The class of adults that I teach won’t act out the stories and they will not do art projects or other crafts. We are lucky if we can find someone to prepare to teach, let alone collect art supplies for projects no one wants to do. Please, give us what we want!
Signed: Weary in Whitewater

Dear Weary:
Adult faith formation involves more than the mind—it engages the heart and the senses as well. When adults use their hands to create art or poetry in response to a scripture text, or when they put themselves into the character of another person, they are connecting to God’s spirit at a deeper, nonverbal level.

As the teacher, you can be a conduit for God to work in and through adults by inviting them to go deeper than discussion.

Dear Anna:
I need more choices for each session. Some activities are too immature and some are far too advanced. I teach by myself and am not able to have multiple stations and help kids at each one.
Signed: Flying Solo

Dear Solo:
You did not say what age group you teach. I’m not sure whether you really need more choices or permission to let the kids try activities that you deem immature or advanced. Teachers who let kids choose from a few activities have reported that kids gravitate toward something that interests them, and they work well on their own or with a partner.

Can you offer choices that don’t require your assistance at each one? A box of dress-up clothes can inspire a group to reenact the Bible story without any help from a teacher. Art supplies and simple crafts usually don’t require much supervision.

I encourage you to take a risk. Begin by offering two choices. Teaching the children to make choices and to act responsibly on their own will help you and the kids to enjoy your time together.

My preschool children don’t arrive for Sunday school at the same time. I have to find something to do for opening play time. Sometimes I use a response activity at the beginning. Could you include more opening activities?
Signed: Keeping Time in Kansas

Dear Timekeeper:
When kids come at different times, it’s good to offer an activity that can engage them with the theme. Adapting a response activity is a good way to go—it fits the theme of the session and can get the kids involved right away.

Gathering is also a great time for making personal connections—but if this time goes on too long it takes away from the rest of the session. Could you remind parents to bring their children on time so that they can experience the full session? If that doesn’t work, begin the session when you have a critical mass. When latecomers arrive, acknowledge them and ease them into the current activity without any fanfare.

For additional opening activities, do a memory verse activity, create puzzles out of last quarter’s story pictures (or the current ones), or allow some time for the children to play together with sand, toys, or games.

Dear Anna:
Junior youth these days have pretty full schedules. This makes it hard to do much outside the classroom. How can I promote the service component of the curriculum?
Signed: Jumpstarting the Juniors

Dear Jumpstart:
You have named a real issue for adolescents and their families. Busy, busy, busy lives do not allow for much volunteer time. Yet it is important for junior high kids to practice discipleship through service.

Would it work to have whole-family service projects? Invite youth, their parents, and siblings to participate in a service project together: baking cookies, making a meal, visiting a nursing facility, working at a food bank, knotting a comforter.

Or, plan for a more intense service component during school breaks when youth are not in school. Be creative in exploring options. It’s surprising how kids can find the time to volunteer when they are really interested in the activity. Find out how they would like to serve God by serving others.

I have a wide range of abilities within four grade levels in my junior youth class (grades 5-8), which makes teaching frustrating. What can I do?
Signed: Trying to Keep It Together

Dear Together:
It’s hard to teach to such a wide age range, especially at this level. Kids are all over the map in terms of social, intellectual, and spiritual matters. There a few things you might try. Perhaps having a copy of the Middler Teacher’s Guide and a few Middler Student Books can help you find activities that appeal to the children who are younger in age or maturity.

Spend time observing the members of your group. Who likes to act? Who prefers doing activities with their hands? Who is good at discussion? If you can tailor some activities to match the competencies of your kids, it may engage them more in the session and reduce your frustration. You may have to adjust the way you teach to this group, but it will be worth it if it leads to quality learning experiences.

Dear Anna:
The biggest challenge our teachers face is small class sizes and inconsistent attendance. Most of the activity suggestions assume a group and are not easily adapted to one or two children. Teachers would like more activity ideas for teaching small classes. Help!
Signed: Small in Saskatchewan

Dear Small:
You are not the only congregation facing this challenge. It’s hard for teachers to stay motivated when there are so few kids and so little commitment to regular attendance.

For the sake of the children, remember that small can be beautiful. What are the advantages of a small group? One-on-one faith conversations can go deeper than discussions in a larger group. Some children thrive on the attention they receive from the teacher. Small groups are great for building solid relationships.

For more ideas, consider checking out the teacher’s guides and student books on either side of your age group, or the Multiage unit. Find out from the children about their learning preferences and prepare your sessions with that in mind.

At some point your church may decide that traditional Sunday school is not working in your setting. Explore with your leaders and families what options to consider for faith formation. It may be family-based teaching and learning, or moving to a midweek education program in the community. Learning and growing in faith is not limited to Sunday school hours. Try thinking outside the box to accommodate this new reality.

I finished teaching the Exodus story to my class. Although they enjoyed the story, I didn’t feel that it had anything to teach two-year-olds about God. When I was a child, that story left me feeling that God is scary (the plagues), mean (drowning the Egyptians), petty (Moses can’t see the Promised Land because he struck the rock) and unfair (hardening Pharaoh’s heart). I don’t think that children this age are old enough to understand certain concepts. How can I teach the Exodus story or other sophisticated biblical concepts to two-year-olds?
Signed: Dissatisfied

Dear Dissatisfied:
It’s interesting that your two-year-olds enjoyed the story—even though you were uncomfortable with it. You should first be aware that although we provide some tips for teaching the very young, the Gather ’Round preschool curriculum is geared to three- and four-year-olds.

Young children like action-packed stories and this one is no exception. We don’t expect two-year-olds to understand this story in the same way four- or eight-year-olds do. However, they can know that God was in charge and was on the side of the people who were being treated badly.

Teaching two-year-olds using a curriculum can be both trying and fulfilling. You want to help them understand that God is with them even when they are in trouble This is the big-picture concept that we want them to get. They can fill in the details in four years when they return to this story. In the meantime, show God’s unconditional love to them as you tell the stories, pray, and play with them.

Dear Anna:
Some of my kids are very active and creative and some are very shy. I have one who is dyslexic. How do I address the different learning abilities in one group?
Signed: Needing Lessons on Learning

Dear Lesson-Learner:
Aren’t we glad that everyone isn’t made from the same mold? Variety in the nature of the children in any group can be a gift to teacher and children alike. Kids can learn to respect each other and the gifts each one brings to the group. Active, outgoing children can generate enthusiasm in any group by their eagerness to try things. Shy children may be more introverted than shy, learning better in quiet spaces and by themselves.

Consult your teacher’s guide and the Gather ’Round Handbook for more about how children learn. The icons in your guide match the kind of “smarts” or intelligences children have. You have already observed some characteristics of the children you teach. Interpersonal, intrapersonal, and verbal-linguistic intelligences are evident in your kids. Can you plan your session with activities for small groups as well as individuals, and for those who find reading difficult? If so, you will have a better teaching experience and a more satisfied group of kids.

The faith focus idea is excellent. We occasionally turn the focuses into small posters, stick them to the wall, and try to remember what stories we studied. Do you have other suggestions to help kids retain what was taught?
Signed: Student-Savvy in Schanzenfeld

Dear Savvy:
What an excellent idea! I commend your plan to help kids remember the Bible story. Besides the faith focus poster idea, here are a few more ideas to try:

1) Bring an object that represents each session. It can be something that connects with the Bible story. Set it in the worship area. Each week, add to the display and review previous sessions using the objects.

2) For a Responding activity each week, have someone do a drawing about the faith focus of the session. Post it on the wall. Kids can match the picture to the faith focus. Or use the story pictures for the same purpose. Post the pictures and the faith focuses on the wall in any order and have the kids match them up each week.

Visual reminders are a great way to review sessions and bring the kids who missed any session up to speed.

Dear Anna:
Even among the few kids I teach, there is a wide range of capability—from a fourth-grade reading level to a nonreader. How do I give each child the different attention sometimes needed in 35–40 minutes?
Signed: Teaching Woes in Texas

Dear Texas Woes:
No matter what age level we teach, we will find a wide variance in reading abilities. Middler children who can’t read may feel embarrassment or shame when called upon to read. I suggest that you invite good readers to read aloud rather than expecting everyone to take a turn. If you are doing a drama, invite nonreaders to mime a part or participate in another aspect of the play that does not require reading. Or, match up a reader with a nonreader to do an activity.

Offering choices to the group, at least one that does not require reading, respects the abilities of the nonreader. Through observation you will discover how each child prefers to learn. Be sure to offer choices that meet the needs of each child as often as possible.