Time flies. . .

. . . when you are staying busy. That's exactly how it has felt around my house. I haven't necessarily been physically busy but my mind has been racing with a thousands things I need to do and want to do. Overtime, I'm starting to think that they become one in the same.

I tortured myself and made goals once again but it actually seems to be going well for me. SHOCKER! I've got a new theory for making and keeping goals every year. Someday I can write a book on how unsuccessful I've been thus far. Until then I'll continue to try, at least. This last time though I just wrote down everything I was thinking about as quickly as possible. The list got really long. Here are a few:
1) Sewing. I haven't finished everything I've been wanting to do but I've got a few things done and in progress of finishing. It's fulfilling to finish something I came up with. I really do enjoy it but once I finish then I just come up with a new one. It appears to be never ending.

2)Primary. This year I really wanted to do better as a Primary Chorister. It's by far one of my favorite callings. It can be intimidating. I don't sing beautifully and I can never remember the words when I'm trying to teach them to the children even though I've sung the song a hundred times. It's easy to come up with something at the last minute and not really prepare. This year I wanted to be fully prepared.

To start I DON'T do poster boards. I have a weird hate towards them. Then there are all the billion website ideas. Sure, I could use them but I can't bring myself to do it. They are great ideas but not my own. Could we say stubborn? If I use any of the ideas, I tweak it so much that I've justified it being my own.

I'm into month 4. Three songs down and I think it has gone well. I've tried to come up with ways to present the music without distracting from the doctrine being taught. It's very important that the children understand what they are singing about. I think when they can visualize the actual words or actions they will remember better.

January was tricky. It was a new and long song. Then a movie theme came to my mind. I made one of those movie slappers to tell them to stop and start all over. Then every time we practiced I welcomed them to rehearsals or auditions. Our "movie" was about sharing our testimony and convincing others that we knew "He lives and that He loves me." Sometimes we would sing with opera voices (big hit) and other times I would have the kids come up and "perform." Just like in a musical. Most girls imagined they were in the movie "Enchanted." It was fun. They learned the words and understood what it was talking about. When they were distracted (junior) we would have a commercial break. The triangles remove and have different songs on the back. I did this so that I can make the wheel whatever I want it to be.

At the end of the month I rewarded them with little bags of popcorn. I believe in rewarding the kids for their hard work.

February, was another long song and kind of difficult to teach. I did as the book suggested and presented the song as a series of questions and answers. But this became boring pretty quickly. For junior primary I whipped out some pictures and let the kids take turns holding them. Repeat the words over and over. The senior primary is a challenge. They bore so quickly because they are sooo cool. Wink. Wink. So we would rotate, half the group would ask the question of the song and then the other half would answer. Vice versa. We made it through.

March. Well, it's March Madness so what's more appropriate than a basketball theme? I didn't have much time to present this song because sharing time went over TWICE and we had stake conference. Luckily it was "Follow the Prophet" with 10 versus and I assigned solos for the most part. We only had to learn the first (which they already knew) and the last. Perfect. Being the third month I always do a review. . .for the older kids. So we played 21 against the teachers. They get points for answering a question correctly and earn a shot. Then they can shoot for another point. First to 21 wins. The kids loved it. A little rowdy but it lets me know if they know their songs or not.

The little kids still needed help on the last verse so I made a train. The better they sang the more cars got added to the train. Once the cars were all added then they had to fill it up. I used pictures related to the song. They really like singing measures.

Now it's time for April and we are learning "The Church of Jesus Christ." I will do a missionary theme for this one. I have little tags for them and I'm working on a few things. It's been great having a good plan and stuff already prepared. I can definitely tell a difference in my abilities to teach and helping them learn.

Of course, I can't forget nursery! Teaching them has been fun. My necessities, carpet squares (they each have their own and it keeps them focused), treasure box (made by the previous leader, filled with genius items to go along with the songs), and stickers. They earn a sticker after singing time. They will do ANYTHING for a sticker. Recently though my new presentation has been introducing the songs incorporated with a story. Last week we went on a walk. We got out of bed and stretched (sing Hinges or HSKandT), then we went walking (slap our hand on our laps) and saw some white trees (sing Popcorn), walked some more and found a stream (Give Said the Little Stream), walked some more and saw a farm (Old McDonald), getting late need to head home to see Daddy (Daddy's homecoming), and get ready for bed (I'm Like a Star) then say goodnight (I am a Child of God). There are a million options for stories and it seems to keep their attention so far.

So there you have it. Laura's singing time. I have a few more ideas and I'll share as I go along. It is a lot of fun. Teaching children through music is very satisfying and really allows me to feel the Spirit in a different way then I would ever experience in any other auxiliary.

Now Summer is around the corner and I've got lots of outdoor projects. I can't wait.