Teaching help for CTR 4’s

[Anonymous UserParticipant]

I’ve just recently been called to teach the CTR 4’s. They’re a wiggly bunch! :) I have not served in Primary since I was in the ward presidency 16 years ago. I have lots of wiggle time planned into my lessons, as well as singing, movement, pictures, coloring, etc. I have a few questions: At this age is it appropriate to expect them to sit on their seats through all of sharing time (with lots of getting up to sing, wiggle and stretch), as well as through our classroom time? What do I do with the little girl who wants to crawl all over the room, under the chairs and under the table? What about the little boy who wants to lay on the floor and play dead? How do I handle the child that would rather spend the whole class time talking about himself, his family, his dogs, his car, his friends, etc.? I know my role is to entertain 90% of the time and try to sneak in about 10% lesson/doctrine, but I could use some pointers.

Also, in sharing time, the entire Jr. Primary is WILD!!! I’ve never seen it like this in Primary before. Every time a parent comes in, they remark about the craziness. Kids are up running around, talking loudly, hitting each other, laying on the floor, even doing tumbling! Only 2 of the teachers even try to make their kids pay attention. I know I’m not in charge of the entire Primary but is there any way I can address this without sounding like I feel that I’m the new sherrif in town?

[Anonymous UserParticipant]

I also teach CTR 4 and have been doing so for about 5 years now. It hasn’t gotten any easier as each class is different from the last. This year I have a chart that has a smiley face, an OK face (straight line for mouth) and an unhappy face drawn next to each other at the bottom of a piece of 81/2 x 11″ card stock. On the back of the sheet are four magnets. I put this up on the black board at the start of the lesson. Above the faces are a list of the rules in the classroom (no talking while the teacher is talking, sit in chair nicely, etc.) Each child’s name is written on a small piece of colored paper with a magnet attached. All the children’s names start off on the smiley face side at the beginning of the lesson, then as things start happening in the classroom, I move their names under the straight line face first or directly under the unhappy face. The children really respond to this because no one wants to have their name under the unhappy face, they all want to be under the smiley face! Constant encouragement helps too. Telling each child individually how much I appreciate them sitting still, asking a question, not talking, etc. As soon as one of the more rowdy ones starts to behave I acknowledge them right away as well. I hope this helps.
Sorry about the sharing time delimma. It’s important reverence begins in the primary room since that often sets the pace for the rest of the day. You may want to speak to the primary president first, she may be praying for an answer too and maybe you could help her brainstorm.

[Anonymous UserParticipant]

CTR 4 is such a tiring age to teach. I would say that it is good to expect them to be able to sit, but know that they will probably not be able to the whole time. Offering lots of “wiggle time” as you say is essential, as well as changing activities often because they still have such short attention spans. As they mature during the year, it will get easier for them to sit. Here are some activities that my class (7 boys, 1 girl) enjoy:
-Hide and seek an object/picture: One child leaves the room while we hide a picture or object that has to do with the lesson. Then the whole class says “hot” or “cold’ to help them find it. Everyone must get a turn or you will never hear the end of it. :)
-Playdough (with cookies sheets to work on to contain the mess)
-Memory/concentration : I made it homemade by printing out clipart pics in pairs, or you can buy small picture cards at a church bookstore
-acting out the stories in the lesson : I was surprised how much my kids love doing this! We get simple costumes (read ties, robes, etc. VERY quick and simple) and I tell them the story first (usually a scripture story) and we act it out. I talk about the theme of the lesson all through this time and we also act out the same story over and over so that every child has a chance to do the part they want. They really seem to internalize the stories better with repetition.
Church Bingo: We just tried this one, it is still a bit over their head, but I think they’ll like it more with practice. I found the cards online somewhere and printed them.
As for the quirks of individual class members – my kids do stuff like that too! :) It comes with the age I think. It helps to keep things moving so they don’t have time to be bored and act up. Positive reinforcement is good too. I would talk with the primary president about sharing time, but if you are afraid of stepping on toes, just mention it within the context of your class. aka “My class is really wild during sharing time, what can I do?” etc. Good luck, they are precious at this age, you just have to get past the hard parts.

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