Preparing for the primary program

I know that the mention of the primary program can strike fear into the hearts of many. I love the primary program. (But, I also like an audience....yeah, I'm like that!)

Last week the counselor and I met to discuss the music for the program. I am a firm believer, that inspiration comes when you ask for it....especially when it comes to the primary program. This is the culmination of hard work for almost a year! The children and the leaders and the presidency have all taught the children the concepts and I have taught them the songs.

Heavenly Father wants us to be successful with this! He wants the parents to feel the spirit, to be enlightened and to have the children feel the spirit also. He wants us to have our hearts touched!

We said a prayer and then started talking about the concepts. Then we laughed and discussed and cried. The spirit was so strong!

I love what we are doing this year. (For that matter, I loved what we did last year and the year before....but, I digress!) We are taking parts of the talks children gave and having them repeat certain sections. It won't be by classes necessarily this year. It's brilliant and it is working for our primary program! The music just flowed...the inspiration came.

One talk, in particular, a boy talks about how his mom sang "I know my Father Lives" to his brother. As he speaks, his father will begin to play (amazing pianist!) and his mother ( an amazing singer) will begin to softly sing the song.

We have several young children who are great singers. They are going to sing a song together. I am really excited about them singing! They are amazing!

I will have a child play one of the songs while the children sing. I will have my son play the flute again. I will have my other son play the cello and we will have a violinist. I will cry as those sweet little voices use sign language and words to sing their testimonies.

I am lucky, as I have until November for our primary program. Plenty of time to get ourselves ready, right?!?!?!? Is there ever enough time?

Anyway, for those of you getting ready....good luck! For those of you done....congrats and relax!

Come Follow Me

"Come Follow Me" (116)

Just saying those words can bring the spirit into a room. I had a hard time getting through this song on Sunday without some emotion. The words are not familiar, but they convey a powerful message. The Primary president did a fabulous job with sharing time also, showing the children how Jesus showed love and how we can follow him.

Can you imagine the Savior standing there, holding out his hand to you and in his soul piercing voice saying, "Come Follow Me"? That phrase and "Well done thou good and faithful servant" always bring tears to my eyes.

As I introduced this song to the Senior Primary, we used the hymn books. I had them look at the time signature and we talked about how we would lead this song. We also talked about how fast or slow the song should be. It says at the top, "humbly" and we discussed that this was not like another favorite, "How Firm a Foundation "(#76). This song would be more like a sacrament song. I told them that some songs are songs to shout for joy about the gospel and Jesus and some songs are to represent his humility and gentleness.

We went over several words and phrases, such as "effulgent rays" and as we were doing this, I had the pianist softly playing the song in the background. They, of course, did a fabulous job singing and made my heart want to burst with their sweet singing voices!

I bore my testimony to the children that this song talks about how if we are willing to follow in his footsteps, that we will be blessed with the spirit in our lives and ultimately be able to return and live with our Heavenly Father.

All my hard work has paid off......

I wasn't actually there to witness it...I was at home with a sick little girl.

But, all my hard work paid off!

I have been teaching the primary children to led music.

We practice on random songs.

Some weeks we learn a song and learn how to lead it,

sometimes we lead a song we already know.

I made simple posters from the hymn book

and used them to show the children

the way to move their arms with the beat of the music.

I even taught them the 6/8 time!

So, this weekend when they were visiting some good friends,

they attended church in the branch.

I guess no one could lead the music, so Xander, my son, did it!

I can't believe I missed it!

I am so proud of him and so happy I taught him and the other primary children to lead music!

He told me later, "Mom, it was so easy! Every song was in 4/4 time!"

I am so proud of him and it just reminded me again how important my calling is!

Leading music is a skill everyone should know!

A simple poster and a few practices and the kids will be pros!!!!

Just an FYI, my husband took the picture BEFORE the opening song...he was so proud of Xander he couldn't resist, but promised me it was before the sacrament!

The Holy Ghost

Today the primary president asked me to sing "The Still Small Voice" (cs106) with the children right before Sharing time. This has been our reverence song the entire month. I knew I might get some eyes rolling, as we have sung it many times this month! So, a flash of inspiration hit me....or shall I say, the Holy Ghost was there to guide me to bring the spirit into the room!

I made "dynamics" posters about a year ago. I use them to have the children sing louder and softer in different parts of songs.

I showed them the elephant and asked them if this is how the spirit speaks to us.....
Then I showed them the lion...and no, this was still too loud.
I asked them if the Holy Ghost acts like a monkey to get our attention.....
Or has to bark like a dog......
Then I asked if they liked the sound of purring cats. (I also got a lot of "meows", but we go with the flow, right?) I told them the holy ghost feels soft like a cat and is soft like the purring of a cat.
I also told them that a mouse has soft fur also and is very quiet, just like the Holy Ghost.
I had them sing the song using the dynamics of "PP" and "P" and then reminded them that quietness in the room helps the spirit to enter and you are able to feel it better. I reminded them that the Holy Ghost has a soft feeling, something that makes you feel good inside. I then bore my testimony. The Junior Primary children really responded well. The spirit was definitely in the room. I was very grateful for the Holy Ghost today to guide me in my calling and allowing me to teach the children how to recognize the Holy Ghost!

Love One Another

It's been a bad week.

No, I mean really bad.

Bad to the point that I showed up to Primary with pretty much the same stuff I had from last week, including the granola bar wrapper in the bottom of the bag.

Normally on the last Sunday we play a game to review all of the songs. That wasn't going to happen today, since I have spent two weeks entertaining a baby in a cast.

So, I taught the children "Love One Another" with the sign language.

It was perfect.

They loved it. It was amazing to watch the children try and do the hand motions and also how fast they learned. Then we "zipped" our lips and "sang" our song without words, just humming the tune.

You can teach any song that way. If there is someone in your ward who knows sign language, you can utilize them or you can go to lds.org and watch the video presentation and teach yourself. I've done that several times.

Go to lds.org and click on Gospel Library. Then go to Music and then Music again. Then Other Music and Children's Songbook. It has the video of the songs in sign language.

I try to do at least one song in sign language every year.

I bore my testimony about how we can bear our testimonies by using our hands as words and our voices and even people who cannot hear can understand that we know the church is true.

I love it when a last minute inspiration comes together!

The Suzuki Method of Primary Songs

Eleven years ago, when I was pregnant with Xander, I attended a Stake Conference that changed my life. It was a talk given by the Mission President's wife. She was talking about Family Home Evening with their eight children. She talked about how, since there were so many ages, that she just assumed the younger twin boys, who were just younger than two at the time, weren't really getting anything out of the lessons.

One particular Family Home Evening, they showed a picture of Jesus. The twins were playing on the ground, doing typical almost two year old things. They both stopped and looked at the picture and walked over and pointed and got really excited and said, "Jesus" in their own little way. She emphasized the fact that what we are exposing our children to, they will become familiar with it, they will recognize it and they will know it.

I have never forgotten that talk. For whatever reason, the spirit spoke to my heart about that concept. I think about that talk a lot. I'm sure that Mission President's wife has no idea how she changed my life that day. I already knew the concept, but it was something that I would use throughout my life and the spirit wanted me to remember it!

I have been reminded many times in my life as my children were young about this concept. They are amazing when it comes to spiritual matters. They know and they feel and they recognize.

Interestingly enough, the way my husband teaches violin, through the Suzuki Method, has that same concept. Dr. Sinichi Suzuki taught, that if you immerse a small child in a language, they will learn to speak the language. If you are following the Suzuki Method and listening to the music tapes and practicing and do the repetition, your child will learn the instrument.

Yesterday, we were in the car and I turned on the CD of the Primary songs. Every night when Savannah and Eleanor go to bed, we sing some songs and one of them is the song, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me." Savannah had been looking out the window listening to the music and when the song came on, she started "singing" to the music. It was so amazing to listen to her voice rise and fall with the notes, even though she did not utter a word.

She knows the song and she was singing her testimony to me in her little way.

Once again, the words of the talk came back to me. I, of course, started to cry and the spirit spoke to my heart again about the importance of immersing yourself in good things so you will become familiar with them.

I pondered on how I can be a better song leader by immersing the children in things that will help them feel and recognize the spirit. I smiled as I thought about my attempt the day before to help them recognize those feelings. That is what it is all about. Repetition. The Suzuki Method of feeling the spirit!

My job as the song leader is to help them express their testimony through song, to help them feel the spirit as they are singing and know what it is they are feeling. What an awesome responsibility, yet I know I am supposed to have this calling and I will be blessed to accomplish what the Lord needs me to accomplish! That's why I LOVE this calling! It's the BEST!

Helping Children Recognize the Spirit

A few weeks ago I attended our Stake Primary Leadership Meeting. It was amazing, as always. The leaders are so inspired and I found myself taking notes to remind myself how to be a better song leader and primary worker.

One of the things they discussed was how to help the children recognize the spirit. As a song leader, I try hard to bear my testimony at the end of singing time to help wrap up the time and bring the spirit in, but I decided to try it during singing time.

I asked Heavenly Father for guidance in helping me be able to invite the spirit through music.

Today we were doing a review of "I Know My Savior Loves Me" in Junior Singing time. I told them to sing their testimonies during the chorus. Their little voices brought me to tears and I could not finish singing the song. I told them that when I feel the spirit, I cry. I told them that the happy tingling feeling or the warm feeling they had was the spirit. Of course, when I bore my testimony at the end, I reminded them of that feeling and the emotions I had.

During Senior Primary, it was a different experience. They are amazing singers. I told them after we sang "Beautiful Savior" that I was feeling the spirit. I told them if they were feeling something that it was the spirit. When I bore my testimony, I began to cry and told them that was the spirit.

I hope it worked. I know I felt the spirit today. My primary children are amazing! How blessed I am to be the song leader and to have this calling!