February 8, 2010

Hey Guys,

I’m Manuel.  I’m a teacher at treasure mountain international school in park City (9th grade ELL).  I’d like to invite you to drop by and join us in our group discussion about initiating a youth group.  We get together after church around 11:45 on Sundays.  We will grab something to eat while adults have their coffee hour to discuss activities and socialize.  You are contact me via email with questions.

Hope to see you there,

Manuel Maravi

pianospecialists@comcast.net

ABOUT FAMILY NIGHT MARCH 22ND

Hello all!

Last night family night went well. We met at Shana Hopperstead and Ross DiCaprio’s (Jessica and Ross) and had great pizza – thanks Shana! We played the same card game again (this is getting old, we’re gonna give it a rest for a while) and then had a more expanded discussion time. Next month we will meet at the Olympus bowling Lanes in SLC (it’s at the bottom of Parley’s canyon off 215) on Sunday, April 26. It should be pretty fun, so I hope everyone can make it. Details to follow in a few weeks.

 

A few housekeeping items… I have redone the email system and I want to make sure everyone is receiving this, so if you receive this message PLEASE take 5 seconds and reply to me with something like Got it, or you can just hit “reply” and “send” and then I’ll know that the email system is working and everyone is getting the messages. If you don’t reply, then I’ll have to call you, so please reply.

 

Secondly, the discussion time is going well, so I am thinking of expanding it to 25-30 minutes and actually having somewhat of an agenda planned. I would like to continue to focus on life management skills. Next time we meet (if we can have discussion time at the bowling alley?), I thought we might focus on what one does that might contribute to making an argument. So many times, kids tell themselves that they are just innocently sitting there, when all of a sudden, their sister/brother/friend is mean to/hits them, etc. And then they are the victim. I thought we could focus on what one does to create that situation and, further, how our reactions can make the situation better or worse. We can start with sibling fights and then move on to school situations, doing some problem solving as a group.

I will try to come up with a case study (that is, a hypothetical situation) and get the group to come up with ideas of what the hypothetical person did to create the situation and how they can make it better. Other discussion ideas for other nights might include impulse control, peer pressure, how to talk to a grownup so they will listen, etc.

Each time, I will try and email the discussion topic ahead of time so that if you want to participate you will have time to think of what you want to say. If anyone has a topic they want to lead, or want me to lead, just tell me and we can do that topic. Sometimes timely group discussions can help your child with a current problem and sometimes the group comes up with good solutions. Charlie Martz had a smile trick that is a magical mood changer – if you want to know it, come to family night! In all cases, we will be stressing that these are problems that happen to EVERYONE and that the kids don’t have to feel alone in them – they have each other, their parents, and God.  I am working on how you tell kids whose minds are just starting the transition from concrete to abstract thinking how you can make a friend of an abstract being who doesn’t talk back to you – any input here would be greatly appreciated.

 

Lastly, I am wondering what we can do with the beginning time (while dinner is put on the table) to keep the kids together in one group and not spread apart. If you don’t know people in the group, this is a very uncomfortable time. Any ideas?

 

Congratulations! You made it to the end of this email! As you can see, this family night is a work in progress, but I see terrific potential here. Hopefully, we can morph family night discussions into some really meaningful Sunday school lessons next year. It can work if we all participate. The kids seem really open to it!

 

Jane Sullivan