Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Primary Lesson Plans

Kate and I teach primary to the 9-10 year olds in our ward. We thought we weren't going to like it, but it's turned out to be better than we thought. Hanging out with kids is much better than sitting through adult Sunday School. At least we can make learning about the Old Testament fun.

Our only challenge has been coming up with lesson plans that are both engaging and spiritually uplifting. The lesson manual doesn't offer much help. Every Sunday the suggested activity is to have the kids "pantomime" the story. You can only play charades so many times before it gets old. I guess the whole point of the lesson manual being vauge and general is for us to learn how to get inspiration in our callings.

But it's hard to find time to get inspiration when you're either at law school or preparing tomorrow's history lecture. It also doesn't help that Kate and I don't have kids, so we really don't know what kind of activities engage kids. Kate and I want the kids to get somethign out of primary. Our goal is that they leave with a stronger testimony of the gospel. We needed some help. Here's a common scence Saturday night.

Kate: "Hey, we need to plan tomorrows primary lesson."
Brett: "But I need to study Civil Procedure."
Kate: "Do you want me to laugh at you at Judgment Day?"
Brett: grumbles.
Brett & Kate pray.
Kate: "Read the scriptures that are asigned."
Brett: Reads out loud the scriptures.
Kate: "So, what should we do?"
Brett: "What does the manual say?"
Kate: " 'Have the children pantomime the story of David and Goliath."
Brett: "Didn't we pantomime last week?"
Kate: "Yes. Any other ideas."
Brett and Kate sit on couch for an hour.
Brett: "Let's just play "Spiritual Hangman"

However, our prayers have been answered. Julie M. Smith, a permablogger on Times and Seasons, not only is a primary teacher in her ward, but she also hometeaches her kids. So, she knows how to engage kids in way that they'll actually learn something. Each week she posts a primary supplement on the blog. The supplements are great. They're simple, utilize different resources, and the kids love it. What's even better, we feel we're actually engaging the kids, instead of the kids responding with the rote Sunday School answers. They've also given us our own ideas for lessons. Check it out.

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