{"id":1225,"date":"2019-09-28T18:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T18:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christadelphianchildren.com\/?post_type=post_projects&#038;p=1225"},"modified":"2019-09-28T18:28:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-28T18:28:17","slug":"the-truth-can-be-seen-through-the-eyes-of-a-child-teaching-sunday-school-cause-and-effect","status":"publish","type":"post_projects","link":"https:\/\/www.christadelphianchildren.com\/index.php\/projects\/the-truth-can-be-seen-through-the-eyes-of-a-child-teaching-sunday-school-cause-and-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"The truth can be seen through the eyes of a child \u2013  Teaching Sunday School \u2013 Cause and Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PART ONE:<\/strong> \u201cBlessed are the people that know the joyful sound\u201d \u2013 a line from one of our hymns best depicts the atmosphere experienced recently in our ecclesia. Prior to June, 2018 our ecclesia was long absent of a Sunday School with no children present in our midst for a period of 7 years. This is a two-part story:&nbsp;Part One being the cornerstone of the building of years of Sunday School experience and personal growth.&nbsp; I was born into a large Catholic family with an incredible mother that believed in diversity and freedom of religion (a rare trait in a Catholic household).&nbsp;I have taught Sunday School since I was 18 years old (Baptised January 1968 \u2013 teacher September 1968). &nbsp;Trust and faith shown to me by some of the arranging board and Sunday School Superintendent allowed me the go-ahead to teach Ages 9 \u2013 12 and I have maintained that age group since 1968 (until recently). This group is an exciting and challenging one, on the cusp of becoming responsible teenagers with an added temptation of trying to stay \u201ccool\u201d yet learning their \u201cparents\u2019 religion\u201d. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I needed to emphasize by my own enthusiasm the incredible blessing\/gift that they have in their hands and hopefully in their hearts and minds. In simple words \u201clet your light so shine\u201d.&nbsp;The Truth was still new, but the spirit was ever willing although very weak.&nbsp; When plied with a question that stumped me, I immediately piped up \u201cthere is no time to review that right now.&nbsp;We will deal with it next week\u201d.&nbsp;I urgently went home to my one-bedroom apartment and did some extensive study to prove that \u201cI knew all of the answers\u201d when in fact I knew less than the children.&nbsp; Good acting and a background in the art of persuasiveness (related to Al Capone) got me through some tough challenges. Throughout the years of teaching, has taught me to be motivated by three factors (remember a triangle has no ends \u2013 just bends in the road):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1. \u201cProverbs 22:6\u201d Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2.The need to maintain a fervent, tenacious grasp on the \u201cnewness of the gospel message in my life &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3.&nbsp; A vibrant need to bring current learning methods in a way that \u201cstuck to the brain \u2013 somewhat like peanut butter does to the mouth\u201d. Because I was fresh, my learning techniques included the unorthodox methods of making it come alive in every Biblical story in a way that would mold their minds way into the future. I have run into some of the students that I taught back in the 70&#8217;s, 80\u2019s, and 90\u2019s and some still reference some of our lessons, one being \u201cTruth and consequences (method and lesson expanded below)\u201d which was a lesson in responsibility as seen through the eyes of some good and bad characters in the Bible and how we can bring these lessons to Sunday school, school, home and life. Meeting one of my former students recently he remembered one of our plays \u201cLife is the time to serve the Lord\u201d in which I dressed up every child as a grandfather clock emphasizing that time is precious and \u201clife is the time to serve the Lord\u201d. If we can all instill in a child the ability to recall lessons in a vibrant and commanding way, then we have done our job well but the job needs continuing. Here are the 12 steps of spiritual sobriety which are necessary in any Sunday School or CYC room:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Bring vibrance to the class as if the teacher is also learning along with the students.<\/li><li>Play into the weakness of the child, grow together and support their success<\/li><li>Acknowledge that the teacher is fallible.Don\u2019t be afraid of saying \u201cI don\u2019t know but will find out for next week\u201d and keep the promise.<\/li><li>Do your homework along with the class \u2013 don\u2019t attend with sloppy mind and material.<\/li><li>Remember what it was like when you were learning and never tire of that joy.<\/li><li>Pray that the heart of the child is influenced by the example of the teacher at all times.<\/li><li>Acknowledge that we all make mistakes and that they are there for the learning.<\/li><li>Praise generously \u2013 everyone needs to be loved, liked and admired for the ability to overcome. Young minds and egos are fragile.\u00a0 Handle with prayer and compassion, even on bad days.<\/li><li>Visual effects should be current and thought provoking \u2013 Example:\u00a0 Truth and consequences T\u2019shirts with pins earned for good works, attitude adjustments, care for those that make us uncomfortable, serving the Lord with kindness and generosity of spirit. The pins would be the \u201cFruit of the Spirit\u201d pins so that the end result is \u201cone fruit\u201d manifested in many characteristics as seen in the \u201cBeatitudes\u201d. \u00a0 Our end result was a play on the \u201cBeatitudes\u201d and the young people wearing their shirts. (Similar to Boy Scouts and Girl Guides but with a more profound and spiritual effect).\u00a0 Help them develop the important traits and become independent thinkers with good tools for growth.<\/li><li>Remember the Lord used parables to stimulate the brain.\u00a0Let them think outside of the box!<\/li><li>Becoming a child helps one understand the mind of a child. Don\u2019t be afraid of having fun alongside the children \u2013 getting messy, laughing at one\u2019s mistakes and sharing their lives outside of the ecclesia\/CYC\/Sunday School. They enjoy the companionship more than you know and becomes lasting so that you stay \u201cAuntie Weezie and Uncle Hamburger\u201d for the rest of your life with them. (\u201cUncle Hamburger\u201d story known amongst a select few children, teenagers and now grown adults and not to be digested further and will remain that way.) \u00a0<\/li><li>Remember, God willing, they will one day be a brother or sister in your meeting with a spiritual gauge and compass of their own. Don\u2019t leave them without a map so that they lose their way. Keep focused on their path even when they are no longer being taught by you.\u00a0 \u201cEncourage one another and build each other up\u201d is a line in an incredible Sunday School song. \u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although this article may seem long the journey is worth the effort. \u201cRaise up a child in the way He should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it\u201d is a profound verse, not with guarantees but a strong, commanding message of importance. Not being a parent (as is the case with this author) does not take away that responsibility nor does it negate or weaken God\u2019s message to children through the eyes of a non-parent. I considered it a blessing being a \u201cwoman of heritage\u201d by faith attached to a promise of eternal genealogy. Never underestimate the power that one childless person can manifest in the life of a child. Never underestimate the power that one child can manifest in the life of the teacher.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PART ONE: \u201cBlessed are the people that know the joyful sound\u201d \u2013 a line from one of our hymns best depicts the atmosphere experienced recently in our ecclesia. Prior to June, 2018 our ecclesia was long absent of a Sunday School with no children present in our midst for a period of 7 years. This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"wpl_parallax_image":"","wpl_sidebar_option":"on","wpl_sidebar_select":"","wpl_share_buttons":"on"},"wpl_projects_category":[],"class_list":["post-1225","post_projects","type-post_projects","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christadelphianchildren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_projects\/1225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christadelphianchildren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_projects"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christadelphianchildren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post_projects"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christadelphianchildren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christadelphianchildren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wpl_projects_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christadelphianchildren.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wpl_projects_category?post=1225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}