They Are Only Eight Years Old

I taught my Primary class yesterday. What a ruckus. They're actually very good kids, and do a great job through sharing/singing time. When we got to class, I decided to tell them so, and said that I thought that they were the best class in the Primary.

After giving well-earned praise, I started the lesson. It was on Samuel the Lamanite. The second I mentioned his name, someone shouted that they'd already had that lesson. I team teach with another lady, and so am in class every-other week. It's very possible that we got mixed up, and that my lesson was a repeat. I was feeling a little tired yesterday, and would have been OK with going for a walk outside or allowing 30 minutes of hangman. So I asked them to each tell me one thing that they remembered from the lesson on Samuel, not telling them that if they passed then we'd skip the lesson all together.

I got nothing.

Oh they talked, but not about anything that had anything to do with Samuel. I decided to go ahead with the lesson.

"No! We've already had this one!"
Me, "OK. I need to know that you learned something, so tell me what you know about Samuel the Lamanite."
One little girl, "Well, I don't know if I was here last week."
One little boy who was looking at the pictures in his Book of Mormon, "Who is this in this picture?"
Another child, "We had a video about Nephi."
Me, "That's the lesson that I taught two weeks ago."
Little girl, "I don't think I was here."

Another boy tried to list off who was and who was not in class the previous week, and then tried to remember who their teacher was.

All of this helpful information was mixed in with a bunch of chattering to each other about who knows what.

Finally me, "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD PEOPLE, GET IT TOGETHER! DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT HAVE THIS LESSON LAST WEEK?"

I didn't really yell at them, but I was tempted to take back all of the nice things I'd said about what a good class they are. Geesh. But instead, I simply gave the lesson. I don't know what they learned the week before (I'm afraid nothing), but clearly it wasn't about Samuel.

Once we got started they settled down, listened and participated just like good Primary children should. We finished up with about five minutes left for hangman. Why is that game so popular with the Primary kids? I don't know, but they sure do love it.