mom and Dad will also forgive you when
you repent of wrongdoing.
taken something that didn’t belong to you?
feel?
back?
do?
Achan?
think no one is watching when you take something that does not belong to you,
who always sees you?
that he would stay with him, because Zoram kept his word he was blessed. We also need to keep our word. If we tell someone
we are going to do something we should do it.
- Have you ever promised someone that you would do
something? - Did you do it?
- How did Nephi know that he could trust Zoram?
- Can people trust you if you tell them you will
do something? - How does it make you feel when someone tells you they will do something and then they don’t do it it?
After you have done the role-play once let the children have a turn leading it.
- Did you think it was funny when I mentioned the horse?
- Would it be funny the second time?
- What if I told you untrue thing like that all the time?
- Did you stop believing me about the horse?
- If you tell stories that are not true, even just to be funny, will other people trust what you say?
- Can you think of a dangerous situation that might arise if people realized that they can’t trust what you say?
Wolf in Aseop Fables
Breathed
by Dr. Seuss
Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine by Evaline Ness
Peter Denies Christ and is Forgiven ( John 13:34-38;
Matt. 26: 69-7 and John 21: 15-17)
- Have
you ever told a lie and then felt bad about it afterwards? - Why
did Peter lie? - Is it
ever okay to lie, even to protect yourself? - Instead
of lying what should Peter have done? - How did
Christ forgive Peter?
pepper shaker, cotton swabs (the double-ended stick swabs), liquid dish
detergent and some additional water.
- Prior
to beginning the experiment, coat one end of the cotton swab with dish
detergent. Leave the other end free of soap. Mark the soapy end in a way
that only you will know which end it is.
- Shake
a generous amount of pepper onto the surface of the water in the bowl.
Explain that the pepper represents people.
- Tell
your children that the cotton swab represents God. Put the non-soapy end
of the swab in the water and move it around to let some pepper gather on
it. Explain that when we are truth-tellers, God will allow us to come into
His holy presence.
- Next,
tell your children that the people in the bowl have been lying. Ask them
to list some ways the people could be telling lies. Then place the soapy
end of the cotton swab in the bowl and watch the pepper flee! Explain that
when we have been lying, God doesn’t want us in His presence, nor do we
feel comfortable coming to talk with Him until we have confessed our sin.
- Add
some extra water to the bowl. As you do so, explain that when we ask God
to forgive our sins, He washes our sins away. (Adding the extra water
causes the pepper to scatter across the water’s surface again.)
- Finally,
using the non-soapy end of the cotton swab, swish the cotton swab through
the pepper, showing that the pepper no longer “runs away” from the cotton
swab. Emphasize that after we have confessed our sin, God welcomes us back
into His presence.
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| We made our out of clay, but Asher’s cracked |
Stories to Read:
Goodness Truth by Patricia McKissack
Masako Matsuno
OH my, you've done a great job with this. Do you mind if we play along…?
These are fantastic! Thanks so much!
Wow, Heather, you have done so much work. Incredible. I don't know if you're familiar with the Power Tales/Power Tunes, but we like their stories and songs. There's a good book called "The Power of Integrity: Featuring the story of J.C. Penney" and then a cute song that goes along with it in the Powertunes CD.
http://www.amazon.com/The-power-integrity-Featuring-Penney/dp/0911712852/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1357756741&sr=8-4&keywords=phyllis+colonna
Amazing job, Heather! I hope you don't mind my linking to it in a post over a Latter-day Homeschooling later today.
Truly amazing! Thank you for sharing. I second the Power Tales/Power Tunes suggestion. It would go perfectly with these lessons.
This is great! Thanks for sharing!!!
Incredible, thanks for sharing!!
Yes! Perfect timing! I do PSR work in Idaho. It means Psycho Social Rehabilitation and I've got a kid with lying problems. I will be able to use some of these!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this!
Love it! And so perfect for my needs right now. My 5-year-old is having some trouble with this, so it will be perfect for our morning devotionals before we send him off to school. Thanks! Can't wait to see what other MMTC lessons you have. 🙂
Thank you so much for posting this! I have been following your blog on and off, and I love learning from all of your wisdom and insights, but this is just exactly what I needed right now. I have been trying to have gospel lessons each day with my wee ones recently, and I am so happy and grateful for the ideas and resources that you have put up here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please continue to post these!
This is a great outline and I appreciate all the work you've put into it, Heather! The only thing that gives me pause – and it may just be an awkward wording – is in the last activity with the cotton swabs, soap and pepper it says, "when we have been lying, God doesn't want us in His presence." I don't think it's ever accurate to say God doesn't *want* us with Him. We may make choices that distance us from Him or make it difficult for the Spirit to get through to us, but He always wants us.
Yes, the Kids of Integrity website is an evangelical based one and I love their resources and ideas but there are definelty somethings that aren't in line with LDS beliefs… but feel free to adapt them however you want! I think the basic idea of this is great but the wording could be changed.
Thanks so much for creating this! I intend to start using these ideas in our homeschool day. Thanks! I don't know anything about computers, but is there any way to make this into a PDF for easy printing?
I will try!
You've really gone to town, with all your hard work! 😮 I'm impressed. Do you mind mentioning how old your eldest is and whether your kids have any difficulty with some of the archaic language stuff? The quotes right at the start (rejoiceth, etc) remind me of last Easter, when I was desperately googling for resources to explain the cross, etc, in child-friendly ways. My two could not get to grips with any of the ye olde language type stuff. (I thankfully found some children's cartoons on Youtube, that worked for us.) Actually… come to think of it, it also reminds me of having to study Chaucer at school. *shudders* Definitely a language barrier thing, for me.
We use the KJV of the Bible and I have found that even though the language is hard to understand at first, after awhile the kids get use to it. We stop and explain a lot about what words means and make sure the kids get what they are reading. Personally I like the KJV of the bible the best, it is beautiful and the more you read it the easier it becomes to read. Sometimes I use other versions of the Bible if I am having a really hard time understanding what a verse means. Personally I really want my kids to be familiar with the old English (so they can read things like Shakespeare and get it) and I think reading the KJV from the time they are babies helps a lot with that. But I don't think it hurts to use a different translation of the Bible, it just depends on what your goals are for your kids!
This is really, really great! I used just one printed page for FHE tonight and we got a lot of discussion about it. My 6 y.o. said, let's do another lesson!! It was so cute. Lots of good prep work on your part. Thanks.
Thank you so, so much for sharing this, Heather! I've really been wanting to do something like this with my own kids. Mine are a little older than yours (starting at age 8 down to 1), and we've been studying the Gospel Principles manual for a while. That's been useful, but I've been thinking I wanted to do a more targeted study of virtues and Christ-like attributes – I just felt overwhelmed by the prospect of putting it all together. So, again, I REALLY appreciate you sharing your work for so many of us to use and bless our own families.
This is amazing!! Thanks so much for sharing.
I love these ideas. I don't have little ones at home anymore, but I'll be sending this on to my children to teach to my grandchildren. I would make one small change. In the pepper, water, and soap part of the lesson, I would tell the children that when we lie we flee away from God so that we aren't near Him anymore. (I'd skip the idea that Heavenly Father doesn't want us near Him. He always wants us near Him, but our actions don't always allow us to stay near Him.) When we repent, we come back to Him and we are both happy.
Just found your blog and I love it! I will start using your lessons with my little ones AND now I have a reason to pull out an old mission picture from Italy with me sticking my hand in la bocca della verita! 🙂
I absolutely love these lessons! Thank you SO much for sharing your hard work! It has really enhanced our homeschool day 😀
Wow!!!! I just found your lesson plans through Pinterest. This is just what we've needed. Thank you for taking the time to post this, since it will save me hours!!!
I just found your blog on pinterest…. THANK YOU!!!!! I also homeschool my children, 9,6 and infant 🙂 I have been pondering on what to do to with preach my gospel and how to incorporate character studies. My daughter has fallen in love with the ValueTales books but I REALLY wanted something focused more on Christ. THIS IS PERFECT!! Thank you for all of your hard work on this, I am starting tomorrow morning! I have been pouring over these lessons and I am so grateful to have found them. Are you going to continue with this series?!
Oh my goodness, this is amazing! I'm starting to do some Character development things with my homeschooled kids and Honesty is #1. Thank you SO much! This will get us off to an awesome start! 🙂