As our church has grown we've needed changes in our children's program and so my pastor has moved me from Junior Church to teaching a bible class to 8-12 year olds on Sunday mornings before the main service.
I am very VERY excited to take this on but, of course, I feel a deep pang of sadness as I leave my beloved class of 0-4 year olds.
I had never had my own class before this one. At my last church I shared a class and only taught on a substitutionary basis. I did do a fair amount of teaching, but the class was not my own. This class was ages 7-12.
It was not long after we made Park City our church (or rather God made it our church) that the Lord gave me a great desire to teach. I've always loved teaching and the Bible is my favourite subject so I made it known and was given a class.
In my new class I had four consistent students: my son age 2, the pastor's children- twins aged 4 and their youngest age 3. More often then not we'd have twin boys who just turned 2.
With such a diverse group of ages it was hard to keep things under complete control but we had a lot of fun. There were hard days and easy days. The biggest blessing to me was being able to let the Lord lead me in leading the class. The lessons were so short it would not take long to prepare them. The difference was whether I sought the Lord that week or not. God's hand was always more evident when I leaned on Him to teach.
Our classes were something like this: we would have a little snack, then we would sing- some of our favourites are: The Lord's Army, Jesus Loves Me, My God Is So Big, Inright Outright, and the Wise Man- I would then teach the lesson.
The lessons were short- like their attention spans- but the Lord gave me the tools to keep them focused. I would bring objects, do some role play, and I used a felt board to illustrate what was going on. It's easier for them to listen to the story when it is played out in front of them. We would always have fun crafts to reenforce the lesson.
In the time I was given with them we only covered the main events in Moses' life.
The last weeks leading up to my leaving them as their teacher were very sweet. I took time to go over each of the ten commandments, a few each Sunday with a different colouring page for each commandment. At the end each child had a 'Ten Commandments Book'.
I was unsure how to proceed from there, the lesson plan I was loosely following had the Ark of the Covenant next but I wasn't sure that was the best way to proceed. One morning during my devotions it came to me: teach about salvation. I had given them a bunch of rules that God commanded but what were they supposed to do with them? One thing they had learned was that everyone lies- how were they supposed to proceed from there? Salvation was the perfect ending to the four weeks we had taken learning the ten commandments.
I had the perfect craft to go with it- a 'stain glass' cross- and I got out all the felt pictures I needed- the empty tomb, Jesus alive, heaven's pearly gates and golden streets.
That last Sunday I had with them I gave them a clear presentation of the gospel and finished the lesson with:
For whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans 10:13
At that time I did not know it was our last Sunday together, but God did and He made it perfect. The children paid extra good attention that day and had a lot of fun with the craft.From this short and sweet experience I've gained a special love for four year olds. Its such a sweet, short time- they can communicate but they cannot read or write, they have uninhibited affection, and they say the funniest, cutest things.
One of the things I desired most was to make sure each child knew I loved them no matter what. I think I accomplished that.
They're little sponges. They pick up everything and they can learn a lot if you take the time to teach them.
My students may not remember the time I taught them but I will never forget.
Here are some of the things my little students taught me:
-They will sit anyway but the proper way
-Everyone will pray for the food if you let them
-If you let someone get away with something the others will follow
-The older ones remember what you say and how you said it
-There is no such thing as too much glue
-When one wants a glass of water they all want a glass of water
-Make sure they're all 'zooming o'er the enemy' in the same direction
-They want to believe the very best of you- my pastor's daughter almost cried when she found out that I am guilty of lying
-Never let boys sit together
-The girls do not want to sit with the boys
-They enjoy structured activities more than free play
-Singing action songs help bring the focus on the teacher and engages everyone
-Singing helps calm fussy little ones
-Letting them speak and listening to what they say helps them know you care and are approachable
-Allowing them to give examples from their lives helps them grow
-Singing a song then teaching them what the song is about is just as fun as the lesson
-They are learning something whether you realize it or not
I may do a post on some of my favourite toddler friendly crafts.
I hope this was in some way a blessing to you.
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