During the Bible class workshop, Creating Memories, I introduced Walter. 

He was used to demonstrate the different ways children learn.  I emphasized in the workshop the importance of using a variety of teaching methods so we do not leave children out of the learning. 

• If we use auditory only, 20% will remember.  
  

• That is only 2 out of 10 children that will remember the lesson.  
  

• Eight children will not even remember the Bible lesson.
  

• If we add visuals to the lesson, we jump up to 50% of the children remembering the lesson.  
  

• That is 5 out of 10 children.  
  

• That is better, but we are still leaving out 5 students.  
  

• Now, if we add an activity to the lesson or as I said in the workshop, “DOING”, we are now at 90%.
  

• That means 9 out of 10 will remember the lesson.

This is an example of a “doing” activity that I wanted to share.  We did a fun role-play of Elijah going up in the whirlwind.   The children loved seeing the long whirlwind hanging from the ceiling. 

It turned out even better than I had imagined.  The children were actually able to go round and round with the whirlwind.  They will remember this lesson! 

Many people are afraid to step into a classroom.  Some have never taught before and are scared of the unknown.  Others have tried and because they were unprepared they were discouraged and decided they would never teach again.

This is where seasoned teachers can step up and become the Barnabas to future teachers.  Pick a person, young or old, and take them under your wing. 

· They will catch your enthusiasm for teaching

· They will learn the importance of being prepared

· They will see how to be a great story teller

· They will acquire the knowledge to set up a great classroom routine

· They will gain the skills to be prepared for classroom discipline

· Stress the importance of knowing their Bible

· Share sound resources

· Show them how to study for a lesson

· Teach them to organize a lesson

· Demonstrate how to maximize a curriculum

· Share feedback of how they did

· Encourage areas that need improvement

· Video the class and let them see how they did


The following pictures are from when my daughter taught class.  She teaches the children once a month.  She kept their attention using the bright colored visuals during the lesson, they practiced their monthly memory verse, worked on their books of the Bible, and she reviewed the lesson during the craft.

For the month of April I am going to try something new.  I thought it would be fun to add a Q&A to the Facebook page.  I will start with questions for ages 6 months to 4 years.  Send me a message through FB or the website with your question.

I am going to start off with this question:  How do you teach a toddler who is nonverbal?

This is a great question.  I think this is what scares some teachers away from teaching this age group.  It can be awkward to ask questions and not receive any verbal interaction back.  You wonder if the child is understanding the lesson.  From my experience most children’s receptive language (what they understand) is much greater than their expressive language (what they can say).  The nonverbal child is likely understanding the lesson they just don’t have a way verbally to let you know.

Role-playing:  They can show you they understand.  For example, if you ask the children what the 12 spies did you will know they understand when they sneak up to spy on the land.

Movement:  Using movement in class helps the child to communicate without words.  For example, when reciting a memory verse you can use gestures while saying it.  The girl in the video is VERY talkative, but it gives you an idea of adding gestures to your memory verses.

Non-verbal responses:  A wonderful way to review the lesson is by allowing for non-verbal responses when you ask a question.  You can print smiley face/frowny face signs for the children to hold up.  They can do thumbs up or thumbs down.  You can have them shake their head yes or no.

Offer Choices:  Teaching applications is made easy when using pictures.  Offer them choices and allow them to point to the correct one.  For example, you might ask which picture shows the child who is sharing.

Review with pictures:  Use pictures that the children can place in order.  The children really enjoy using the memory ribbons in class.

Make eye contact with the child when you are talking.

Use gestures when you are talking.

Pause to allow for attempts.

Use all of their senses.

Use hand over hand when showing them a gesture you would like for them to do.

Ask short questions that encourage one word answers.

Give the first sound of the word you are looking for.

Include simple sign language in your lessons.

Talk, talk, and talk some more.  Tell them everything you are doing.

The Teach Me The Bible Curriculum uses a variety of learning activities to reinforce the lesson.  Each lesson will come with either a craft idea, role-play, or an application activity. 

This post is about how to use crafts effectively.

Crafts are a wonderful way to reinforce a lesson.  “REINFORCE” is the key word.  The craft should never be used as a time filler.  The children are in our classrooms for such a small amount of time and we are not babysitters we are teachers. 

The children need to see the connection between the craft and the lesson.  They need to understand what they are creating and why.  Repeat questions about the lesson while they are doing their craft.  At the end of the craft I always ask the children, “What is that?”  And I am looking for more than just “A lion” or “A tree”.

I usually use the same technique while doing a craft in class.  A craft normally has different parts that you are adding to it.  I will only give the children one part at a time.  I will then ask a question and they must give me the correct answer before getting the next part.  It is okay if you have to tell them the answer, but always repeat the question again so they can repeat the answer.  This always keeps them focused because they are eager to get the next part to complete their craft.

This video shows a craft for Gideon (Quarter 4:  The Judges).  The children were making a pitcher to hide their torches in.

I have been surrounded by HEARTS.  Being February that is no surprise.  Hearts are everywhere in the stores.  In preparation for “Quarter 5:  The Kings” I have been studying about King Saul’s rebellious HEART and how David was a man after God’s own HEART.  I have also been planning a teacher workshop for Bible teachers.  The theme of the workshop is how do we help hide God’s word in our children’s HEARTS.

I will go on to talk about how they can’t hide it in their hearts if they can’t remember it.  What do we want them to remember?  Lots and lots, I know!  But this post will focus on helping them to remember their memory verses.  

We want to FILL our children’s hearts with scripture.  Luke 6:45 is a great reminder:  “ The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”  (NASB)

There is really one simple way to get your children to remember their memory verses and that is by REPETITION.  Here are some fun ways to incorporate repetition.  These ideas will help engage the children’s different learning styles which will lead to better recollection.  

A stop at the dollar store and I came home with these beauties.

You know how busy 2 and 3 year old's can be.  Oh how they love to move.  I put their memory verse, Proverbs 28:14, on these plates using clear contact paper.  This is great way to change up how you review their memory verses. 

These heart doillies were a great find.  You get 40 of them in one package!  I laminated several and now I have a “whiteboard”.  These can be placed on the wall for older children who read well.   Put one word on each heart.  After the children have read the verse a few times, slowly start removing words.  This works great and you can reuse them over and over.

Now what child doesn’t like the sticky hand.  There are so many uses for this.   Getting the older children involved in a team relay is  fun.  They go and pick up a piece of the Bible verse, bring it back, and place them in order.  Next teammate goes  until all the pieces are put in order.

Now if you prefer a quieter activity you can provide these pieces in an envelope for each child and let them put the verse in order.

A great early arrival activity is to have a  way for each child to practice their past verses.  These can be put on notecards and either placed in a box or place them on a ring.

My daughter loves practicing her memory verses over and over.  The pictures help her remember.  These memory verses come with the Teach Me The Bible Curriculum.  Encourage your children to practice at home.

Even older children can learn by pictures.  A fun activity is to create a memory verse journal.  The child takes the memory verse and makes it their very own.  They draw whatever they want to help them remember it.  You can even get fancy and do a scrapbooking memory verse book.  Teen girls would love that!

Here is a free page that would work great for a memory verse journal.  Click on picture for PDF document.  Just place them in a three ring binder.  Let each child make a fancy cover page.  They will enjoy flipping through the pages as they review their verses.

Have fun with your class and find what works best for you.  Make sure we are filling up those hearts with scripture!

My daughter was sick this past Sunday and I am so thankful for the teacher who filled in.  I keep an extra lesson book in the classroom opened to the current lesson.  The Teach Me The Bible curriculum is written in a way that a teacher can easily pick it up and follow the lesson plan.  I glue the words for the lesson on the back of the visuals making it easy to follow along. 

Sometimes we must find a teacher at the last minute though, and it is always best to be prepared.  Having a substitute folder available is a life saver for the teacher. 

· Opening flipcharts (Included in the SUPPLEMENTAL PACKAGE)
All of these flipcharts come with rhymes that you can glue to the back of the pictures.  A welcome flipchart that talks about the church being the people and not the building.  There is a page so the children can put their picture.  A prayer flipchart explaining how we pray and who we pray for.  A Bible flipchart explaining how to take care of our Bibles.

· Singing the books of the Bible (2 sets of the books of the Bible cards are included in the SUPPLEMENTAL PACKAGE):  The children love to use the finger pointer to point to the cards as we sing.

· Lesson:  Ideally it would be nice to include several lessons for the teacher to choose from.  The lesson I have included here to get you started is “Day 6 of Creation”.  Click on the image for the full lesson plan.  Make sure you include any copies so the teacher will be ready to go.

One of my goals for 2015 is to start a blog.   I want to provide you with tips and ideas that will help you grow as a teacher.  This first post is more of an introduction to Teach Me The Bible and a look back at my class in 2014.  Plus I am offering a special, so make sure to read to the end!

I started creating this curriculum to provide my two year old daughter with lessons that would take her through the Bible.  I wanted to help hide God’s word in her heart.  She  has really grown in Bible knowledge this past year.  

Teach Me The Bible curriculum became available for others to use in February of 2014.  Since then I have received a lot of positive feedback from teachers about how they love using the memory ribbons, time line visuals, take home cards, and memory verses. 

We started using Quarter 1:  The Beginning and the children immediately fell in love with the crafts.   Being able to “create” the days of creation in a craft really helped the children remember the lessons.

As we moved on to Quarter 2:  The Promise the children continued to love the crafts but another part that the children really enjoyed was the applications.  By using the included visuals they really “got it” and they could see how the Bible applied to their lives.   In one lesson we talked about Jacob and Esau and how we should get along with others.  This one really hit home since my students all have siblings.  I used the pictures and let the children choose which one shows the children getting along.  Repetition is the key at this age so I mixed up the pictures and did it again and again.  

Quarter 3:  The New Nation included one of their favorite role play activity.  The children enjoyed marching around the walls of Jericho.  I think we made the walls fall down three or four times.  They wanted to do it over and over.

We are almost to Quarter 4:  The Judges as a class and I just know the children are going to love learning about Gideon, Samson, and Samuel.  When I use the full color visuals to go over the lessons, the children’s eyes are just glued to the pictures.  They truly adore them.

In 2015 I plan on completing this two year curriculum.  I am currently working on Quarter 5:  The Kings.  Then I will create Quarter 6:  The Prophets, Quarter 7:  Life of Christ, and Quarter 8:  The Church.

I have some exciting announcements to reveal in 2015!  Stay tuned.  

As I look back over this last year I was happy to learn that the curriculum is being used in 33 different states.  To show my appreciation I would like to offer a special sale on the books of the Bible cards.  These are such a useful tool in any class and a favorite activity for the children.    For a limited time when you buy 2 sets you will get 1 free.