The official purpose of Primary is to help parents in teaching their children to learn and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. The official objectives of Primary are to:
help children grow in their understanding of the gospel plan and provide opportunities for them to live gospel principles;
help boys prepare to receive the priesthood and be worthy to use this power to bless and serve others; and
help girls prepare to be righteous young women, understand the blessings of the priesthood and the temple, and serve others.
The Primary theme is "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children".
History
Primary was first organized in 1878 by Aurelia Spencer Rogers in Farmington, Utah, and adopted church-wide in 1880 under the direction of Louie B. Felt, who served as the president of the organization through 1925. Rogers was concerned because younger Latter-day Saint children had too much unsupervised time due to the long hours that fathers and older sons kept on the farms and mothers and older daughters in the home. In particular, Rogers felt that the younger boys in the community were becoming unruly and mischievous. With permission from church leaders and under the initial direction of General Relief Society President Eliza R. Snow, Rogers organized a Primary Association for her local Farmington congregation on August 11, 1878. Two weeks later, the first meeting was held on August 28, with 215 children in attendance. That day, boys were specifically taught not to steal fruit from orchards and girls were taught not to hang on wagons. In addition, they were given lessons on faith, manners, obedience, and other principles. May Anderson, the second general president of the Primary Association from 1925 to 1939, initiated what became Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. Anderson also helped establish kindergartens in Utah. In the 1970s, as a result of the Priesthood Correlation Program, the Primary Association was renamed "Primary". Since 2018, Joy D. Jones has been the Primary General President, with Lisa L. Harkness as First Counselor and Cristina B. Franco as Second Counselor.
Chronology of the general presidency of the Primary
Class names
The names of the classes in Primary have varied over time. The following is a partial list of names that have been applied to different age groups in Primary. In January 2010, the names of the classes were changed to the age of children entering the class, i.e., 4-year olds are in the class CTR 4. Previously, names were indicative of the age children would turn the coming year,
Presently, the worldwide Primary provides Sunday school and church-related activities to approximately 1.1 million Latter-day Saint children. In most congregations, optional nursery care and supervision is available for children from 18 months to age 3. Classroom instruction begins for three-year-olds and continues to age 12, with classes grouped by age. At age 12, children begin to attend Sunday School and the Young Men or Young Women programs. The Primary has its own songbook, made up of original songs and hymns modified for children. Where participants, classrooms or teachers are limited, multiple age-grouped classes may be taught together. In most congregations Primary classes are co-ed.
