Sunday Schedule and Guidelines

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Sunday Primary meetings help children fulfill the purposes of Primary as outlined in the “Work and Purpose of Primary.”

A member of the Primary presidency conducts the opening (see following table). The music leader conducts singing time. Primary teachers teach children during class time.

Primary meetings are held every Sunday for 50 minutes while adults and youth attend their classes. The schedule is as follows:

Schedule

  • 5 Minutes – Prayer, scripture or article of faith, talk
  • 20 Minutes – Singing time: music that supports the scriptures studied in class
  • 5 Minutes – Transition to classes
  • 20 Minutes – Classes: lesson from Come, Follow Me—For Primary

Primary leaders may choose to divide children into two groups and have one group in Primary classes while the other group is in singing time. Then the two groups would switch places during the transition. In this case, leaders can adjust the time schedule.

Nursery

Nursery, for children 18 months to 3 years, lasts the full 50 minutes. The nursery manual provides suggestions for a schedule. Children may start attending nursery as soon as they are 18 months old.

Primary Class Guidelines

Children begin attending a new Primary class on the first Sunday of each calendar year. Classes are organized by age and number of teachers available. Wards or branches with fewer children may combine two or more age-groups into one class. If there are many children in an age-group, Primary leaders may form more than one class for them. This may be especially helpful in wards or branches that have many nursery-age children.

When numbers are sufficient, children are divided into classes based on their age as of December 31 of the previous year, as shown below.

Classes on January 1

Ages based on child’s age on December 31 of the previous year

  • Sunbeam – 3 years old
  • CTR 4 – 4 years old
  • CTR 5 – 5 years old
  • CTR 6 – 6 years old
  • CTR 7 – 7 years old
  • Valiant 8 – 8 years old
  • Valiant 9 – 9 years old
  • Valiant 10 – 10 years old

During class, teachers and children focus on a study of the scriptures aligned to the Sunday School curriculum and Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families. Teaching materials are found in Come, Follow Me—For Primary.

If classes are held before singing time, they begin with prayer. If they are held after singing time, they conclude with prayer.

In some circumstances, an 11-year-old boy or girl may not be ready to leave Primary. The bishop, parent, and child work together to make this decision. However, children may not complete Primary and young men may not be ordained deacons before January of the year they turn 12.