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Mindfulness in Bible Classes for Kids and Teens

By on June 16, 2017 0

Mindfulness in Bible Classes for Kids and Teens - Teach One Reach OneIf you keep up with trends in society or education, you may have heard about “mindfulness”. For those of you who were kids during the 70’s, you may have associated it with meditation or yoga and many proponents do suggest them as a way to practice mindfulness. As a Bible class teacher though, you may wonder whether disciplines often associated with religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism have a place in Bible classes for kids and teens.

Thankfully, modern researchers have included Christian disciplines in some of their research. Studies show prayer, reflecting on scripture and fasting (which usually incorporates highly focused prayer and scripture reflection), produce the same benefits as meditation and yoga. (Meditation is actually also a Christian discipline. See Psalm 1:2, Philippians 4:8 and others for more details.)

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Tips for Training Summer Interns In Children’s and Youth Ministry

By on June 9, 2017 0
Tips for Training Summer Interns In Children's and Youth Ministry - Teach One Reach One

My Intern Training Tub

Summer interns are great. If your program can afford one or more summer interns, they can add a lot of energy and enthusiasm to your ministry. It’s important to remember though, that no matter how well-educated they may be, they still lack a great deal of experience. Some may even be majoring in topics having little if anything to do with education or ministry. They may have a heart to impact lives for God, energy to do anything you ask and enthusiasm that rekindles yours.

Without training though, they may not reach their godly potential to serve your ministry this summer. In extreme cases, they may even accidentally do your ministry and the young people it serves more harm than good. If your intern orientation resembles more of a tour, a long to-do list and a free lunch, you are leaving your intern, your ministry and the children it serves vulnerable.

Take the extra time this summer to develop a more formal training program. Use the first couple of days to make sure your interns are ready to take on the responsibilities you will give them. You can include planning for events as part of the process, but make sure even interns majoring in education and ministry are taught the basics by you or someone on your team. It’s really the only way you can be sure, your interns will follow the standards you have set for your ministry.

What are some of the things you may want to include in your intern training? There are probably a lot of options, but these are some we have found interns have most appreciated.

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The One Quality Sunday School Teachers Must Have To Be Effective

By on May 26, 2017 0

The One Quality Sunday School Teachers Must Have To Be Effective - Teach One Reach OneI guess the first question we must ask is, “What defines effective Sunday School teaching?” If we asked 100 different people, we would probably get 100 slightly different answers. I would imagine for most of us though, we would consider ourselves effective if we made a positive difference in the spiritual foundation building of our students.

We sometime allow ourselves to forget the purposes of Sunday School (or any Bible class for that matter). Initially, Sunday School was created (educated guess, I grant you) to assist parents in teaching their children about God and what He wanted for them and from them. It was an opportunity to reinforce what the parents were already teaching at home. If done really well, it also provided additional practice in Christian Life Skills, teaching areas of the Bible not yet taught at home and more.

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Teaching Children’s Bible Classes Like Your Hair Is On Fire

By on May 19, 2017 0
Teaching Children's Bible Classes Like Your Hair Is On Fire - Teach One Reach One

I tab great ideas in books. This one came away with plenty.

The focus of Teach One Reach One is helping volunteers in churches, ministries and on the mission field enhance what they are doing as they teach the Bible to children and teens (granted sometimes with a little secular education added in faith based tutoring programs). Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of great outside resources I can suggest for you to read that I believe are really going to take your teaching to the next level.

Most of the best books on education are written for the secular educator. With a little tweaking though, they can often give you lots of great tips for your Bible class as well.

Teach Like Your Hair is On Fire by Rafe Esquith is a classic in education circles. There is a reason books become classics. In non-fiction circles, it is usually because a lot of people have found them helpful. This book is no exception.

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The Guiding Question In Bible Classes for Kids and Teens

By on May 12, 2017 0

The Guiding Question In Bible Classes for Kids and Teens - Teach One Reach OneIf you take a look at any Teach One Reach One Bible activity, you will see something called a “Guided Question”. You may have wondered its purpose and how it differs from the learning objectives that may also be included. There is a subtle difference, but it is an important one for you and your students.

Learning objectives are a list of a few of the most important things we believe you can teach your students during the course of the lesson and activity. Usually our objectives point out godly principles and commands contained in the Bible story. For activities, we often add an additional objective to let you know the focus of the activity. For most Bible stories, it would be easy to find many more things to teach or emphasize. In fact, you may choose to emphasize something we haven’t because of the particular needs of your students.

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