Primary program coming up!

I'm looking back at 5 years of being a Primary chorister and how much I have learned and what I believe I have contributed to our ward's Primary, and I have to say my biggest regret is not recording better. I won't say I "should have" posted every week, because I have a life, and I like the way I've lived it, and dwelling on the fact that I didn't write blog posts is kind of silly. But still, it would be nice to have a more complete record of alllllll the things that I tried and either failed miserably at, or gloriously succeeded at. :)

I have other minor regrets, like putting my foot in my mouth on occasion during singing time. But that's par for the course of my life. :)

I feel good about this. My testimony has changed--it has become simpler in some ways and more complex in others. It has become stronger and also more vulnerable. I feel so connected with these precious kids. I feel so strongly about the importance of becoming like a child, and of valuing the children in my life. Lines from Primary songs drift in and out of my head daily. I am thankful for this immense blessing in my life--of spending so much time teaching the kids, bearing testimony to them and also listening to them sing their little hearts out.

Our program is in 5 weeks. This will be my 6th program. I think we've always been well prepared, but for the first time at this point in the year (mid-August), I think I can say that if the kids had to get up this Sunday with no rehearsals and sing their songs, they'd do great. I'm so happy about that. The only things we really need to do are fine-tune some trouble spots in a few lyrics, and I need to assign a soloist or two.

Songs they'll be singing:

Prelude- Families Can Be Together Forever: we'll invite the congregation to sing this as the kids take their seats on the stand at the beginning of the program. We did this last year with "I Am a Child of God" and it was so great! So we're doing it again.

1- He Sent His Son - with ASL signs. The signs I taught the song with last January, and that they'll be doing in the program:

Tell
World
Love
Tenderness
Son
Peace
Show
World
Pathway
Son
Walk
Earth
Know
Tell
World
Sacrifice
Death
Son
Die
Rise
Breath
Ask
Scriptures
Faith
Son
Help
Way
Ask
Son

As I've mentioned before, signingsavvy.com is a fabulous ASL resource. I use it frequently.

2-  I Will Follow God's Plan - nothing fancy here. Love this song though

3- I Stand All Amazed - just one verse and the chorus. Maybe the congregation can join in on an additional verse, or on the chorus? Or maybe I could have a soloist do the second verse and the congregation join in on the third verse, if we're dying to fill up time, which I doubt...

4- The Family Is of God - just one verse and the chorus. The last time we had this in the program (my first program, 2009) I had an elaborate setup with 4 married couples singing the other verses and the kids joining in on the last verse, and I'm just not in the mood for that this year. Simplify!

5- Build An Ark - both verses. The kids love this song, and so do I! A beautiful message about listening to the prophet and most of all about preparing for hard times ahead by building a strong testimony.

6- I Love to See the Temple - both verses. Simple, and a favorite with all the kids.

7- Baptism - I think I will have the kids sing the first two verses with a soloist on the third verse--or maybe two soloists, one for 2 and one for 3--or maybe the kids sing first and third verses with a soloist on the second verse. Anyway, I'll figure it out. The kids love this one.

8- Seek the Lord Early - I'm happy to say the kids have learned this one really well. There's a mildly troublesome spot in the middle, but I only spent about 2 Sundays on it and they have it like 99.5% down. We also had this song in the program in 2009, but I had a class--maybe the Valiant 9s or the CTR 8s?--sing it because I had trouble teaching it to everyone. Granted, I got put in that year 3 months before the program. So I had to roll with what I had.

Program time! I'm totally looking forward to it! I need to find out from my Primary presidency what the rehearsal plan is.

Plainness

I just ran across this verse this morning and thought it applied so well to Primary. We teach the kids plain and precious truths. They respond plainly and honestly. It's so refreshing and it's the reason I love to go to Primary, I look forward to it, and every single week it rejuvenates my spirit  and blesses my life.

Ode to ASL

My Primary-related project I want to do this year is to take videos of myself signing Primary songs in case they might be helpful to some googling chorister out there, which is how I stumbled upon how easy it is to teach using ASL. I have taught SO many songs using ASL signs, and I just swear by it. It is so simple, so easy, so beautiful to watch, so fun to do, and so effective for learning the lyrics. A few songs they have learned using ASL...

-As a Child of God (the first one I did! inspired by a YouTube video I have linked in a past post, and which I'll link again when I'm posting from my PC since I haven't figured out linking on my Blogger app)

-Had I Been a Child

-Choose the Right

-I Stand All Amazed

-I Feel My Savior's Love

-I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me

-When I Am Baptized (kinda...a few ASL signs, not as many as usual, this is one I did five years ago when I was first in Primary. "rainbows," "rain," "clean")

-Sing Your Way Home (love this one!!)

-God Is Watching Over All (also ADORE this one!)

-these are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure there are more!