Racism

Come Follow Me Family Home Evening for Little Ones- June 2020

/ srabbott2 / Leave a comment

Happy June! Sorry this is late but…. I had a baby last month!  She sleeps really well at night- but not so much during the day.  Which obviously if she’s going to have a hard time sleeping I would rather it be during the day, but it makes it hard to get much done.IMG_20200510_170702

 

June 1-7 Have Ye Experienced this Mighty Change in Your Hearts?

Children’s Scriptures: sorry I got nothing

Song: Family History pg 94

Materials: Pictures of Ancestors

Get together pictures of Ancestors.  I made flash cards with names and pictures going back to our great grand-parents (great great for the kids).  Have the kids pick out pictures and talk about that ancestor and share stories of faith, courage, etc.  If you feel up to making them into flash cards, I made two copies so we can play an ancestor matching game.

 

June 8-14 Jesus Christ will Come to Redeem His People

Children’s Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories chap 22; My First Scripture Stories– Zeezrom

Song: I will Follow God’s Plan for Me pg. 164

Materials:Plan of Salvation Printable

Review the Plan of Salvation.  I paste my kids’ faces on the blank “gingerbread” man to be their physical bodies

 

June 15-21 Enter Into the Rest of the Lord

Children’s Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories chap 22; My Book of Mormon Friends- Alma and Amulek; My First Scripture Stories– Alma and Amulek in Prison

Song: Faith pg 96

Materials: Showing and Strengthening Faith

Tell the story of Alma and Amulek in prison.  Emphasize that they were strengthened to break out because of their faith.  Make a prison out of couch cushions or boxes, etc.  Use the printable above to discuss ways we show and strengthen our faith.  Have the kids pick out some of the pictures then when they are “strong enough” let them break out of their prison.

 

June 22-28 I will Make an Instrument of Thee

Children’s Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories chap 23-25; Book of Mormon for Young Readers Ammon’s Good Example, Abish Shared the Gospel; Girls Who Choose God– A Lamanite Queen of Great Faith, Abish the Daring Missionary; My Book of Mormon Friends– Ammon, Abish; My First Scripture Stories– Ammon and King Lamoni, King Lamoni’s Father, Lamoni’s Father’s Conversion; Heroic Stories from the Book of Mormon– Ammon, Abish

Song: I Want to Be a Missionary Now pg 168

Materials: Ammon Sequencing Abish Sequencing

Read/watch/tell the stories of Ammon and Abish.  Then cut out the sequencing pages and have the kids put the stories together and tell them in their own words.

 

This is not so much for the kids, but the woman who plays Abish in the new Book of Mormon videos made a video about the thoughts and insights she gained as she prepared for the role.  I have always loved Abish, but after watching this, I love her even more!

 

June 29-July 5 They Never Did Fall Away

Children’s Scriptures: Book of Mormon Stories chap 26, Girls Who Choose God– Mothers of the Stripling Warriors; My Book of Mormon Friends– A Lamanite Mother; My First Scripture Stories– The People of Ammon

Song: I’m Trying to be Like Jesus pg. 78

Materials: Bury Swords

Read/watch/tell the story of the People of Ammon burying their swords.  Using the bury swords printable discuss ways that we might hurt other people.  Talk about ways to stop doing those things, model and talk through good behaviors.  Then go outside, dig a hole, and bury the swords.  I left one page with blank swords so you can add more that you think about, or adults and older kids can think of their own things to bury.

I included a sword specifically for racism besides exclusion and mocking (which certainly go hand and hand with racism.)  This is a difficult topic to discuss with young kids, and typically I try to just focus on positives, but I feel like that just isn’t enough.  We need to be having deeper talks.  I found three books read on Youtube that work well for younger kids:

Something Happened in Our Town

The Day You Begin

We’re Different, We’re the Same (best for toddlers)

You wanna PEACE of me?

/ srabbott2 / 1 Comment

I tried to find a good definition for peace, and the interwebs failed me.  The Google machine did give me what it’s not.  It defined peace as “freedom from disturbance,” or “freedom from or cessation of war or violence.”  Can we really simply define peace by what it’s not?  How will we know what it actually is when we see it?

If peace is merely a lack of violence or disturbance then tell me, do you feel that these images depict peaceful gatherings:

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Look, they’re smiling, no one is actively getting hurt.  They don’t appear to be disturbing anyone.

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Just a nice boys’ club meeting out in the woods.  I’m sure no one’s quiet evening was disrupted.  I don’t see anyone lynched in the background.  I mean they’re wearing white after all.

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How about this guy?  He looks like a cuddly teddy bear type.  He’s not yelling or anything.  Just minding his own business holding up some light reading.

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Some “very fine people.”

 

There is a curse that comes with the blessing to “peacefully assemble.”  I hate to use the term peace there, because what it really means is that we can assemble as long as we are not actively physically hurting people, among a few other limitations.  In other words, this is not necessarily synonymous with “peace.”  It was lawful for a group of white supremacists to gather in a park in Charlottesville.  But please, don’t for a second call what they were doing before things got violently out of hand a “peaceful” gathering.

Everything depicted in each of these photographs, when looked at in the context of the actual situation, are inherently dangerous, vile, immoral, and completely lacking any semblance of peace.

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If you want some ideas on how to promote peace please see my recent posts on charity, particularly how to break down barriers.