If you are a Primary teacher or in the Primary presidency, you have the opportunity to reach out to the less active children in Primary. It is important that you help them feel welcome and wanted. Primary children often do not have the choice of when they come to church, since their parents are the means of transportation. Here are five tips on how to successfully reach out to the less active children on your rolls.
1) You should check with your Primary president or bishop before doing anything. Some families may have requested that they not be visited. It is important that we respect these requests. Ignoring them may cause the family to begin to harbor negative feelings towards the church.
2) You should call before your first visit to the children. This allows the parents to decide if it is okay for you to stop by. This will also give them a chance to prepare their children for the visit. It is important that everyone involved be comfortable with the situation.
3) When you first go to visit you will need to introduce yourself as the child’s Primary teacher. You can take a treat and a handout for church. You should invite the child to come to Primary. You may want to speak to the parent about finding a ride for the child to come.
4) If the child chooses not to come to Primary at this time you can continue to reach out by dropping off a handout every few weeks. You may want to bring Primary children for some visits. A genuine interest will work better than a one time visit.
5) If there are several Primary aged children in the family, you may want to coordinate your efforts with other Primary teachers. It can be overwhelming to the family to have a visit every week or several visits a day. You do not want the family to feel uncomfortable in anyway.
Related Articles:
Primary Time: Teaching Primary
Primary Time: Preparing for Sharing Time
Primary Time: Dealing with the Isolation of Teaching Primary