…when our boys got into Cub Scouts and our girls begin attending Activity Days.

I’ve lived in wards where the culture is to suspend activities for Relief Society, Mutual, Cub Scouts, and Activity Days during the summer. Other wards have maintained the same schedule year-round.

I was the ward primary chorister for a long time—a very, very long time. A great annual challenge I faced was selecting a song for the children to sing on Mother’s Day.

Father’s Day was less difficult.  You wouldn’t think that would be the case.  After all, there are only three songs in Children’s Songbook written specifically for fathers.  In contrast, there are six songs written just for mothers.

However, I like all three of these Father’s Day songs.  Daddy’s Homecoming and My Dad are cute tributes to how fun and likeable a Dad can be. Fathers emphasizes the spirituality of fatherhood and draws parallels between earthly fathers and Heavenly Father. (Skip the red herring verse in the middle about bishops when singing Fathers for Father’s Day.) I like that two of these songs use the modern, frequently used terms of “Dad” or “Daddy” to refer to fathers and that two of these songs (Fathers and My Dad) teach some gospel principles rather than just being odes to Dad.

There’s a new Bloggernacle blog out that I wanted to highlight today. “It’s Time for Sharing” is a new blog for Primary teachers and leaders. As time goes on, they hope to cover all the Nursery, Sunbeam, CTR, and Valient lessons along with sharing time and singing time ideas. The goals of It’s Time for Sharing are to

• Keep Christ as the focus of our lessons
• Invite and incorporate the Spirit
• Be scripture-based
• Teach solid principles without relying on ‘cute’ or ‘fluff’
• Promote active rather than passive learning
• Adapt lessons according to the children we teach
• Reflect the varied personal experiences of children around the world

Jeans, of Beginnings New fame, shares a little about the origins of this new blog,

“It’s Time for Sharing” got a start when Karen Spencer and I gave some of the go-getters a little encouragement, as they commented on my other blog (Beginnings New) – the original post & their comments is here.

Jessica asked a simple question: hey, is there something like this for Primary? The Primary manuals are also, in some places, outdated or not applicable to a more ethnically diverse Primary, and how are sensitive and progressive Primary leaders and teachers making appropriate adaptations and updates? I wasn’t aware of anything out there – the “lesson helps” niche is stuffed with fluff, which I guess has a market but doesn’t really spiritually nourish either the teacher or the learners, no matter how old they are.

As a counselor in a Primary presidency, I feel like part of my calling is to minister to the spiritual needs of ALL the people in Primary. As I often say, “we’re all children… just different ages.” Sometimes Primary can be an isolating calling, and having a community of folks to talk things over with on a deeper level than “what clip art should I use” can help in that effort. Teaching plain doctrine elegantly and creatively to young people is tremendously satisfying and it emulates what the Savior did on many occasions. Primary is about helping people be stronger disciples of Christ, no matter how old they are, and I think there’s definitely room for us & the conversations we will generate out there in the Bloggernacle. Those are some of my hopes for the Primary “sister site” to Beginnings New at its launch. It has been a lot of fun being part of the behind-the-scenes excitement pulling it together VERY fast over the last 2 weeks!

Jenni B. states,

My experience as a mother, school teacher, childbirth educator, and graduate student of psychology have taught me that people of all ages–even tiny babies–know and understand far more than we give them credit for. I refuse to dumb-down lessons just because my students are young. They are honest enough to ask questions if they don’t understand. They are hungry for truth, and I am trying to offer as much sustenance as I can.

A few months ago I had the idea for a blog like this–and was delighted to find others with similar ideas with whom I could join forces–so that teachers who have greater experience or time could share our lesson ideas with those who may not have so much.

If you are in Primary and want some more ideas on how to approach lessons, check them out! And if you are full of great ideas, they’re looking for more bloggers and guest posts.

Thank you to Jenne for suggesting this poll topic.

When I attended a baby blessing at a friend’s LDS ward building,  I was thrilled by their nursery room.  The room had windows on the doors so parents could check on their children without interrupting the class; huge, built-in toy boxes and shelves; and (best of all) an adjacent restroom with a toddler-sized toilet.

In my ward building, the children’s classrooms look like all of the other rooms.  The advantage to generic rooms is flexibility–any children’s classroom could be used as an adult classroom instead, if necessary.  However, such generic rooms sacrifice the opportunity to include age-appropriate decor, supplies and amenities.