My goal is to teach God’s word in an atmosphere that is interesting and fun.   I strive to make Christ known to them and to make the bible passages we study relevant.

I do not use a published curriculum, but I create my own lessons, inspired by and built around a wonderful  teaching model, known as the Rotation model (visit www.rotation.org).  Our church school year runs from September to May, and so each summer is spent seeking God’s direction and planning the following year’s theme and lesson outline.

Following the structure of the rotation model, I teach the same Bible lesson for 4 weeks in a row.  This is done for three reasons:

1)      So that children who may miss a week or two do not miss out on the lesson altogether. 

2)      So that the lesson is reinforced in different ways each week. 

3)      Repetition helps them to learn.

Each child learns best in a different way.  With the rotation model, we will learn the Bible lesson one week by using arts and crafts, another week with a cooking lesson, and the rest of the weeks with different activities:  games, science, drama, etc.  So although your child may not prefer an art lesson, all they need to do is wait a week, and there is sure to be a lesson that suits them.

I judge the success of my program by the increasing attendance.  When I first started teaching, there would be days where I had 1 or 2 students.  Now there are classes of 10-14!  Hallejulah! Since the children often beat me downstairs, I hope that I can assume that they have fun.

Click here for my 5 favorite lessons

Attendance

I encourage parents to bring their child to church school as regularly as possible.  Each time that a child attends class, they come to know more about Jesus and deepen their relationship with Christ.   This faith will serve them well as they grow up and meet the challenges that each youth must eventually face.

To encourage attendance, we use a method that I developed called, “Learning Links.”   Each time a child attends class, they are given a paper link to add to a chain that measures their attendance.   With each class attended, the child is “linking” their life to Christ through learning.  At the end of the year the child with the longest chain wins a “grand prize” and there is also a runner up. 

The children absolutely love this…they usually beat me downstairs to “put up their link.”  They closely monitor each other’s progress, although I am careful to not let the competition get out of hand.

Prayer

Prayer is an important part of my teaching.  I pray to discern the lessons I am to plan for the year, and God grants me visions where the lessons almost lay themselves out before me.   I pray for the children, that they are able to attend, that they learn the lesson God wants me to teach them, and that they enjoy it.  We end each church school lesson with prayer.    I frequently ask for intercessory prayer from my fellow Daughters of the King, also, for the church school program at St. Andrew's.  God has been faithful and gracious!