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Young Women Manual 2

Introduction

"Introduction," Young Women Manual 2, v

GENERAL INFORMATION

This course of study is designed for twelve- to seventeen-year-old young women of the Church. By studying the lessons in this manual, each young woman should better understand the Lord's plan for her and be better able to base her personal choices and behavior on gospel principles.

Elder M. Russell Ballard counseled: "Teachers would be well advised to study carefully the scriptures and their manuals before reaching out for supplemental materials. Far too many teachers seem to stray from the approved curriculum materials without fully reviewing them. If teachers feel a need to use some good supplemental resources beyond the scriptures and manuals in presenting a lesson, they should first consider the use of the Church magazines" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1983, p. 93; or Ensign, May 1983, p. 68).

Unit teaching

This manual is divided into the following units:

Each unit develops related principles and reinforces them so that the young women can understand and apply the principles. In teaching these units, assess the needs of the young women in your class by asking yourself the following questions:

What problems are they facing?

What previous lessons have they had on the subject?

What do they already know about the subject?

Which of these lessons best meet their needs?

When you have carefully considered the needs of your young women, study the lesson titles and objectives of each lesson to determine which lessons will best meet those needs. By planning well in advance, you can be sure that the young women will receive lessons in all units and that you will provide a complete, balanced curriculum.

Resources

Use the following resources in preparing your lessons:

The Scriptures: The basic foundation for the course is the scriptures. Encourage the young women to bring their copies of the standard works to class each week.

Use the scriptures in your lessons every week. If time is limited or attention lags, select only those references that will be most effective. Through your preparation the scriptures can become a powerful teaching tool.

The young women in your class should read individually from the scriptures during almost every lesson. Motivate them by asking a question or presenting a problem. You will probably want to write the scriptural reference on the chalkboard so that the young women will know where to look. Usually you should ask a question before a scripture is read. Otherwise, the young women will have to reread the scripture to be able to answer the question. Sometimes a young woman may give the correct answer in her own words without turning to the passage of scripture. When this occurs, ask additional questions to get her to read the scripture, for example, "How did Paul say it?" or "What additional insights can we gain from this passage?"

Before you can get the young women excited about searching the scriptures, you must become excited about them yourself. Prepare yourself through in-depth study, prayer, and meditation about those passages you will discuss in class.

Teaching-No Greater Call (33043) is a valuable resource for all teachers. It contains suggestions for lesson preparation; spiritual preparation; and teaching techniques such as role playing, buzz sessions, questions, chalkboard illustrations, object lessons, and involving students in the lesson. It also contains ideas about controlling classroom behavior, setting up a classroom, and improving teaching skills. Refer to it for aid in preparing and teaching lessons.

Church Magazines: The Church magazines contain articles and stories that may enhance lesson material.

LESSON FORMAT

Each lesson contains the following:

TEACHING YOUNG WOMEN

Remember that you are teaching young women, not just teaching lessons. Pray for inspiration to help them reach their full potential as daughters of God.

Effective teaching includes knowing each young woman, her parents, and her family. Think about each young woman and her family. Try to see her as Heavenly Father does. Accept each one at her own level and help her grow in the gospel.

Learn about each young woman by asking yourself the following:

The best way to help each young woman is to help her learn and live the gospel. President Marion G. Romney counseled: "Learning the gospel from the written word ... is not enough. It must also be lived. As a matter of fact, getting a knowledge of the gospel and living it are interdependent. They go hand in hand. One cannot fully learn the gospel without living it. A knowledge of the gospel comes by degrees: one learns a little, obeys what he learns; learns a little more and obeys that. This cycle continues in an endless round. Such is the pattern by which one can move on to a full knowledge of the gospel" ("Records of Great Worth," Ensign, Sept. 1980, p. 4).

INVOLVING MEMBERS WITH DISABILITIES

When Jesus began his mortal ministry, he entered the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. "And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:17-18).

Throughout his ministry, the Savior gave high priority to those needing special help. A teacher in the Church classroom will not usually have the technical training or facilities to give professional assistance to members with disabilities. But it is expected that each instructor will have an understanding and caring heart and a desire to include these members whenever possible in all the learning activities of the class. Types of members needing special attention include those with mental, hearing, sight, physical, speech, cultural and language, emotional, social, age, and learning disabilities. The following guidelines should be helpful to every teacher in reaching these members with special needs:

Be natural, friendly, and warm. A person with a disability is a child of God and has a normal need for love and understanding, no matter how severe the disability.

Teachers in the Church must remember that each member, regardless of physical, mental, emotional, or social capacity, has marvelous potential for growth toward ultimate godhood. Teachers have an obligation to make a special effort, if necessary, to teach members with disabilities all that they are capable of learning. Remember the words of the Savior: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40).

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