Movie Party!

My husband and I teach primary. Our class is a combination of kids who are 8 turning 9 and 9 turning 10. When we started teaching in January, most were very well behaved, but there were one or two that we couldn't motivate to listen (granted, this year is church history which I think is the most boring primary manual there is, there's like 6 lessons on Joseph getting the plates, but still, they should listen and learn.) Then, one of us had a brilliant idea. We told the kids that if they were good enough to collectively earn 10 check marks in a month, they could have a Wii/movie party at our house. They earn checks by doing things like bringing their scriptures to class, paying attention in sharing time, and correctly answering the questions we ask them about the lesson at the end of class. They lose checks by talking too much and not paying attention.

The day we introduced the party concept, the kids were fantastic! Even though most of them have Wiis or friends with Wiis and they all have movies, they still really cared about our little parties. At this point, we've had about 6 parties. The funny part is, only 3 of our 7 kids have ever come... And they are the three that would be well behaved no matter what. But, that doesn't seem to matter. Every week if someone isn't listening, we'll threaten that there won't be a movie party and the kids automatically start to pay attention. They don't seem to notice that they've never even been to a party...

I just think it's really interesting that these kids that are infamous in the primary for not listening are so willing to do anything to come to our house to play a video game or watch a movie, especially when they've never actually taken the time to come.

So, I don't know if this is an indication of the power of media in these kids lives, or if they just want a party, but I think it's interesting to think about.