Teach So You Can’t Be Misunderstood!

Robert Louis Stevenson famously wrote, ‘Do not write merely to be understood.  Write so you cannot possibly be misunderstood.’  It’s the same when you are teaching children in your Kid’s Church.  Teach not merely to be understood.  Teach so you cannot possibly be misunderstood.

As a teenager, I was teaching a group of children from the ages of 4 to 13.  (I can’t recall why all ages were together.)  I shared a true life story about God intervening in World War 2.  When a little boy was picked up by his parents he was relieved to see his mum and dad.  They told me the next week he thought there was a war and he wasn’t going to see them again.  I had bombed big time but had learned an important lesson.  Teach so you cannot be misunderstood!

 

Step 1 Create Classes

I know creating classes can be difficult to achieve when you are a small Church with limited space and volunteers.  When my Church was new we rented a local RSL hall.  After the praise and worship the children met in the kitchen stage right.  From there the Kindy Kids and Preschoolers were escorted across the stage to a storage room stage left.  The red velvet curtains were closed because the congregation faced the stage but they were a little high, and kid’s feet could be seen making their way from one side of the stage to the other.  I’m sure parents looked for the particular feet that belonged to their children.  Not distracting for the preacher at all!  But our Children’s Church leader, a former teacher, understood the importance of separating the children into classes, so we made it work.

Step 2 Choose Age Appropriate Curriculum

This is where published curriculum is helpful.  It’s written by experts.  It comes with selected content and resources to target the ages of the children you are teaching.  Most of what children understand is dependent on their age.  That’s why there are year levels in education.

Step 3 Questions to Ask Yourself

If you are using your own curriculum (or an outline your Kid’s Church Pastor has given you) don’t begin until you have asked yourself two questions:  What is age appropriate for the children I’m teaching?  What is the core message I need them to understand?

Tips So You Won’t Be Misunderstood

• Begin a lesson by explaining what children will be learning.
• Tell them why it is important.
• Give the children the when and where.
• Keep the lesson concise.
• Keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm the story with needless details.
• Don’t overshare personal details.
• Remember Jesus is always the hero.
• Stories can contain conflict, and that makes them exciting, but focus on what God did to resolve the conflict. No gory details are necessary.

I am still mortified when I think about that morning but I’m grateful to God for His forgiveness and understanding.  I’m glad the experience didn’t cause me to walk away from Kid’s Ministry but taught me never to repeat the same mistake.  My hope is that reading this will help you teach to be understood and never misunderstood by the children in your care.

God bless you,

Deb Wassenberg