I really just think the difference is in how the teachers approach the children in Sunbeams versus in the nursery. Not that the nursery teachers did anything wrong! I think it's rather instinctual in the nursery to coddle a little bit, to say, "Aw, sweetie, come here! Let me hold you! Mommy will be right back!"
And Phoebe didn't want that.
She wanted to be told, "Welcome to class. Find a seat. Listen to the lesson. And then we'll go to singing time."
No hugs. No random toy-stealing. No talking about her mom.
And the best part was that a number of parents were in there with their kids, coaxing them to get back on their own chairs and stop invading Phoebe's personal space. What could be better?
Not that the children were doing anything wrong, per se.
It's just that Phoebe appreciates her personal space. She appreciates getting to participate on her terms.
So she took her turn to use magnets to put pictures on the board and she coloured her picture and she did a fair bit of talking when it was her turn (and probably when it wasn't).
When class was over she marched right on down to the primary room and picked a chair for singing time like the old pro she is.
*****
In addition to discussing our goals for the coming year in Family Home Evening (headed by Andrew), I gave the underwear talk based on my singing time from primary. We had talked about various characters from the scriptures and sang songs for each of them, but we ran out of time before we got to Samuel and Hannah, so I wanted to be sure to share that story with at least my children.
When I opened up my slides and asked the kids if they recognized any of the pictures, Phoebe said, "I see Nephi! He had to build a boat! But his brothers didn't think that it could float. There's a song about him! It's called...ummmm...Nephi Wanted to Build a Boat...So...He...Did!"
That is not what the song is called "Nephi's Courage," but she was close!
So she's even paying attention in primary!
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