Home teaching families with young children can be an extra challenge. When visitors come children often feel the need to show off, and they respond by being wild and crazy. Parents may have a difficult time getting the children to sit still, and may be reluctant to use time out since it disrupts the lesson and the meeting in general. For these reasons it is important to plan your lesson specifically with the children in mind.
First you should make the lesson and visit shorter than you normally would. Children’s attention spans are not as long, and you should keep the lesson as short as you can while still teaching the main point. Staying too long may also cause the children to dread the visits, which is not a good thing. You want the experience to be positive for everyone involved.
Second, begin with the lesson, and then visit afterward. It is easier to get the children to sit still at the beginning, than it is to calm them down after they have gotten out of control. If you do the lesson right away, it will be a more positive experience for you and the parents. The children will get more out of it as well. You can visit a few minutes after the lesson as well.
Third involve the children in the lesson. Try to bring visual aids or object lessons with you. Have the children participate in acting out the object lessons. Ask them to tell stories from the scriptures if you think they will know them. Then go from there to teach the point. Be sure to ask questions that they can answer. I had a great home teacher who did one of these things every visit when I was a child, my parents and all of my brothers and sisters really enjoyed his visits.
Fourth, consider the time of day that you visit as well. It may be difficult to find a time of day to visit that works for young children. Immediately after church isn’t usually a good time, and too late in the evening is a bad idea as well. Children get wilder if it is right before bedtime. Young children may go to bed as early as 7:00. Listen to the times that your families suggest, and try to work around those instead of arbitrarily naming a time.
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