Tips, Techniques, and Bribery

In working with Children's Ministry for the last 30 years, we have developed a few tips, techniques, and yes even bribery to accomplish our goal of having children learn how to apply God's word to every aspect of their lives.

Tip #1 - Children are easily bored, and have short attention spans therefore you must never, ever, ever lecture or read the lesson to them.

Technique - get your students involved.  Ask questions.  Our lesson plans will show you how to apply this technique in every situation.

Tip #2 - Every child learns differently.  This is something every teacher knows but finds difficult to overcome.

      Technique - supply each student with a small notebook.  A very wise man once told us in a business class, when someone smarter than you      is speaking, you should be taking notes.  Teach each child how to take       notes.   Make sure each child has their notebook available for each        class.  Later, I will tell you how to inspire them to use their notebooks        without having to be reminded.

Tip #3 - Every child must learn to use their Bible.  Require your students to bring a Bible to class.  No matter how young your students are, they must learn to love and cherish their Bible.

      Technique - rewards are a valuable way to inspire children to     remember their Bible, (more on this later.)  For very young children, determine which style of Bible you would like for them to use, and    request the parents please supply that specific style.  This way every        child is on the same page in their Bible, be it a picture Bible, or some    other style relating to very young children.

Older children in my classes are required to bring a Study Bible to class.  A Study Bible will allow you to teach research techniques.  Where else are they going to learn how to look up scriptures, and do research on various topics?  By third grade, every child should know how to use a concordance, (Bible drills or sword drills are a wonderful way to teach this technique.)  Name a subject, such as LOVE, have the students look it up in their Bible's concordance, require each student to read a different scripture, and reward them accordingly, (more on rewards later.)

Learning Bible skills, Concordance skills, and the Books of the Bible can be a lesson, or several lessons.  These skills are absolutely essential to learning Biblical principles, and how to apply them.