Teaching the Seven-Year-Old's

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormons, divides the youth into two organizations for gospel instruction and activities. The 18 month to 12 year old's go to Primary, the 12 to 18 year old's are in MIA (short for the Mutual Improvement Association).

Much of my life I have been blessed with callings in Primary. When Moe and I got married I was serving as the Primary Chorister, one of the best callings in the Church, but shortly afterwords I was asked to be a counselor in our ward Primary Presidency. Moe was also given a calling in Primary, one he had never expected, prepared for, or imagined he would ever be asked to do. He was called to teach the seven-year-old's!

Now, teaching a class of eight young children might be intimidating for anyone, but especially for a forty-eight year old newly-wed man who's only experience with little kids ended twenty years earlier when his own two boys grew up. But Moe was a sweetheart, and although he raised his eyebrows when he was given the call, he accepted.

The first week was an eye-opening experience, but with a little coaching from me and a lot of candy for bribes, Moe got the hang of it. His kids loved him!

“Brother Ashcroft, Brother Ashcroft,” they would exclaim as soon as they saw him walk in the door, then they would surround him with stories and jokes and laughter.

Moe may not have had much experience with children, but he was learning quickly. He and Russell had also been asked to be Home Teaching companions. They were assigned to visit one of the nicest families in our ward, a family with lots of kids, who were also enamored with Moe. Perhaps that was because he had an old book of Children's stories that he would read to them each month. It could also have something to do with the fact that he brought candy bars to celebrate birthdays.

One of Moe's favorite books was called “My Turn on Earth,” by Carol Lynn Pearson. One day he thought it would be a good story to read to his Primary class. Reading a book to a bunch of seven-year-old's can be pretty boring, though, not to mention a sure fire way to loose their attention, so he decided to have the kids act the story out. They discovered that climbing up on top of their little table, then jumping off was a good way to depict leaving heaven to be born on earth.

There was only one problem with their little drama. Moe's class was held on the stage, classrooms were at a premium in our ward building. Jumping onto the stage made a really cool, hollow sound, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Strangely, though, the Elder's Quorum, who met in the little classroom just off the stage, found it difficult to hold a spiritual discussion when it was accompanied by what sounded like a newly formed band consisting just of drums. Moe said he got lots of comments from the men after class, mostly asking if they could join his class next week, since theirs seemed rather boring in comparison.

Predictably, it wasn't long before some shuffling was done and Moe's class was moved to an actual room.

I Love You, Sort Of

This isn't really much of a story, but it is based on a couple of classes I had the opportunity to observe when I was a student aid, many years ago.  What I saw made a difference in how I tried to handle my classes when I later became a teacher myself.

I Love You, Sort of
    by Gale Ashcroft

When Mindy was in 4th grade she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.  The problem was Mrs. Waters, her teacher.  Almost every day Mrs. Waters told her class how much she loved them, and how glad she was that she was their teacher, but sometimes, especially in the afternoon when the kids talked too loudly or when their classroom was a mess, she would yell at them and tell them what a bad class they were.

<sup>Mindy just couldn't understand it.  sometimes she would go home feeling awful, sure that Mrs. Waters didn't like her at all.  Then when she would go to school the next morning, Mrs. Waters would be happy and smiling again.  If the class was paying attention and doing what they were supposed to do she would praise them and tell them how much she loved them.

By Christmas Mindy was feeling really bad about her class. Even when Mrs. Waters was happy Mindy wasn’t comfortable because she was afraid that if she did something wrong Mrs. Waters would yell at her. Mindy’s mom could tell something was bothering her. Finally Mindy told her mom that Mrs. Waters didn’t like her. Her mom was really surprised because she knew Mindy was trying hard to be good in school, so she made an appointment with Mrs. Waters. To her surprise, Mrs. Waters told her that she thought Mindy was a wonderful student and that she was really glad she was in her class. When her mother told Mindy what Mrs. Waters had said Mindy was relieved, but she was still worried. Her mother explained to her that sometimes people yell or get mad when they are upset or frustrated but they still like you. That helped, and Mindy tried hard to help Mrs. Waters every day and do everything she was asked to do, but when Mrs. Waters yelled it still scared Mindy and made her feel bad.</sup>

One day Mr. Richards told the class a story about when he was a little boy and he had lost his temper. He said he got in big trouble, and then his mother taught him an important lesson. She told him when things happened that made him upset he should stop and take a deep breath, count to ten, then think about what he was going to do before he said or did anything. Mindy thought about what Mr. Richard’s mother had taught him all that day. She decided that was why she enjoyed Mr. Richard’s class so much. He never lost his temper. She realized that even though Mr. Richards never told his class that he loved them she still knew that he did because of the way he treated them, and 5th grade soon became her favorite year.