primary not singing


sugarcrane2
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Sr primary will not sing. It's mostly boys and I'm not sure what to do with them. I’ve done games and interaction type things. Those sometimes work but it's harder when teaching a new song not just reviewing. The only thing that I have seen work a little better, is food. Which I don't want to do all of the time (can't either do to fast Sunday). The bulk of Sr Primary is a difficult class. The parents are stating to rotate going to class with them to help the teacher. (Just to give you all an idea of how they are.) I told one boy that I was going to get his dad his he didn't settle down and that made him almost cry. Which was not good nor what I wanted to happen. Last year I told them that if they didn't sing I would have them do a song just the guys in the program and they did sing. But it made me feel like I was punishing them with signing.

I was thinking of doing a chart and having them sing off the songs to me individually; when all song are marked off they would get a prize. Not sure about this as the last thing they need is more prizes. Every time they do something they ask for a prize. I’m not above bribery but I wish there was a better way.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

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Well, what is it you hope to accomplish with having them sing? That's what you have to ask yourself. Do you want them to sing so you can feel like you're accomplishing your duty as choristor, or do you want them to sing so that you know they know the songs, and can have them in their hearts to carry forward with them as they grow older? Putting those songs into their hearts has to be the main goal, otherwise, like you said, they'll feel "punished by singing". I, personally, would stop putting pressure on them to sing (but that may be just me).

Sr. Primary kids are just aching to be treated like they're "older". They're often at the point where they're just itching to move onto YM's and YW's, so helping them feel in any way like they're not just "little kids" could help endear them to you and keep them more engaged. To help them learn the lyrics, maybe create a word scramble that they have to put into order? Point out to them that singing the song will help them better remember which word comes next (they don't have to sing it outloud, but at least in their heads while they're puzzling it out. play the music while they work on it). Or maybe have them help you figure out and create visual aids that you can use for teaching the Jr. Primary? They'll have to know the lyrics, and figure out how to use the visual aids in the song, so they'll have to do a *bit* of singing to complete the project.

Anyway, those are just some ideas that popped into my head. They may or may not work with your particular Primary. (I was called to be Primary Choristor over a 130 kid Primary straight out of Young Women's, so I feel your pain!)

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invite some of the ym to come and help you with the songs? in general boys don't think singing is cool. will the dad's come in and do a special father/son special musical number? is there a song with "boy" and "girl" parts they can learn? something to help them feel like it's ok to sing. sometimes kids want to do things but they are to worried about "not being cool". give them permission to sing.

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I'm the primary song leader for about 2 months now. I know what you mean about Sr. Primary not singing. I don't think it's a big deal. I don't really "teach the song". I teach the lesson found in the song. For example, last week we went through the 2nd verse of the new song If I Listen With My Heart. I taught them about how Jesus Christ speaks through the Prophets and the "song" was an "add in" to the lesson. So, I taught about who our prophet is today and what he does and we sang the first phrase (I hear a living prophet speak the words that Christ would say). Then I taught about how we need to seek personal revelation by "listening with my heart" to know for ourselves that what the prophet says is what Jesus wants us to hear then sang the second phrase... etc. If the kids are not singing, I would say, wait, we didn't quite get that right, let's try it again...

Last Sunday, the junior primary was very sluggish - like they were still half-asleep - we moved from 1PM to 9AM church this year - so we sang a wiggle song before I started the lesson. I told them, brrr... it's cold, that's probably why we're soooo sluggish, let's chase this snowman away! And we sang Once There Was a Snowman with the actions - I made my actions super exaggerated to make it lively and after singing that 2 times over, the kids were ready to participate better in the rest of singing time.

There are 3 activities I found really gets the kids excited - including the 11-year-olds even! I have this 10"x10"x10" box (shipping carton) that I wrapped in foil gift wrap and made into dice. It's BIG. They LOVE to roll that dice! So they get really excited about getting called to roll it. I used the dice to take out words from a song... I have a little snail magnet that I put over a phrase/words in a song, then a kid rolls the dice and counts the number of phrases/words according to the number on the dice then we take out the phrase/words that the snail falls over... then they'll have to sing that line of the song with the missing words. I usually just go over a section of the song, so they get to roll the dice a lot before the time is up... then when there's only a very few words left on the board, we sing the entire verse with chorus.

Another one is the Chopstick Baton. I have really nice chopsticks I got for Christmas from my Japanese friend and I use it as a Chopstick Baton. I would hold one baton and ask a kid to hold the other. Then I would do pitch conducting for the verse using the baton (raise the baton high or low depending on the pitch). I would show it once to the kid holding the other baton, then I would pretend I'm soooo tired I can't even lift the baton anymore and ask the kid to conduct for me. The kids like to follow the pitch of the baton - sometimes they would sing the song too high on purpose when the kid conductor raises the baton too high, etc. so they think it's fun.

My 3rd trick I have found that works for our primary is the Magic Throat Soother. It's basically just flavored water in a squirt bottle that I marked with "Magic Throat Soother". The mandarin orange flavored water is the best one I found. This worked really well to get the kids singing a song over and over when we practiced the Christmas sacrament presentation song. Basically, I ask the Primary secretary (or whoever is available) to hold the Magic Throat Soother. Then I tell the kids that we're going to work extra hard today because we have to be ready for the presentation and I tell them, I know it's gonna be really hard and maybe it would get boring, but we need to go through the song over and over to make it perfect but, not to worry, because I brought the Magic Throat Soother, so that if we sing really good and our throat starts to hurt from the effort Sister So-and-So will squirt you with the soother... So, to squirt, ask the kids to stick out their tongues and squirt a little water at the tongue.

And... to save you a lot of headache in finding a good way to teach a new song... this is what I am following:

Teaching LDS Children

Final advice: Kids, especially Senior Primary, don't like to be "scolded" or "condescended" (don't know the proper word)... we leave that to the parents to do. What works better is for them to be encouraged. You'll have to think positive the entire time - give them a reason to WANT to sing, instead of making singing something to do to avoid punishment.

Good luck!

Edited by anatess
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I'm guessing a lot of those kids don't have parents that sing in Sacrament meeting.

I don't sing; I participate in music by listening. :) My friend who usually sits behind me sings a beautiful alto and I love to listen to her. Last week, a talented soprano was two rows in front of me, and the combination was a delight to hear.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I am still learning but here are a few suggestions that work for me:

Sign language and Basketball- I have found that senior primary really likes learning the sign language to the songs, I don't teach every word just the main ones. Then I have a group come up to do the sign language in front of everyone. If they do it well, they get to try to shoot a basket (paper ball into the trash). If they get it right they get some sort of priviledge (pick the next person to come up, put on a piece of a puzzle, whatever works for you). The thing the boys like is being able to throw a ball across the room!

You could do a similar idea with paper airplanes, or even kid darts if they allow that. You don't have to do it with sign language either. You could just say I am looking for good singers and especially be watching those kids who struggle the most, keep eye contact to show them you are watching them, and then as soon as they are doing it, pick them! Give multiple chances to throw in a day if that keeps them motivated. Walk around the room as they are singing and touch different kids if they are doing a good job, and they can reverently go to the front while continueing to sing (or have them wait until the song is over).

I also have teachers watch their classes and have them pick one or two kids who are singing well so I am not always the one watching.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I always feel bad for the older boys. Their voices are starting to change and almost all of the songs are high. They probably feel like they're trying to sing like girls. Singing an octave lower though would be too low. Notice the male teachers sing it an octave lower.

If I had my way, the older boys would learn a lower harmony to put them out of their misery.

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I just started teaching "Stand for the Right". The boys in the Senior Primary are singing the alto section - they love it. Only two notes for most of the song... and they're easy notes to hit!

Okay, another thing I did for this song - I made squares of construction paper taped together on 3 sides. One side has a picture of a bee, the other side has the words True (Be True, hah!). So, the kids insert their hands in the un-taped part (kinda like a puppet). When we sing the song, and get to the part that says "Be True", they raise their hands with the bee picture showing, then flip their hands to show the word True... (kinda like the Queen of England waving her hands to the crowd)...

I also made the same thing for "work or play" and "darkness or light"... one section of the class got the bee/true and the work/play... the other section got the bee/true and the darkness/light... they raise their hands at the right moments on the song... and in the end when they sing "stand for the right", they all stand up.

It was so much fun - first they didn't sing - I sang - and all they did was try to work out the hand puppets... I was able to sing the song twice that way... then I told them, now you'll have to sing with me... so they sing, but it took them a while to coordinate both hands and singing, so we were able to go over the song like 5 times before they finally got the song and the hands going at the same time... they didn't even notice that we sang the song 5 times already... they didn't want to stop. But, alas, there was no more time!

So, I thought it was a really successful session.

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  • 6 months later...

One idea I found works well with Sr Primary is my 'Crazy Singing Hat'. I took a big straw hat and hot glued all sorts of things on it - feathers, pom-pom balls (all colors & sizes), flowers, foam shapes - lots of things to make it crazy, colorful, and fun. I would use this a lot when I had a review week and wanted to sing a lot of songs. Start out with one of the Primary Presidency wearing the hat. They will be watching to see which class sings the best and then their teacher will get to come up and wear the hat. Most children want their teacher up there wearing the crazy looking hat. Then that teacher would choose the next teacher, etc. I would start out this way. After a few times of singing, the children wanted to wear the hat and were very respectful and sang to be able to wear the hat.

The children really need to be involved when learning a new song. I like the idea of having them draw pictures - you can have the class you're having difficulty with help you do this. Several weeks before you are going to teach a new song, go into their classroom (get permission from the teacher before you surprise them!) and ask for their help. Then have the word(s) or phrase printed up to hand out to each child in the class, if need be they could work together. You may need to explain what you need to be drawn/colored. Do not have anyone draw a picture of Heavenly Father or Jesus. Example: Families Can Be Together Forever - Phrase 1 - I have a fam'ly - they draw a picture of their family; phrase 2 - here on earth - draw a picture of the earth, etc. Give them a week to do this or if possible have them draw the pictures right then in the class - if the teacher is okay with that. You will then 'frame' the pictures (glue them onto poster board, cardstock, or something similar so they will stand out.) When you teach the song, let everyone know who helped you with your visuals. They will love being a part of 'teaching' the song. Oh, an idea to display these is to have a clothesline strung across the room and hang the picture up as you teach the phrase. The next week you could have all the pictures in the wrong order and they have to get them in the right order before you can sing it.

Edited by Kit-Kat
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I finally told my older boys that they did not have to sing, but they did have to be quiet and respectful while the rest of primary was singing.

I found that when I stopped trying to get them to sing, they did behave and some of them even participated. I had rather spend my time teaching the ones that enjoy and want to sing, than wasting it on those that do not. It is a stage they go through, and it will pass....

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sometimes it is the teacher that helps the most....I think most senior primary boys don't sing. Our primary has men teach the older classes and luckily they are men that love to sing. Our music leader challenges the kids to sing louder than the teachers...sometimes it works. :)

Good luck, I don't envy your calling at all! I teach in primary and sing along because it is fun but no one wants to hear me sing alone, I am musically challenged.

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  • 5 months later...

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