A few years ago, on a mailing list to which I had subscribed, somehow the topic of homeschooling and come up. One woman subscriber, obviously against homeschooling, made the comment that her brother and sister-in-law homeschooled. She lamented this fact into detail. Then she made a comment that took me surprise:
What are they going to next? Home primarying?
The reason this comment took me by surprise was because she completely lost fact of the purpose of Primary.
You see, the point is we should be ?¢‚Ǩ?ìhome primarying?¢‚Ǩ¬ù. It is the responsibility of parents to teach their children principles of the gospel. It is not the responsibility of the Primary. The purpose of the Primary is to reaffirm the things the parents have already taught.
Sadly, too many parents in the Church loose sight of this. Too many absolve themselves of most?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùif not all?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùteaching responsibility and leave it with Primary teachers. Too many toss their children into the optional Nursery class as if it were a babysitting service, regardless of whether the child is ready or not.
I suppose, however, that if we continue brainwashing our children early with such song lines as ?¢‚Ǩ?ìBook of Mormon stories that my teacher tells to me?¢‚Ǩ¬ù and such songs as ?¢‚Ǩ?ìTeacher, Do You Love Me?¢‚Ǩ¬ù, can we expect the next generation to view Primary any differently?
I agree very much that Primary is ancillary to home instruction. My wife is the chorister right now and comments every week how there are certain families whose children are surfing the primary wave as apposed to being crushed by it.
I would not, however, go so far as to saying that the whole system is bunk or a means of brainwashing. The difference is in the parents, not the system.
“I would not…go so far as to saying that the whole system is bunk or a means of brainwashing.”
Neither would I.
If Primary became home taught I would have to worry about how many children would NOT get taught properly. We talked about that in Relief Society the other week and the young moms were saying that they know they have to do this and that but that there just isn’t enough time in a day to do it all.. Those are the children I would worry about falling through the cracks. One of our grandaughters was telling us last night, when we went over to give another one a blessing, that she likes her Primary class ( I had asked them how their classes had been that day). She said she likes it better then her school classes cause all the kids were the same as her and at school none of the other kids go to our church.. .
Going to Primary does not prevent people from falling through the cracks. I know many people who went to Primary and who have since fallen through the cracks.
The point I was making, however, was not that Primary needs to be taught at home. Rather I was saying that gospel instruction should be done primarily in the home and Primary should simply augment it.
Excellent point, Kim, that primary instruction should be taught at home, and the Primary classes at church should augment it. Very good point, indeed. Thanks.
I agree that we need to teach “our” children at home as well as at Church. I love the Primary and Nursery, I been working in the Nursery for a long time, and believe me there is no other place I really rather be, I love kids and I love working, and playing, with them. I love teaching them new things too.
My Mom is struggling as a teacher in first grade because there is no help from the parents. The kid’s parents won’t take their time out to help their child to read or do their homework, it just easier for the parents if they do their childs homework for them instead of just helping them with it.