November Theme - Be Smart

"Be Smart. Don't be Foolish."

Gordon B. Hinckley

November's focus for our yearly Family Theme is Be Smart! We read the chapter as a family and noted the emphasis on educating the mind and the hands, being an influence for good, preparation, proper manners, and clean and neat hygiene. With that in mind, we've decided to concentrate on the following ideas:

1. Be Smart Quotes
The quotes below are taken from the Be Smart chapter of the book, Way to Be...

"Train your mind and your hands to become and influence for good as you go forward with your life. And as you do so and as you perform with excellence, you will bring honor to yourself and to your family."

"Be wise. Be intelligent. Be smart about training yourself for the future. Be wise about preparing for what lies ahead."

"You don't have to be a genius to do great things. The important work of this world is done, for the most part, by ordinary people who do their work in an extraordinary way."

We have these displayed in the kitchen for all to work on memorizing. Prizes are awarded for participation.

2. Today I Learned...
We created a poster on our kitchen door for everyone to write down the things they are learning. We hope to completely fill it up, showing that we are ever-learning and the importance of a desire to gain knowledge.

3. Pick a Project...
Each person in the family has been assigned a project - to choose something they want to learn or a topic to study. At the end of the month we will present our projects. One daughter is well on her way. She is learning to cross stitch and LOVES it.

4. Musical Selection
The Wise Man and the Foolish Man is a children's song that emphasizes the importance of being wise, or in this case, being SMART. All of our signage for the month has this logo, to remind us of good and wise choices...to "be smart. Don't be foolish":

5.  Scriptural Insights
The word "Smart" is virtually non-existent in the scriptures, except for one mention in Proverbs that doesn't apply. So, we've turned to other words to study for our evening devotional...knowledge, wisdom/wise, learn, prepare, study, and train. I'll share some of my favorites another day.

6. Reading Reward
None of my children are big readers. The older children read well, but it's off and on for pleasure. The younger kids are a work in progress. We created a reading reward last week, namely for the youngest four children who really need the emphasis. They each have a reading chart that they mark after 20 minutes of reading. Once it's full, the given reward will be received.

We have some additional activities and plans for the month, but we'll save those for later. 

I'll leave you with one way to be smart: 

"To avoid some of the deepest regrets of life, it would be WISE to make some resolutions today. Therefore, let us resolve to spend more time with those we love, resolve to strive more earnestly to become the person God wants us to be, and resolve to find happiness, regardless of our circumstances."
Dieter F. Uchtdorf

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!