Go. Teach!

One of the main goals of the Kids’ Quest Catechism Club program is to aid children in the memorization of First Catechism. Not all children memorize quickly and enjoy the task.

Educational studies have proven that this has more to do with how a person processes information than a person’s intelligence. In other words, some of your brightest students may struggle with memory work. What to do? Find activities that will accommodate and challenge every learning style. Read the rest of this entry »

A few years ago, my adult son sat in a worship service where the pastor preached a sermon on the second commandment. The preacher began by commenting that most people only know the beginning of the second commandment, “You shall not make for yourself any graven image.”

As he began to preach on the significance of the whole commandment, my son found himself repeating in his mind, “any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth…”

“Wow, Mom!” he said to me, “I could not believe that I still remembered the whole thing.”

He went on to tell me how much more the sermon meant to him because those words were imbedded in his mind and heart. I was glad that he learned the catechism!

In his book Rediscovering the Catechism, Donald Van Dyken says… Read the rest of this entry »

Many adults can’t effectively relate to junior high kids. Fear is often the reason. Relating to young adolescents can be a fearful process. Why? Here are several reasons:

1. Junior highs are usually quite blunt. Whether it is your clothes, your hair, your accent or your teaching style—kids will let you know how they feel. Sometimes that will be by blurting out, “Why do you say ‘worship’ so funny?” Sometimes they’ll get the message across by making their handout into a paper airplane. Don’t look for compliments or even polite interest from junior highs.
2. Young adolescents are perceptive. They hate hypocrites, even though they rarely see the hypocritical in themselves. Would you rather be somewhere else than teaching your class? Do you think your students are a bunch of juvenile delinquents? Kids can tell. Junior highs are able to sense the difference between people who like them and people who only tolerate them.
3. Junior highs are changing daily. In a sense they are exploding: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Because of these changes, your students’ faces break out, their moods swing dramatically and their interests shift. They are unpredictable. Early adolescence is a uniquely crazy time.
4. Junior high kids are insecure. Many of them try to mask that insecurity by acting the part of the clown or student, or nerd or womanizer or jock or bully or any of a thousand different roles. But the bottom line is that they’re insecure. And unfortunately too often that’s expressed in cruelty to others.
5. Their relationship with you will be based on their insecurity as will their relationships with friends. Junior highs can be experts at keeping you at bay so that you will not see inside them. Don’t let their veneer of sophistication fool you.

Junior highs need adults. They need you. Pray that God will use you despite any fear or reluctance you may feel about teaching young adolescents. In the Spirit’s power, you have the opportunity to enter into their world and change them forever for Jesus.

Why should you minister to Junior High students? Because they are:

• Thinking through adult issues although they are still children
• Experiencing tremendous physical changes that can be very confusing
• Experiencing personality and character formation
• Dealing with increasing academic and moral pressure
• Forming values and asking questions about life
• Very impressionable and still accept adults as models for lifestyle and values Read the rest of this entry »

I began my youth ministry experience more than thirty years ago as a volunteer. After fifteen years working as a volunteer I became a “professional” youth worker. Now that I am again volunteering on the local level, I realize that I had forgotten the joys and the disappointments that are unique to volunteers in your ministry.

This may be a good time to refresh my mind and to share with others some of the more important aspects of being a volunteer. Here they are: Read the rest of this entry »

Fifth and sixth graders are ready to handle organized units of Bible study. They can dig into the big themes of the Scriptures, presented historically and chronologically. Preteens also love social interaction and thrive in group settings. Use class time for interactive learning, such as cooperating in small or larger groups, role-playing, brainstorming and the like. Doing things this way will keep the students eager to come back for more, help class members get to know each other and help you get to know them! Read the rest of this entry »