Right now, I'm blogging, my dad and husband are reading books, and my mom is mumbling something about Cal Ripken. A good old-fashioned night at home, with the folks...though we rarely get to see them, we are all pretty comfy reading and sharing interesting bits of our books with each other.
Anyway, earlier tonight, during FHE, we were all fired up watching our little ones going through their Articles of Faith "final exam"!
When we started memorizing The Articles of Faith about three weeks ago, I never imagined theye'd learn them THAT fast.
(If you are wondering, we used the soundtrack for "Zach & Zoey Explore The Articles of Faith" which I bought my kids for Christmas and which I highly, highly, highly recommend, especially if your kids learn easily through song. It literally took about 2-3 weeks for my kids ages 4, 5, and 7 to learn all 13 Articles of Faith.)
For quality control, however, I told them that they could pass them off one by one with me...but they would still have to pass them all off at once during a "final exam." (Dun, dun, dunn!!!)
I wanted to make the final exam fun, memorable, and rewarding for them, since they've done such a great job learning this. When I found this Articles of Faith Scavenger Hunt at Little LDS Ideas, I knew it would be perfect! Everything you need really is available in a free download. And it is really not that hard to put together.
I had the kids do each activity quickly and then recite the corresponding Article of Faith for us. It was fun to watch them run from room to room of our house looking for the next clue, and I think they felt a sense of accomplishment being able to easily recall the words to each article.
When they finished reciting the 13th Article of Faith, my Dad presented the children with a special gift meant to remind them to continue to "seek after virtuous and lovely things." My Dad is definitely a shining example of seeking after the things that are "of good report or praiseworthy" in any situation. Special moment. Special Dad!
One last "tool" that we used, more as a reminder of our accomplishment are these Articles of Faith printables that you can kind of see in the picture below. I printed them off and posted them on the wall as a reference for the kids as they sang along to the songs. Now that they can read, these are helpful. Anyway, they are really pretty...and free. You can download them here.
I have a feeling that these Articles of Faith Puzzles are going to be a lot more enjoyable for my kids now that they've got them memorized!
You do such amazing things with your children and I love that you share your ideas with all of us. I think it is quite an accomplishment for children at those ages.
ReplyDeleteWay to go and blessings to all!
I am teaching my primary kids the articles of faith, we memorize 1 of them every month...so far they have memorized 4 of them.Keep up the great job Jocelyn...oxoxoxox
ReplyDeleteI love it Jocelyn! Now this is what we call "intentional parenting" !!
ReplyDeleteWe love that Cd/Dvd!!! I love your ideas. My 6 yr old had an Article of Faith party last year with family. He recited all 13,we had cupcakes and he earned a toy he had been wanting for so long. (Nothing fancy just a $10 Beyblade. We rarely buy our kids toys so it was a big deal.) Thanks for sharing! You are awesome!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great FHE series and culmination. Neat to have your parents there, too!
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You are such a good mother :)
ReplyDeletehow fun to see your parents. I was there for their wedding many years ago....
ReplyDeleteJocelyn, this is awesome. I love that DVD too. It's a great one. Toby memorized the Articles of Faith when he was 3 and I stuck him on youTube (here http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUnV_z5Wgr4gjhjlZwXmtUDAep2dxG6an ) Sometimes it's fun for us to go on You Tube and watch his videos and then search for other kids reciting them too (Toby likes to see the other kids in action.) So you should record your babies and put them on YouTube! We'll be the digital Army of Helaman!
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