Over the years, we have developed our own philosophy about teaching children about the Bible. The principles below highlight the ideas we think are important.
- When creating your lesson or activity remember to have an objective or purpose in mind. What do you want the child to accomplish when the lesson or activity is finished? If you have an answer to this question, then you have a standard that will guide you in why you doing the lesson or activity in the first place. Our lessons begin with an objective or objectives. These are posted in the classroom to keep us focused as to why we are teaching this particular lesson.
- It is important that you as the teacher must read and study the Word so that you know the Bible story or event well. You, as the parent or teacher, can learn from what you teach. Take the time beforehand to completely study the scripture texts and materials we list and share it with your child or children.
- It is good to spend time in prayer with God before presenting the activity or lesson. Ask for His wisdom in all things. Each lesson has built into it something you may wish to use as your focus for your prayers.
- Plan, prep and use as many props or visuals as you can in your presentation. If you are working with little ones, they need something to handle to help them remember. Acting out the story or event is a good way to involve them. Young children are in what is called the sensorimotor stage where they learn about the world through their senses. All children enjoy visuals so utilize as many visuals as you can. Some of our lessons will share materials we have created while others share website addresses or the name of a website that has excellent materials worth using in your lesson.
- Active engagement in the lesson or activity is important. If the Bible story is about Peter, Andrew, James and John bringing in the large haul of fish, have the children struggle with you to pull in the imaginary heavy load. Children need to get up and move, too. Plan times in the class when their busy bodies are able to do this. Also, remember that young children’s attention span usually coordinates with their age. If they are one, they have a one minute attention span. You must be willing to change the activity, body movement, engagement of the child, or something to keep the child fully engaged. We try to plan moments where the children get up and move in the classroom. Young children are active beings and can only handle so much inactivity.
- Find ways to use lots of repetition. Always build on the lesson by repeating what you taught the week or weeks before. It is good to reteach and repeat. Building on what someone has previously learned or what they already know helps make new knowledge easier to learn. In each lesson we review the previous lesson before beginning the new one. Making connections to previous lessons, helps learners understand new material.
- Use songs to help reinforce concepts in a lesson. Embedded in the lessons that we provide there are songs that support the activities and lessons presented. Using these songs often help the child remember the concept.
- Remember that all people learn in different ways so having a variety of activities allow the different learners in your classroom or home have an opportunity to learn in a way they are most comfortable with learning. Our inspirations for teaching to the variety of learning styles come from theories such as Reggio Emilio, Ultralearning, Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, and Loose Parts. We encourage all parents and teachers to analyze how their child or children learn and try to let the child/children lead in the learning as much as possible. You may determine what activities are more successful with your child/or children just by what they seem more engaged in doing. Our lessons encompass a variety of learning styles that are appropriate for the age of children they are created.
- Plan time for a simple craft or art activity with your Bible lesson. This again builds on what was studied that day from the Bible and allows your creative children to be engaged in lesson. Every lesson in this curriculum begins with a craft, art activity or handwork. Do not be afraid to try something different.
- Let children know you care about them. Praise them for specific things they have accomplished and recognize them for their achievements. Be sincere in what you say though. Children can tell when you are just saying words.
- Memory work is a great thing to do with children but it is not a competition. For young children, make the memory words no more than five words long and these five words last all quarter. Children do not need to feel stress or pressure over learning memory words. We do want children to feel a sense of accomplishment when they learn their memory words though. Check out how we created games, songs, art activities, etc. to make our memory work more than saying the words. We want the children to understand what the words mean and live them. Isn’t that what the Bible should be for everyone?
- Teaching should never be about checking a box. We want the teacher/parent to look forward to learning about God. Please make this a moment that is special to you and to your child or children.
We hope these twelve principles help you understand our lessons and activities just a little better
Written by Ms. Zee who holds two teaching degrees, an early childhood certification and a Masters in Curriculum and Supervision.