Megan's First Grade "Celebration of Learning"

Earlier this week, Megan's first grade class had a "Celebration of Learning" event that I got to go to. She's worked so hard this year and was excited to get to show off all the things she's learned.

Her class is just finishing up a unit on American Symbols and Patriotism. They stood and sang the National Anthem. It was so sweet to see them all sing with such vigor and enthusiasm. They really are the future leaders of our nation.

Then, each child stood and read a sample of their writing. It was an essay about what they want to be when they grow up. Most kids wrote between 1/2 to 1 1/2 pages, and listed one or two things they were interested in. Megan wrote 8 pages and about 15 careers, ranging from working in a Smoothie shop (like Jamba Juice) to being a Doctor so she can help sick people get better, to being an art/dance/PE/science teacher.

As she was reading, several thoughts were running through my head. First, I'm glad that she has so many varied interests and such confidence in her own abilities. And I know that what ever she chooses, she'll do great.

Second, I'm so proud of how much she has learned this year. Her reading and her writing have both improved so much. She has gone from being able to sound out words that follow all the rules to reading chapter books in one sitting. She LOVES to read and will happily get ready for bed early, just so she has more time to read.

Third, I was thinking about a talk from the April 2011 conference given by Lynn G. Robbins called "What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be". He talked about the difference between Being and Doing.

Many of us create to do lists to remind us of things we want to accomplish. But people rarely have to be lists. Why? To do’s are activities or events that can be checked off the list when done. To be, however, is never done. You can’t earn checkmarks with to be’s. I can take my wife out for a lovely evening this Friday, which is a to do. But being a good husband is not an event; it needs to be part of my nature—my character, or who I am.

Or as a parent, when can I check a child off my list as done? We are never done being good parents. And to be good parents, one of the most important things we can teach our children is how to be more like the Savior.

I've been pondering how do I teach my children to be the kind of people they should? In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter so much what they do, what they choose as their career, etc. It matters much, much more who they are. How do I teach her that? How do I teach her to be honest and trust worthy and compassionate and a hard worker and kind? It seems like a daunting task.