I teach littles/Beginners on Sunday mornings during church time. This class includes age 3 (potty trained) up through 1st grade. I want the children to enjoy coming to church, and at the same time learn about Jesus. I want children to feel safe and secure walking in the door to our classroom. If that means they always sit in the same seat, then I try to accommodate them. Choose your battles. The 1st graders are big helpers if I need someone to get the crayons out or collect trash. They are very willing to do anything to help. The three-year olds usually don’t talk to me during their first several weeks. They soon fall into the routine and become comfortable and start talking soon. I usually have around 10-12 children for 45 minutes to an hour. Sometimes more, sometimes less. We have a lot of things to get done in a short amount of time. I try to keep the class moving and avoid distractions.
Teen Helpers
I have a bunch of teens helpers that love to rotate and serve a month at a time. This is good in two ways. They are willing to help, and they are learning how to teach a lesson to littles. Often, I have one or two asking if they can stay and see if whoever is scheduled is here.
Sunday morning schedule
These are approximate times and can vary on any given week. It is a goal to try to keep things on track. The children feel secure knowing that we do things in a certain way every week.
Pick them up from choir
I pick them up from choir around 11:00. (Choir is usually 10:45-11:00.) I already have snack prepared on the table for them. I try to keep all activities between 5-10 minutes. Their attention span is very short. We do not have a set time for a potty. This takes too much time to take all the children at the same time. We do not mention the potty and have gotten into the routine that they now ask quietly to go to the restroom if they really need to go. Then the helper takes that child only (and whoever heard the word and decided that they needed to go too.) We do our best to make sure that parents take the children between Sunday School and church time.
11:00-11:10 – The children come in and find their seats. (A few have seat that they prefer. I try to be accommodating and ask children to switch if they sit in any of the preferred seats. At this age, or any age, choose your battles.
Snack and Prayer
I like to give them their snack first. This prevents any hangry issues. Some children have had a long car ride to church, and others have been at church for over an hour already. So most likely they have not eaten in a good while. Once they are seated, some start eating, but we immediately start talking about what we need to pray about today. These littles have some pretty big prayer request for their age. Most are serious things to pray about. Once we get all the prayer request, I used to pray, but the children started asking if they could pray today. If I have a volunteer, I let them pray. These littles pray better than some adults. They are sincere, and they try to remember all the request that we talked about. I usually have to say, “and thank you for our food.” If a request is forgotten, I quickly remind them that God is right here in the room with us and heard everything we just talked about.
I do try to decorate and do special things for holidays. The children really enjoy this.
Talk to me time
After we pray, this is the time that they can tell me anything they want. (I take attendance during this time too.) These children have a lot that they want to tell someone. I ask. “who did anything special this week.” Most are ready to tell me what they did… like started school, went swimming, played in the snow, couldn’t play in the snow because it was too icy this time, got a new puppy, and on and on. If no one is talking, I try to remember what I have seen on Facebook and ask questions about what I saw…. did anyone go to the farm show this week? They just want someone to listen to them, be interested in their story, and let them know that what they have to say is important too. We take turns, one person speaks at a time.
By 11:10, or 11:15 if we get started late, anyone who is not finished with their snack is given a baggie to take their snack home. A few keep eating out of the baggie throughout class, and that is ok with me. Some kids are slower eaters than others. A few kids will ask for more snack. I give more to the ones that finish quickly, but once snack is put away, no more is given out. When they are finished with their snack, they take their trash to the trashcan and return to their seats.
Memory Verse and Lesson 11:15-11:25
This is our memory verse time and lesson time. We say the verse several times together and then I see if anyone would like to try it on their own. For a short time, we used a small piece of candy a motivation to give it a try. It they tried; they got a piece of candy. I slowly faded that out and they still try. If they say it, they usually get a “Great Job” and if they need lots of help, they are told cheerfully “nice try”. So, either way they feel good about giving it a try. Many can usually say the verses. If I can find a song or hand motions to go with the verse it helps them greatly.
The lesson time is time to be quiet and listen. We do a little game of “hands up”, “hands down”, and “hands up. Shake them out. Get all those wiggles out. Put your hands together. Now place them on the table.” It is silly. But they all like to shake the wiggles out. Only one has told me that they didn’t bring any wiggles today. The story is usually less than 5-15 minutes, depending on simplicity of the lesson and behavior of the class that day. I have them repeat key information, such as names or that might be in the questions at the end. There are three questions at the end of the story. Many of the children can answer the questions when the lesson is over.
Most weeks we go over the Bible Truths questions that are in the back of the Teacher book (Joyful Life). I have copied and laminated them, and hung it on the board for easy access. They were supposed to learn them one or two at a time, but we already did that, so now we go through all of them. Most of the children know the answers to all the questions. Some of the younger ones are learning by listening as we go through them. Then if we have extra time or if the lesson leads to it, we talk about the wordless book. Again, most can tell me about each page or color. I personally talk to the parents when I think a child understands and shows an interest in trusting Jesus as their Saviour. I feel it is better if the parents are involved with their children’s decision. We have had several children come to trust Jesus as their Saviour this way.
Craft and Coloring Time 11:25/11:30 – 11:40
I try to precut and prep as much as possible that would take up a lot of time in class. We review the lesson as we work on the craft. I do give them the coloring/take home paper at the same time, because they are sometimes a wait for me or the helpers to get to each child to help with the craft. Then I go around and write names on the papers. Some crafts take longer than others and might take up to 11:45.
Play Time
Once they are done coloring, they straighten their papers into a neat pile and ask if they can go play. More recently, we began using brown lunch bags to contain their papers and things. The paper lunch bags seems to be working well, and the littles are not dropping papers in the hallway as they leave.
I like to give them a chance to play with their church friends. We have wood puzzles, blocks, foam blocks, and chunky Legos. Playtime is an incentive to cooperate and not waste time. Plus, they are learning to share, and be kind. We get a short warning that church is almost over. The children know that when that warning comes, it is time to clean up quickly, and go back to their seats.
Frequently Quoted Phrases
We have just a few phrases that I tend to repeat often. I don’t call them rules, but I try to make sure that they are stated in a more of a positive way to get children to obey. Only behaviors that need immediate attention get a no. I try to address the heart issue instead of the child. “Your heart is not happy and that is causing you to make bad choices. We need to let you sit for a few minutes to make sure your heart is not going to let you be mean again.” This has been in practice for several years now and we seldom have big behavior problems.
*We have happy hearts./Where is your happy heart today?
*We use kind words.
*We are kind to our friends/siblings (we have several sibling groups in class).
*Walk please.
*One toy at a time, please, so we don’t have a big mess to clean up.
*Clean up right away or you might not get play time next week.
*You must be in your seat to be dismissed when mommy or daddy comes. (This keeps them from hanging around the door and escaping unnoticed.)
Very occasionally, I will have to say, No throwing/hitting/kicking. That is a command and they will get to talk to me immediately for a calm down time.
Singing
Sometimes you just NEED to wear the pin sparkle zebra shoes!
The last procedure I want to share about is singing. We do not do a lot of singing, because they have just come from choir. However, if they are a little more distracted than normal, or talking when they should be listening, we do sing a song or two…until they all seem “with me” and we can proceed on with the lesson. Occasionally. If there is time at the end, we will also sing. During craft, coloring, and playtime, I play the CD that comes with their quarterly lessons. Many times, they will sing along with that. Music is important and calms them down very quickly.
(The pictures throughout this post are of my own children, ready for church, during the ages that I now teach. None of them are in my class now. The youngest is now in 5th grade and the oldest is almost 26.)
edited 9/26/21