Mothers Teaching Children in the Home

This entry is part of my general conference application series.

Mothers Teaching Children in the Home, by Elder L. Tom Perry
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles


Passionately curious. That is how I would describe my childhood. I remember always wondering about things: how they worked, what they were made of, how they were made. Perhaps this natural tendency led me to the field of science in my studies. Nevertheless, I see these same curiosities in my children.

One of the greatest things about having inquisitive children is that we, their parents, get to try to answer their questions. I've often heard of small children getting on a "why" chain—where each answer is followed by another "why?". Instead of seeing this as an annoyance, I took it as a chance to teach—to take the question seriously and do my best to answer.

One of our children is an elementary school student. He did amazingly well in kindergarten, and seems advanced in all regards (and I don't think it's just because I'm talking about my son!). Why did he do so well? He was raised on loving, first-hand teaching, not on unsupervised media immersion. He was fed a steady diet of books, drawing, and creative play, not vegetative television and video games.

Here is a picture of a typical scene in our home: my sweet wife reading to children:


Raised on reading, our eldest is now participating in the teaching process:


Reading Elder Perry 's talk, you would think he had a SuperMom!

I'm sure he did.

How can I be sure? Because my children have a SuperMom, too!

I'm grateful for my loving wife. She chooses to stay at home with our little ones, tenderly teaching and loving them everyday. If you've met my wife, you will likely have noticed the light or glow that seems to shine off of her. She really does radiate love. I was reminded of my 100 Watt wife as Elder Perry reminded that parents are to bring up their children in light and truth (see D&C 93:40). How is this done? Here's Elder Perry's answer:

Parents must bring light and truth into their homes by one family prayer, one scripture study session, one family home evening, one book read aloud, one song, and one family meal at a time.

I'm grateful for my wonderful wife and all she does to help our family, and all she does to help me.