Sheryl Haystead loved teaching kids God's Word. These writings are from her last years of teaching Sunday School and are full of wisdom and compassion for the little ones Jesus loves so dearly--Sheryl loved them, too.
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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Who Knows Your Name?

Today was a special event Sunday at our church—special because many of the women were gone at a Women’s Retreat. So our kids, from preschool through Grade 5, were grouped together with several faithful dads as their leaders.

One of the activities in which the kids participated in was a fun game called Line Up. In this game, kids see how fast they can line up in alphabetical order by first names. Of course, the preschoolers needed the most help in accomplishing this task, but at least they all knew their first name.

Then, however, the game was played with kids lining up in alphabetical order by middle names. One little girl didn’t know she had a middle name (thankfully, her older sister was there and knew the name). Another girl just walked around with a puzzled look on her face about the whole thing (thankfully, she had an older sister present, too). And one young boy insisted he had two middle names and couldn’t figure out which one to use to play the game. So our faithful dads had quite a time keeping things going!

Hearing the stories of the morning reminded me how important it is for our little preschoolers to be in a setting where everyone knows their name. Little ones love to feel grownup and tag after older kids, but for the best relationships to be built and the best learning to take place, preschoolers need their own space. When we “know the name” of a preschooler, it means we have taken the time to listen and to observe the unique way in which God has made each child. Then we are able to plan the game, the art activity or the creative storytelling that our kids will most enjoy and learn from.

I still remember the one teacher out of many who called me by name long after I had graduated out of her Sunday School class. My goal this week is to pray for each child in my class by name at least once. I’m thankful that God knows my name and loves me just as I am. I want to be one of the ones who help children experience God’s love in the same way.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Super Fast!

I should know this by now, but it’s always so amazing to me how a young child’s words can be the perfect description. Today in Sunday School we talked about Jesus calling the 12 disciples. Some of our kids can’t even count to 12 yet, so we did lots of counting—dropping pennies into egg carton sections was a big hit!

Later, during the Bible story, my co-teacher asked the group, “The Bible tells us that Andrew and Peter immediately followed Jesus. What does the word immediately mean?” I wasn’t sure that anyone would answer, but without any hesitation a kindergarten boy hollered out the words “Super fast!” This is a boy who loves to do things super fast! But what a great description of the eagerness with which the disciples left their fishing nets and families and began the adventure of following Jesus! For the rest of the session, as we heard the story of the 12 men who followed Jesus, we talked about following and obeying Jesus “super fast!”

I think I’m going to take this phrase as my motto for the week. Every day there are times when I hear our lesson’s Bible verse: “‘Come, follow Me,’ said Jesus.” I’m asking God to help me follow Him “super fast!” (So the elderly neighbor I haven’t seen in a while? Need to follow Jesus and go knock on her door.)

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Week by Week

Have you ever tried to explain what baptism means to a four- or five-year old? Today our Bible story was about the time when John baptized Jesus, and as I prepared to tell the story I wondered what to say about baptism. The curriculum suggested explaining baptism this way: “When someone is baptized, water is used to show that God washes away the wrong things they have done.” I thought that was pretty clear until a parent whose son had been in my class last year told me that after hearing the story of Jesus’ baptism, her son thought he was being baptized every time he took a bath! That made me laugh, and I knew I needed to think of something more.

But what could I say? Sometimes with little ones, the more you say the more confused they get! And this story not only had the symbolism of baptism, but a dove coming down from heaven, and God’s voice speaking about His Son. I was worried not only about keeping kids’ attention, but also about being able to find the right words.

As I started the story, however, I realized I couldn’t go wrong if I followed the simple facts of the Bible story in John 1. I know that these little ones wouldn’t fully understand what baptism means. But just as John introduced the listeners in the crowd to Jesus, I am introducing Jesus to my class, too. Each story about Jesus builds the children’s understanding of who Jesus is. I’m looking forward to this quarter of lessons about the words and actions of Jesus. Week by week, story by story, my kids will be getting to know Jesus more and more! My prayer is that I will get to know Him, too.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Cool Creativity

Every time I teach kids I am amazed by the creativity they show! Today we had a game that involved moving across the room. To make the game more interesting for our kids, I set out some cones that they had to navigate around. I demonstrated how they could quietly and calmly walk around the cones. But each child approached this in his or her own way--and quiet and calm wasn't what they had in mind!!

It was so fun to watch as the first boy decided to jump over the cones, then another one walked backwards, a little girl tiptoed daintily around them and a boy finished it off by leaping acrobatically to the side of each cone. And, of course, they didn’t do it just once, they had fun repeating it over and over again.

During the puppet script, they were once again full of creativity: calling out ideas for how Skitter the squirrel could win the “Do Good Things Race.” Picking up trash, giving hugs, finding and sharing acorns with other squirrels were some of the creative ideas they suggested.

What a delight it is to see how God made each child, and what a privilege it is to have a small part in helping each one grow and discover. I hope you have time and space in your class for kids to express their God-given creativity. It's one of the good things we can do--which, after all, was our Bible verse for today!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

New Year, New Ideas

It’s true confession time; I didn’t prepare for Sunday School during the week. In fact, it was Saturday when I finally got around to planning the activities. And, I’m embarrassed to say, I didn’t prepare to tell the Bible story until about 6:30 Sunday morning! But, thankfully, as I prepared and prayed I learned once again that God is faithful—even when I haven’t held up my part of the deal.

I didn’t have the materials suggested for the Dramatic Play activity, but I realized I did have the ingredients needed for play-dough birthday cakes, complete with sparkly candles so we could talk about how God is with us as we grow and that He is always helping us learn new things. (“Even you?” one little girl asked as we made miniature birthday cakes. “Even me,” I replied. “God is teaching me new things, too.”)

And since I love helping kids experience the Bible story action, as I was preparing early Sunday morning, an idea for storytelling popped into my head. When I got to church, I quickly lettered three signs: “Egypt,” “Nazareth” and “Jerusalem.” I put up the first two signs in an adjacent empty room, and attached “Jerusalem” to the wall where our story time takes place. As we talked about Mary, Joseph and Jesus returning safely to Nazareth, and then journeying to Jerusalem when Jesus was 12, we walked from place to place and imagined what the trip had been like. Kindergartners and three-year-olds alike kept focused on the story while their bodies were busy, too.

By the end of the session, we were all thankful for God’s care as Jesus grew, and for His care for us as we are growing, too. I was especially thankful for the gifts of new ideas for teaching kids as we start this new year. I wonder what new ideas for teaching God will be giving you?