Teach One Reach One Ministries

Free Training Resources for Teachers of Bible Classes for Kids and Teens

By Thereasa Winnett on June 22, 2018 0

Professional educators are required to take regular training classes in order to retain their teaching license. Yet, we will allow volunteers to teach children and teens about God with little if any training at all. Most of the time, we have no idea what happens in the classroom after volunteers begin teaching.

Unless a parent complains (and most don’t because they are rarely heard), your volunteers could be teaching or doing anything (or nothing at all) and you would have no idea. The horror stories I hear are everywhere and in most cases could have been easily prevented with volunteer training.

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Fun Way to Assess Student Learning in Bible Classes for Kids and Teens

By Thereasa Winnett on June 15, 2018 0

Student assessment is something rarely mentioned in ministries. We believe their attendance is so tenuous that if we attempt any form of assessment, they will stop attending our classes.

Yet without assessment, how do we know what (if anything) they are learning? How can we know which students are understanding what God wants them to know and which students have no idea what God wants for them and from them? How will we know if we need to tweak or change our curriculum or other aspects of our ministry?

The truth is without assessment, everyone is making decisions based on guesses. Guesses which may or may not be anywhere close to accurate. We don’t need to have standardized tests like they do in schools. There are actually fun ways to assess students. You can get the information you need about students learning and they can review and anchor important information and principles.

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Are Your Bible Classes for Kids and Teens Missing This Crucial Element?

By Thereasa Winnett on June 8, 2018 0

You’ve had a great class. Your students seemed to listen intently while you told the Bible story. They loved the hands-on, meaningful, memorable activity you had planned for them. As the bell rings, your students are so engaged, their parents have to practically drag them out of your room. One important question though. What did they actually learn?

Teachers will tell you that even the best planned lessons can still leave some students with unanswered questions. Others may have totally missed something and leave the classroom with a serious misunderstanding. Many aren’t quite sure what they were supposed to have learned or remembered from the lesson.

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The Mentoring Connection for Bible Class Teachers of Kids and Teens

By Thereasa Winnett on June 1, 2018 0

One of the best ways to extend your godly influence as a Bible class teacher of kids or teens is to begin mentoring them outside of class as well. As you become more involved in the lives of your students (something we highly recommend), you may also find yourself mentoring parents of your students.

Whether it’s answering an occasional question or a request for ongoing mentoring, many Christians are afraid of mentoring others. In our culture, it seems somehow bossy or judgmental. After all, we aren’t perfect ourselves and often feel like we still need mentoring.

That’s the point of scriptures like Titus 2. Notice the author never mentions specific ages. I can’t prove it, but my guess is it’s because no matter your age, you are usually older than others in your church. You have learned from scripture and life experiences ways that can help others navigate that same path more easily and in godly ways. Mentoring isn’t about judging or controlling someone else. It’s following God’s command in Titus 2 to share what we have learned with those coming behind us – helping them avoid pitfalls and sin.

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Evaluating Bible Classes for Kids and Teens

By Thereasa Winnett on May 25, 2018 0

Whenever you ask someone about the Bible classes for kids and teens in their church, you usually hear how wonderful they are. But are they really? What is the standard for wonderful? Are the kids and teens getting what they need to build strong spiritual foundations and reach their godly potential? Are volunteer teachers doing things that enhance learning or are they creating an atmosphere that makes students want to avoid class?

Even within the same congregation or ministry, you may have one class where kids are learning all sorts of important things from God’s Words in meaningful, hands-on, memorable ways, while others are learning literally nothing. In order to help parents raise their kids to become strong, productive Christians as adults, our ministries must be of a consistently high quality.

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