"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -- Jesus
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SSTN # 94 - December 6, 2006
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
1) Can You Name That Book? 2) Involving Fathers 3) Children behaving 4) Bible Reference
Christ-Adornment Wreath ... see it for yourself!
5) Fun Prayers 6) Positive reinforcement for good behavior 7) Fun Prayers 8) Fun Prayers 9) Christmas Lessons 3-12 year olds?
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1) Can You Name That Bible Book?
"This book was written by a shepherd from Judah. He told the people of Israel to repent, turn from their sin, and follow God. He told people to help the poor and treat others fairly."
"In this book, his wife was not loyal to him, yet he continued to love her. His marriage illustrated how God loved his people even though they continually sinned against him."
"In this book, he wrote the stories Peter told him about what it means to follow Jesus and how to be his disciple. It is the second book in the New Testament, but the first Gospel written."
"Bible Stack-O!" is fun and challenging for kids and adults!
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2) Involving Fathers
Some excellent humorous and serious skits that portray Bible stories are available. Our children love these and like seeing their fathers or other male members of the congregation involved. Reluctant fathers can be asked to do small parts; some are surprised to find that they really enjoy it - especially when they see the adoring eyes of their children in the audience!
If anyone would like to learn more about which skits we especially like, please email me at the following address:
sanderson@accs.k12.ia.us Sharon Anderson
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3) Children behaving
Hey Annie, I currently teach a similar age group (3-5) and have found the same thing. I don't know how your program is structured but this is how I have recently addressed the same problem. After about 3 weeks of bad behaviour I sat the children all down and explained that I had something very important to talk to them about and that I needed to see everyones eyes and ears. I spoke to them about the behaviour and the fact that it was not ok - we also agreed that it would not happen any more. Some of the boys continued to muck up - running around, not listening and being rude to the person speaking/leading praise and worship. With these boys i spoke to them one on one and told them that it was not ok and if the behaviour continued they would have to miss out on outside play (they would have to sit on the verhandah for the 10 minutes of outside play). THe boys were very clear on the consequences and could tell me what would happen and then when they did mess up I just said that they would now miss out on outside play. The boys weren't happy but because they had been given a waring they did accept it and since then the behaviour problems have lessened.
I guess the biggest thing to know is to follow through with what you say. The children will exploit you very quickly if you bribe them or don't follow through.
Hope this helps
RAchel
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4) Bible Reference
I highly recommend Biblesoft as a computer program for teachers. It has everything together - many translations, concordances, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. You can cut and paste right into your lesson plans.
One prayer that I have always taught my Sunday School classes is the Mizpeh Prayer found in Genesis. We close our time with it.
The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent from one another.
For the younger children, I always pause after 2 or three words so they can repeat it. Before they know it, they have learned a Bible Verse.
Merry Christmas, Theda Morrow
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6) Positive reinforcement for good behavior
A simple idea for not only encouraging good behavior, but also for instilling self-responsibility for good behavior is the use of a "star chart." The concept is simple - a child earns a star (or smiley face or whatever works for you) for meeting expectations. You can customize the chart to take into account the age of the children and the activities/behaviors you wish to reward. The key to it is clearly outlining what is expected to merit a star, and sticking with it.
In my Sunday School class, which has children from age 6 to 11, the younger children earn stars for being attentive in church and - at minimum - making an effort to follow the prayer book, even if they require help keeping up. The older children are held to a higher standard and earn stars for participating in the service as acolytes and exhibiting generally acceptable church behavior. All of the children earn stars for good classroom behavior (raising hands, being respectful of the teacher and other students, cleaning up art supplies), and for bringing their prayer book with them each week. Additional stars can be earned by memorizing (and obviously, reciting) certain prayers (again, a younger child can still get a star if they only miss a word or two, but the older children must know the prayer perfectly). An additional "extra credit" column is for those undefined things that may come up - a child who volunteers for a special event, etc.&nb sp; The child with the most stars earns a surprise at the end of the school year.
When stars are placed on the chart, I typically announce something like "Wow! Our acolytes did a great job today!" (or for younger kids - "Wow! You did so well paying attention today!") as I place stars for the children who assisted with the service. Or I'll ask who has his or her prayer book and say something like, "Good job guys!" as I place a star on the chart. I always keep it positive and the children who fall short of expectations are never admonished or singled out. An empty space where a star could have been speaks volumes, and I find, results in a self-directed behavior modification in the child. I have found that the children are eager to earn stars, and go to the chart each week to count how many stars they have earned, and who is winning the contest to get the most stars.
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7) Fun Prayers
> Does anyone know of any other good prayers to sing/say with kids, not
My son just brought this song prayer from preschool, Psalm 118. Sorry I can't provide the tune.
"Give thanks to the Lord, For he is good. His love endures for-e-ver."
(Repeat 1-10 times, since my 3-year-old doesn't know where the song really ends.) -- Regina
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8) Fun Prayers
Hi Amy,
At the end of our lessons we have a student (5 & 6th grades) close the Bible and say a closing prayer that everyone knows (or read a verse from the Bible). Then we open the floor to special prayer requests from the students (help Grandpa get better, pray for all our service personnel, people on the road get home safely, etc.) We accept all prayers, even the "silly" ones (watch over raccoons so they don't get run over). This teaches them that any prayer or request is worthy of God's ears and it lets the others pray for people they only know through the classmates.
Good Luck Robin
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9) Christmas Lessons 3-12 year olds?
Thanks Gloria Maestas at gzmaestas@tularosa.net
--from SSTN: that's a very large age gap, so "one size" probably won't fit all, but there are several to choose from in the Sermons and Crafts sections at:
http://www.SundaySchoolNetwork.com
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