I don’t disagree that the Primary program can be tough for the very little children. It’s a huge departure from their experiences in nursery and usually the first time they’re expected to sit still *ever*! And while I’m not familiar with Dr. Price, it sounds as though his analogy is right on target.

As a former Star and Sunbeam teacher I personally think a little more liveliness needs to be added to the younger classes. Good teachers and Primary Presidencies manage this though I know from experience as a young child in Primary that there are many teachers and leaders who fail miserably. It’s a rare gift to be able to work with a child on his level without speaking down to him (even 3-year-olds pick up on this) which many Primary teachers and leaders do far too often.

In my latest experience in Primary we had a music leader so interested in entertaining the children that they were impossible to calm once music time was over. While the kids loved it, in my opinion she was a little immature and really didn’t understand that while entertaining the masses is useful, creating havoc doesn’t help anyone.

Any way you slice it, Primary is a tough gig!

Sacrament Mtg is hard. I had Dr Price for child development at BYU and he had us try an experiment where we were to sit on a kitchen table with our legs dangling off the edge, staring at a blank wall and listen to someone speak a foreign language and see how long it took us to become antsy. Most collge students lasted about 5 minutes. The little kids are waay over their limit for sitting after that 1hr and 15 minutes.

What is class time? It is time served in cell block c mostly sitting still. Then depending on the teacher, maybe a little fun. If the teacher goes by the book not so much. Sharing time usually more sitting still. Music time ditto. I am that woman who laments on the survival rate for kids surviving the 3 hour block. There was a study done recently that one of the factors in the dismal retention rate for young adults starts in Primary. Most kids are bored out of their skulls. They wait for Mutual. Depending on the youth program in any given ward in the first few years it either grabs their attention or not. The kids mentally shut down and wait to be 18 and then they are out of there quite often to never return.

Our ward didn’t want to change, and the bishop dragged his feet for a year, but we finally had to make the change this week. About a year ago, I overheard a member of the stake presidency tell the bishop that the handbook directed that meetings had to start at 9:00 if there was only one unit in the building. The bishop clearly didn’t believe him. Attendance seemed to be a bit down this week; we’ll see what the long-range trend is.

It’s popular to complain about the three-hour block, but those old enough to remember where they were when Neil and Buzz walked on the moon will also remember that Priesthood, Sunday School, and Sacrament meeting usually each required a separate trip to the church (except on fast Sunday), and that Sacrament meeting was an hour and a half. That’s not such a big deal if you live three blocks from the church, but if you drive 30 minutes to church, that’s three hours just driving. I could do with the three hour block being shortened, but I sure don’t want to go back to the six-and-a-half hour block.

They have one inner-city ward, one spanish-speaking branch, and one YSA branch meeting there.

Danithew: I feel the Spirit so much in my current ward that I usually get knocked out like Lamoni and his father, and that’s why it looks like I’m sleeping. I try to wake up, and when I do, the Spirit knocks me out again, so that’s why it looks like I’m “nodding.” And I have low blood sugar, too. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Lessons were maybe 2 or 3 minutes long.

Maybe you’re talking about the older kids?

The newer building the Saints in my old neighborhood now attend is much smaller and only houses two wards (and is half a mile from my old house instead of a mile and a half). I suspect it is recognized by the central administration that housing more than two wards in a building doesn’t really work unless the building and parking lot are quite large.