Friend online resources: New materials for parents and teachers
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With the wealth of Primary-related information and content available on the Internet, Primary lessons can be enhanced by additional resources. However, teachers and parents are reluctant to use material not correlated by the Church or finding the right teaching aids can be a daunting task. In an effort to help families and teachers utilize resources approved by the Church, The Friend magazine launched a new children's lessons helps website on Jan. 5, 2012: lessonhelps.lds.org.
Marissa Widdison, assistant editor for The Friend, said, "The purpose of this site is to help children fell the Spirit. We want to give parents and teachers Church-approved, supplemental resources to help them reach out to the children in their lives."
The new site will be available in English, Spanish and Portuguese and contains links to The Friend and Liahona content as well as other Church-approved media that can compliment Primary or family home evening lessons. Jan Pinborough, managing editor for The Friend, said, "We've been planning this site for a year and actively combing through past issues of the magazines to find the "best of the best" content and organizing it by Primary lesson and by topic for the past four or five months." The new resource can help parents and teachers more easily locate stories and visual aids as well as tailor lessons to the needs of children.
The website is divided into three easy sections: resources for Primary class, resources by gospel topic and weekly thoughts and tips.
Resources for Primary Lessons
Each month, Church magazine content will be posted on the Lesson Helps website to coordinate with each lesson in the Sunbeams, CTR 4–7, and Valiant 8–11 Primary manuals. Each lesson will contain links to stories, crafts and activities previously published in The Friend or children's section of the Liahona. In addition, the site will link to videos and music that relate to each lesson. "Every piece of content on the Resources for Primary Lessons section, including music and videos, would be appropriate for use at Church," said Sister Pinborough.
Resources by Gospel Topic
This section of the site will organize magazine content for children by topic instead of by lesson. In addition to being helpful in preparing class or Sharing Time lessons, this section could work well for family home evening. "We're launching with January's content, and we will stay ahead of the lesson calendar throughout the year so parents and teachers can plan in advance for their children," said Sister Widdison. Topics such as baptism, Joseph Smith and missionary work are represented, among others. This portion of the site will grow as time goes on.
Weekly Thoughts and Tips
Every Friday, the Lesson Helps website will be updated with a new idea on how to use The Friend and Liahona to teach children at home or in Primary, or with a message of encouragement. Sister Pinborough said, "We're excited about the section called 'Weekly Tips and Thoughts.' This will be a sort of blog-like feature. Each Friday we'll post either a tip written by a parent about an activity that's worked well for their family or else an idea from a Friend staffer about how to use content from the current month's issue of the magazine. We hope people will enjoy checking back each week for simple, inspiring ideas they can use with children in home and Church settings."
The Friend magazine has been publishing inspiring material for families and teachers for more than 40 years. Monthly issues are available online without a subscription.
