Teaching tip 52.
T.T. 52 - Getting to know your children.I always count it a great privilege to be able to share the Christian faith with precious children. I am mindful, however, that a long time after they have forgotten most of what I have said, they will remember me. They will remember what I was like. Did I care for them? Was our time together a 'fun' time? Was I interested in their lives? Did I really get to know them? Was I their friend, confidant and advisor? Or, was I "just another teacher"?
I am sure that we all agree that it is important to try and form relationships with the children that we teach. If you teach Sunday school or Kids church, it may be possible to spend time with your children after or before your lessons, and thus get to know them better. It may even be possible to meet with some of your children outside of a 'church' setting.
In New Zealand and Australia some primary schools are still open for Christian teachers to go in once a week to teach Biblical truths. This is very rewarding, as the majority of the children we teach children would not otherwise have any opportunity to hear about the Christian faith. In some of these schools it is possible to spend a short time with the children before or after the half-hour lesson. In most cases it is not. Thus, we are confined to getting to know the children during our allocated teaching slot. This is not always easy but it is worth the effort because, if you know "where the children are at", you will be able to adapt your lessons to be more in line with their needs and Biblical understanding.
I will share some ways that I have used in these settings to at least get to know what the children believe, and what their concerns, hopes and interests are.
1. Get the children to ask questions.
We spend a lot of time teaching children what we think they should know. But do we spend any time teaching them what they really want to know? The only way to find this out is to encourage them to ask questions. I find, however, that many children are reluctant to ask questions in front of their classmates. Therefore, on occasion, I will give all the class a blank sheet of paper each and ask them to write down any questions they have, explaining that I will answer them all the following week. This gives me time to consider my answers and, if necessary, check them out with the Bible. It is very rare for a child not to ask a question, and very often they ask multiple questions.
It may sound "impossible" to be able to answer all the questions in 30 minutes the following week. But I have found that many of the questions are the same or very similar (e.g. Who made God?). And for children, a short, uncomplicated, answer usually satisfies. I have shared some of the questions that I have been asked in Newsletters 9, 76 and 77.
Sometimes children want to know about you, and ask questions like "Why do you believe in God?", "Why are you our Bible teacher?" and "How long have you known the Lord?" These give you an ideal opportunity to share your testimony if you consider it appropriate to do so.
2. Use of a Christian survey.
If you wish to know what your children believe regarding God, Jesus, the Bible, etc., the best way is to ask them! And a simple (anonymous) survey is ideal for this.
About 15 years ago I started to teach "Bible" to children in state primary schools, with the vast majority of them coming from non-Christian homes. I wondered what influence we "Bible in school" teachers were having on the children. Were their beliefs falling in line with the Bible, or were the children still being largely influenced by their parents and guardians ?
Between 1998 and 2000, I chose six classes from four different schools in South Auckland for my survey. Thus a total of about 180 children participated. They were all in the age range 10 to 13, and all had previously attended weekly Bible classes for at least two years.
Results of my survey are shown below. I consider it to be a fair indication of children's beliefs in this area of Auckland, although there is always the possibility that some of the answers were made to "please teacher" rather than expressing what they really believed. For comparison, results of a survey - asking exactly the same questions - conducted among about 400 adults in the same area as two of the schools, and therefore probably including some of the children's parents, are shown. For further comparison, results of a similar survey of over 2,000 adults made between 1985 and 1990 in Ayrshire, Scotland are also included.
Results.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmChildren --Adults N.Z. -Adults Scotland
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm(%) ............(%) ................(%)
1. What would encourage more
people to go to church?
Closer friendships ...........................................................26 ..............14 ...................3
Livelier services /
More relevant preaching ..............23 ..............15 .................30
More participation ..........................................................19 ................5 ...................7
More social activity .........................................................12 ..............18 ................10
Other Ans. ........................................................................12 ..............13 ...................1
Don't know .........................................................................8 ...............35 ................49
2. Do you believe in God ?
Yes .....................................................................................79 ..............82 .................82
Not sure ............................................................................21 ...............11 .................11
No ........................................................................................0 ................7 ....................7
3. Who is Jesus, according to
your belief ?
Son of God ........................................................................70 ...............58 .................58
A good man ........................................................................9 ................22 .................20
Other Ans. ..........................................................................8 .................7 ....................7
Don't know ........................................................................13 ...............13 .................15
4. Why did Jesus come to earth ?
To die for our sins ----------------------------------74 ---------42 ----------42
To teach us ------------------------------------------9 ---------15 ----------15
To save the world -----------------------------------9----------13 ----------13
Other Ans. ------------------------------------------8 ---------30 ----------30
5. In your opinion, how does a person
become a Christian?
Believe in Christ as personal Saviour ----------------40 --------43 -----------19
Believe in God --------------------------------------36 --------20 -----------23
Lead a good life --------------------------------------2 ---------12 -----------24
Other Ans. ------------------------------------------22 --------25 -----------34
6. What do you believe will happen
to you when you die?
Heaven ---------------------------------------------70 --------49 -----------40
Reincarnation ---------------------------------------11 ---------6 -------------5
Afterlife (unspecified) --------------------------------8 --------13 ------------18
Cease to exist ----------------------------------------2 ---------5 ------------14
Other Ans. -------------------------------------------1 ---------0 -------------2
Don't know -------------------------------------------8 --------27 ------------21
7. What qualifies you for heaven ?
Faith in Jesus ---------------------------------------53 --------14 ------------14
Living a good life ------------------------------------16 --------67 ------------67
Church membership ---------------------------------9 ---------0 --------------1
Other Ans. -------------------------------------------6 ---------6 --------------5
Don't know ------------------------------------------16 --------13 ------------13
8. If you could know God personally,
would you be interested?
Already know God personally------------------------ 20 -------35 ------------10
Yes --------------------------------------------------58 -------42 ------------74
No ----------------------------------------------------4 --------2 -------------13
Not sure ---------------------------------------------18 -------21-------------- 5
Conclusions.
1. The answers of the two adult groups were remarkably similar (especially for some of the questions). This probably reflects the fact that the average regular church attendance in New Zealand and Scotland is similar (between 5 and 10 percent). The majority of people still think that "living a good life" is what qualifies you for heaven.
2. For most questions, the answers given by the children were more "Biblical" than those given by their parents and neighbours, the most notable exception being on how a person becomes a Christian.
3. We cannot assume that just because we teach Biblical truths, the children will necessarily come to share our beliefs. Parental and peer pressure are obviously still strong influences.
4. Although the school "Bible" classes are having a positive influence on the beliefs of the children, we could perhaps still do better in explaining what a Christian is, and how we can have a personal relationship with Christ.
Note. Although I have not done so myself, it may be a good idea to conduct a survey when you first start teaching your children, and then do the same survey again a year later, or whenever you finish teaching them. This will be a real test to see how effective you have been in imparting Biblical truths!
3. Throwing their worries on Jesus.
1 Peter 5 v. 7 says "Throw all your worries on him, because he cares for you." I often teach this verse to children alongside the story of David and Goliath (see Newsletter 17).
I then explain that that there are many "giants" or worries that people have in their lives, e.g. another person who is giving them a hard time, a bad habit, or a fear (e.g. of the dark, nightmares, flying, dying, snakes, spiders, dogs etc.). I get the children to write out the names of their giant(s) on a piece of paper. Then, as I lead them in prayer, at the appropriate time, I get them to crumple up their papers (giants) and throw them on Jesus - imagining Him to be standing at the front of the class. I conclude by emphasising that because Jesus now has their giants, they have them no more.
I usually look at the children's (ex) giants afterwards. These are always illuminating. Very few children write a bad habit (or sin) down as their giant. Even if they have had Bible teaching to the contrary, most still consider such things as lying, selfishness, greed, envy, disobedience, etc. as 'normal' behaviour. The most common bad habit that is written down is actually "swearing".
Often children will write down the name of another person as their "giant". Usually this is a sibling, or a class bully. But sometimes it is a parent, or even their class teacher!
However, by far the greatest number of "giants" are fears. Many children list multiple fears, with dogs, snakes, spiders, the dark and nightmares being the most common. Interestingly. many children in a particular class cite the same fears as each other. In one school that I teach at, I know that "fear of dying" will always be a very common "giant". In all other schools, this particular fear hardly ever gets a mention!
4. Writing about themselves.
If you use Bible "Activity sheets" then a good question / activity to include is to get the children to write something special about themselves. I think that their answers often reflect their parental upbringing. Some obviously have a very low self esteem and may write "There is nothing special about me". In contrast others give a long list of their interests and achievements, many stating that "mum" or "dad" say they are "Beautiful" or "Very smart".
Some years ago, one little nine year old girl chose to answer this question with a drawing. Her picture was of a girl, a woman and a man. However the man appeared to be holding what looked like a gun. I asked the girl about this, and our conversation then proceeded along the following lines.
"I am the girl, the woman is my mother and the man is my dad."
"Is your dad holding a gun?"
"Yes, he got out a gun and said that he was going to shoot me and my mum."
"What happened?"
"My mum's boyfriend fought with my dad and took the gun off him."
"What happened after that?"
"My dad was sent to prison, but when he got out we all (including her mum's boyfriend) had to move house so my dad couldn't find us."
"What do you think of your dad now?"
"I hate him and fear him. I will never forgive him for what he did."
"Jesus said that we should forgive each other."
"Yes, I know. But what my dad did was so bad I will never be able to forgive him!"
There may be some children in your classes that have gone through traumatic experiences. You may not be aware of who they are, but at least you can share God's love with them. You can tell them that there is a God in heaven who knows and cares about them. And no matter what situation they may be in, He will never stop loving them and is well able to bring them through to victory.
Already know God personally------------------------ 20 -------35 ------------10
Yes --------------------------------------------------58 -------42 ------------74
No ----------------------------------------------------4 --------2 -------------13
Not sure ---------------------------------------------18 -------21-------------- 5
Conclusions.
1. The answers of the two adult groups were remarkably similar (especially for some of the questions). This probably reflects the fact that the average regular church attendance in New Zealand and Scotland is similar (between 5 and 10 percent). The majority of people still think that "living a good life" is what qualifies you for heaven.
2. For most questions, the answers given by the children were more "Biblical" than those given by their parents and neighbours, the most notable exception being on how a person becomes a Christian.
3. We cannot assume that just because we teach Biblical truths, the children will necessarily come to share our beliefs. Parental and peer pressure are obviously still strong influences.
4. Although the school "Bible" classes are having a positive influence on the beliefs of the children, we could perhaps still do better in explaining what a Christian is, and how we can have a personal relationship with Christ.
Note. Although I have not done so myself, it may be a good idea to conduct a survey when you first start teaching your children, and then do the same survey again a year later, or whenever you finish teaching them. This will be a real test to see how effective you have been in imparting Biblical truths!
3. Throwing their worries on Jesus.
1 Peter 5 v. 7 says "Throw all your worries on him, because he cares for you." I often teach this verse to children alongside the story of David and Goliath (see Newsletter 17).
I then explain that that there are many "giants" or worries that people have in their lives, e.g. another person who is giving them a hard time, a bad habit, or a fear (e.g. of the dark, nightmares, flying, dying, snakes, spiders, dogs etc.). I get the children to write out the names of their giant(s) on a piece of paper. Then, as I lead them in prayer, at the appropriate time, I get them to crumple up their papers (giants) and throw them on Jesus - imagining Him to be standing at the front of the class. I conclude by emphasising that because Jesus now has their giants, they have them no more.
I usually look at the children's (ex) giants afterwards. These are always illuminating. Very few children write a bad habit (or sin) down as their giant. Even if they have had Bible teaching to the contrary, most still consider such things as lying, selfishness, greed, envy, disobedience, etc. as 'normal' behaviour. The most common bad habit that is written down is actually "swearing".
Often children will write down the name of another person as their "giant". Usually this is a sibling, or a class bully. But sometimes it is a parent, or even their class teacher!
However, by far the greatest number of "giants" are fears. Many children list multiple fears, with dogs, snakes, spiders, the dark and nightmares being the most common. Interestingly. many children in a particular class cite the same fears as each other. In one school that I teach at, I know that "fear of dying" will always be a very common "giant". In all other schools, this particular fear hardly ever gets a mention!
4. Writing about themselves.
If you use Bible "Activity sheets" then a good question / activity to include is to get the children to write something special about themselves. I think that their answers often reflect their parental upbringing. Some obviously have a very low self esteem and may write "There is nothing special about me". In contrast others give a long list of their interests and achievements, many stating that "mum" or "dad" say they are "Beautiful" or "Very smart".
Some years ago, one little nine year old girl chose to answer this question with a drawing. Her picture was of a girl, a woman and a man. However the man appeared to be holding what looked like a gun. I asked the girl about this, and our conversation then proceeded along the following lines.
"I am the girl, the woman is my mother and the man is my dad."
"Is your dad holding a gun?"
"Yes, he got out a gun and said that he was going to shoot me and my mum."
"What happened?"
"My mum's boyfriend fought with my dad and took the gun off him."
"What happened after that?"
"My dad was sent to prison, but when he got out we all (including her mum's boyfriend) had to move house so my dad couldn't find us."
"What do you think of your dad now?"
"I hate him and fear him. I will never forgive him for what he did."
"Jesus said that we should forgive each other."
"Yes, I know. But what my dad did was so bad I will never be able to forgive him!"
There may be some children in your classes that have gone through traumatic experiences. You may not be aware of who they are, but at least you can share God's love with them. You can tell them that there is a God in heaven who knows and cares about them. And no matter what situation they may be in, He will never stop loving them and is well able to bring them through to victory.
posted by Maurice Sweetsur @ 2:22 AM
