My goal is to create an atmosphere where my students want to come to Church School. We try to have fun as well as learn. We are trying to stress things like manners and respect for others in our classroom.
I use a combination of a published (the Gospel lessons) and my own curriculum. Oriental Trader is a source of many of my craft projects. In over 30 years of teaching, I have amassed a great deal of source materials and use them frequently.
If the class is extremely interested in a unit, we will spend several Sundays on it. Noah’s Ark is one example. We often have on-going folders that we work on for several Sundays and bring home at the end of the unit. If a student is absent, we try to keep there folder up to date so they can slide right in when they return.
I try to vary the activities each session. Each student is given a Bible that is geared to their level. Class starts with snack and a prayer and the week’s story is read while they have their snack. We usually do a craft next and may sing or do a game after that. Each student has a bag to bring their items home. They especially enjoy painting and plastic smocks are provided. Parents and grandparents are welcome to observe or assist with class.
Our class has size has almost tripled this year. There used to be Sundays with one or two children, this year six is a very small Sunday. We anticipate several more pre-school children attending in the fall and are considering dividing the class into a pre-school class and a class for kindergarten and first graders. Another thought is to keep them together for snack and story but break into groups for age appropriate crafts.
Click here for my 5 favorite lessons
Attendance
I encourage my students to be in class as often as possible. If you over sleep and miss church, I have no problem with you coming just for church school. To encourage the children, we have a prize box. Attendance is taken and for every 5th Sunday the child is in attendance, they get to pick a prize from the prize box. There is great anticipation and the children often know how many more weeks until they can go to “the box”. Items in the box are often religious story books, coloring books etc.
Prayer
Each class starts with a prayer. The children are encouraged to add their petitions and several come in and ask that we pray for someone who is ill. We have even created our own prayers.
