Tips

 

•      Love and Respect: Treat the Primary children with love and respect.  They are like a little choir.  It is okay to teach them to sit up straight in their chairs and to learn to follow your directing signals They will feel joy in knowing that have the understanding of you musical direction.

•      Sing more, talk less.  Don’t over say your message when you can be singing. During singing time, SING. It doesn’t take a lot of words to help the children understand the meaning of the songs.  So, SING a lot.  Sing standing up, sing sitting down. Sing, Sing, Sing.

•      Mix it Up: During Singing Time, Mix it up and remember that you don’t have to play games all the time to have the children engaged.  We are not there to entertain but to help engage the children in the gospel through music.

•      Age appropriate: Appropriate teaching aids are a MUST.  Remember many of junior primary can’t read.  To understand more about how age groups learn see (See Teaching, No Greater Call,.)

•      Copy Cat: As a director, don’t be afraid to sing in front of the children.  Copy cat is a fabulous method for teaching a song.  You sing a phrase then the children sing a phrase. 

•      Compliments: Encourage good behavior by being sincere and generous with your compliments. Notice when a child is working hard to learn what you are teaching or is trying hard to learn the song.

•      Be creative when planning the music for the Sacrament Meeting Program.  Get small groups or soloists to sing the 2nd or 3rd verse of a song.  Have a child play an obbligato part on a flute or violin.  Have a group of children sing harmony for one of the songs, perhaps the chorus of a song.

•      Articles of Faith: In addition to learning songs for the primary program, teach a different  article of faith song each month. The music makes it so much easier to remember the words. 

•      Senses: Generally, the more senses you can involve in the teaching, the better the kids will remember the lesson. This goes for music teaching as well. Try to incorporate something visual (perhaps pictures) and something kinesthetic (actions) in addition to the auditory sing-along portion. This will   help them remember the doctrine and the songs

•      Reverence: Quietly say "If you can hear my voice, put your hand on your nose. If you can hear my voice, put your hand on your elbow. If you can hear my voice, put your hands on your head. If you can hear my voice, put your hands in your lap. If you can hear my voice, fold your arms." With each statement, bring the volume of your voice down until you are whispering. I'