FAML 220: Parenting

Welcome to FAML 220

FAML 220 is the study of different parenting methods you can use to raise the next generation. It is designed to help you develop a sound understanding of doctrinal principles that will guide you in raising your children. 

As we study relevant scriptures from modern-day teachings, and instructions from other experts, look to identify connections, patterns, and themes that will deepen your understanding of magnificent truths. These truths will ultimately bless your life as a future or current parent.  

You will have opportunities to share those insights and help others refine their understanding as well. Working together in small groups, you will be able to talk together and share your testimony of the profound blessing of parenting. You will be able to deepen your ability to learn by using the power of BYU-Idaho's Learning Model principles to learn and grow exponentially together. 

Course Expectations

You will have to learn to be a wise steward over your learning in this course. There are only a few opportunities for you to earn points in this course, and they are outlined in this section. You will need to be engaged and participating in order to glean the wisdom and insights that will make the course helpful to you.

CITIZENship REPORTS
Citizenship Reports that you will fill out at the end of each week. The Citizenship Report will cover the following weekly activities:

You will be grading yourself in the Citizenship Report every week on how well you participated in these areas. The point of doing these reports is to learn to assess yourself and find places you can improve. Please be honest in your evaluation. They are meant to help you.

ACTIVITIES AND FINAL ASSESSMENT
You will be notified beforehand when you have an activity coming up, however, you will need to make sure you familiarize yourself with the activities and when they will be due. As you will not have an activity every week, you will need to make sure that you prepare for the weeks in which you do have an activity. Listed below are the different subjects and readings that will assist you in the activities and citizenship report items. The different colors in the chart identify outside resources, such as textbooks, and the eight activities mentioned above. 

Outcomes

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of how to discern gospel doctrines and principles from applications, and subsequently use this ability in raising children.

  2. Develop an ability to find and comprehend the importance of research and theory as it applies to parenting and child development.

  3. Research and discover personal biases and values about parenting and child development stemming from parents/caretakers.

  4. Demonstrate an ability to challenge and evaluate the conventional wisdom about disciplining children.

  5. Articulate a sound personal philosophy for effective parenting grounded in theory, research, and principles of the restored gospel.

“WHAT IS EXPECTED OF ME?”

Learning Model Principles:

  1. Exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as a principle of power.

  2. Understand that true teaching is done by and with the Holy Ghost.

  3. Lay hold upon the word of God—as found in the holy scriptures and in the words of the prophets—in all disciplines.

  4. Act for one's self and accept responsibility for learning and teaching.

  5. Love, serve, and teach one another.

“Our family-centered perspective should make Latter-day Saints strive to be the best parents in the world. It should give us enormous respect for our children, who truly are our spiritual siblings, and it should cause us to devote whatever time is necessary to strengthen our families. Indeed, nothing is more critically connected to happiness—both our own and that of our children—than how well we love and support one another within the family.”
—What Matters Most Is What Lasts Longest, Elder M. Russell Ballard, General Conference, Oct. 2005.

Learning Model Architecture

The Learning Model will be implemented in the following way:

Prepare: You will be preparing by completing the readings each week. It will help you understand and remember the readings if you discuss them with others in your life such as family members, roommates, and friends. The readings will assist you in the upcoming activities. Be sure to always look ahead to see if there are activities coming up soon so you are not caught off guard.

Teach One Another: Throughout the week, you have several opportunities to teach your classmates. Complete the readings as early as possible in the week so you can get on the discussion board and share your insights, inquiries, and implications. Focus on helping others learn and pay careful attention to the comments made by others.

Ponder/Prove: (Ponder) At the end of each week you will be pondering on your effort and application as you fill out the Citizenship Report. Be honest and have integrity as you ponder your week. Another key part of this course to help you ponder is your personal journal. Always have it accessible as you complete your different activities, so you can record your insights.

(Prove) You will have eight different opportunities to prove you are growing throughout the class. Each of these activities will show how well you have used your time in learning and applying the materials. In the last week of the semester, you will have your final exam which will also allow you to show how much you have learned.  

“CAN I BE SPOON FED?”

A vital principle to learning is to "act for [yourself] and accept responsibility for learning and teaching" (BYU-Idaho Learning Model). To become engaged learners, each and every week you must each:

You also have the responsibility to contribute to our learning community by loving, serving, and teaching one another. Keep this in mind as you review the course assignments and requirements.

Prerequisites

None

Required Materials

The following books will be provided by the school free of charge through I-Learn, and are under copyright and/or Fair Use restrictions. Do not distribute them in any way, and only use them in connection to this course. We will be reading a limited number of chapters in these books and they will be provided digitally.

Required Books (links provided in course):

If, however, you find you would like a personal copy of these books, they can be purchased from a variety of outlets at nominal costs.

Additional books that can also become great resources as you parent:

(these books are not required for this course)

You will also need to have a journal—paper or electronic—that is specifically for this course. You can have any form of journal that is most convenient for you. We recommend one that benefits your style of learning the most. The journal is for personal use, but you will report each week on completion.

Department Policy Regarding Intellectual Property and Course Materials

All of the materials in this course are covered by fair use and copyright law and are proprietary (intellectual property). Students are not permitted to sell, post, trade, share, distribute, or send any information contained in this course (including outlines, handouts, syllabi, exams, quizzes, PowerPoint presentations, lectures, audio and video recordings, or images of the same, etc. including your own work for this course) to any parties outside of this course (ie Course Hero, Quizlet, Google Docs, etc.) by any means (e.g., posting, uploading, attachments, etc.) without the express written permission from the creator of these works and the Department Chair. Any of these actions violate the Academic Honesty policies of Brigham Young University-Idaho (please see Academic Honesty) and will be dealt with as such. The materials in this course are also intellectual property and taking any materials from the course and posting them outside of this course in any manner will be construed as theft and distribution of intellectual property. If you engage in any of these actions, or use any of these materials without authorization, the instructor has the right to impose an appropriate academic sanction (e.g., give you a failing grade for the assignment and/or fail you from the course). Additionally, the respective Course Lead, Program Lead, and/or Department Chair also reserve the right to impose appropriate academic sanctions regardless of any imposed by the instructor.

Grading Policies

FOCUS ON GRADES & YOU’LL LEARN LESS THAN THOSE WHO FOCUS ON LEARNING      

In this course, there are a total of 350 points possible. As mentioned before, 20% (70 pts.) come from the citizenship report grade where you report how well you prepared and participated in each week's lesson. 80% (280 pts.) comes from the various activities and the final assessment. It is crucial that you pay special attention to those weeks where you have an activity so you can allot yourself the time required to successfully complete those activities.

Below is a breakdown of percentages and their corresponding letter grade.

A = 93–100% B- = 80–82% D+ = 67–69%
A- = 90–92%

C+ = 77–79%

 D = 63–66%
B+ = 87–89% C = 73–76% D- = 60–62%
B = 83–86% C- = 70–72% F = 59% and below

Final Note

The instructor reserves the right to change any part of this syllabus at any time during the semester in order to adapt to changing course needs. You will be notified prior to any changes that may take place.