Saturday, March 22, 2014

Check it out

The Church has produced some really high quality and very moving videos.  Some are based on stories from Church leaders, others are on a topic relevant to young people.  My kids love watching these, and I bet many Primary classes would enjoy them as well.  

Here are a few, below.  Enjoy!

Jess










February and March: what to expect when you're expecting (to teach your Primary class)

Knowing what behavior is developmentally appropriate and how much, for example reverence, you can expect from a 5 year old can be tricky.  This is especially true when you aren't a parent yourself, or you're teaching an age group you haven't parented yet (or haven't in the past 15 years!). The Church has some good resources to help understand what kids are like at different ages in terms of attention span, impulse control, etc.  Check out the links below.

Here's a lovely video from Sunday School General Board member Ann Madsen about the impact teachers can have on the children they teach:






Thank you for all the effort, dedication and love you bring to your classes each week!

Jess

Links:

Age Characteristics of Children
Managing Classroom Behavior

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Welcome!

Welcome Belmont 1st Primary teachers and friends!

We are really excited to start a new year in Primary!   Our theme for 2014 is "Families are Forever" and this year in Primary we will be:

  • talking about different kinds of families: nuclear family, extended family, ward family, ancestors, families in the scriptures
  • researching and retelling stories about the pioneers and early church members
  • inviting ward members and primary kids to share a Family Moment, reflecting on how we all love, learn, grow and serve within the context of the family
  • performing and recording acts of service, both in the ward and in our community- and building Primary's contribution to the Belmont 1st ward service chain

and, most importantly, we will continue to learn about the Savior and his teachings through music, talks, lessons and scripture study.

For teacher training this year, we are going to try something a little different.  Each month, we will post a video, links to teaching resources, or ideas for lessons and games you can use with your classes. Since the best part of teacher training sessions is usually the discussion with other teachers, we encourage you to use the comments section to share tips, ideas and resources with each other.*

We hope this will be helpful to you and are so grateful for your service in Primary!

Jess, Jenn, Jaimee, Katie and Lisa
Belmont 1st Primary Presidency

*We ask that you please be sensitive to the privacy of the children in your class. Please do not mention names of children or details that would identify a specific child or children in our Primary.

January: can you feel the love?


As a presidency, one of our highest priorities is that the children in the Belmont 1st Primary feel known and loved by their teachers. Children, especially the youngest members of our Primary, probably take in more by the examples of kindness, patience and generosity that you model for them weekly than they do from the manual or sharing time lessons.

President Uchtdorf, on loving those you teach:


Sing it, President Uchtdorf.  That man tells it like it is!

Over the next few weeks, I encourage you to do two things: get to know each child in your class, and remember them in your prayers.

If you work to build relationships with the children, while at the same time opening your heart to the promptings of the spirit, truly amazing things can happen!

Thank you for all you do each week!
-Jess

Some Getting to Know You Games:
Gummy Bear Game
My name is icebreaker
Stand up, Sit down