All
Thy Children shall be thought of the Lord
(notes by Angie) |
Objective: To help Primary leaders,
teachers, and parents work together to love the children and teach and expect
appropriate behavior.
Preparation is Primary - Matthew 18: 2-5.
Our children have various bakgrounds and abilities. We need to prepare by
reading our scriptures, praying for each child, find ways to involve each one.
Teach and expect appropriate behavior. They did a little role play thing
with one of the board members acting as Sister Aurelia Rogers and using the song
"We welcome you" (CS, pg 256) to talk about what they expected of
children when Primary started and we can still expect that today. We can
teach children to govern themselves. We want children to own their own
behavior - different things happen in different households, so we have to let
them know the "church" rules. We can have our own rules as long
as they are clear to the children. Some that were suggested were:
- Show respect in Heavenly Father's house (need
to explain what that means since respect can mean different things in
different households)
- Treat others as you would like to be
treated.
- Will not interrupt the learning of others
or myself.
Unite with teachers and parents in this
effort. When you need help, some resources may be the presidency, parents,
one-on-one teaching, counsel with priesthood leaders. Plan with parents
and leaders, be flexible and fit the plan to the child, and realize that change
takes time.
Some ways to respons to disruption:
- Ignore it and focus on the positive
- Stop and wait
- Move closer
- Invite participation without embarrassing
- for example if you have an "active" child, have them help you
with something in the lesson to direct their attention elsewhere
- Separate children if necessary. One
sister said their class rule was that you could choose your own seat as long
as you can feel the spirit, the person next to you can feel the spirit, and
the teacher can teach with the spirit. If your choice of where to sit
disrupts any of those, the teacher gets to choose your chair for you.
- Speak with them privately if necessary.
Explain the specific behavior you would like to change, ask them what would
be a better behavior, and possible role-play the better way to do it.
Including all children in Primary (children
with special needs).
Everyone has a right to be accepted and loved in Primary. We can show
empathy, not pity. Everyone can participate and serve others regardless of
their abilities. Realize that often children with disabilities are touched
by music and the spirit, so seek that out.
Be a support to the family.
Joseph Smith said that every person born on earth has an opportunity to expand -
and we can help facilitate that. 3 Nephi 18:24-25