"Do we know what our children are spiritually grasping on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis? Can we teach so the message will stick in their hearts? Will they get it when we teach the meaning of worship from God's Word?
"Children have diverse learning styles that affect how or what they hear. There are many opinions on how many learning styles actually exist, but the four basic ones that I've found valuable in teaching theater are visual, kinetic, language, and logical.
- Visual learners need to see things. They like to see colors and objects, and they learn through images. For example, they love to watch Bible stories being acted out.
- Kinetic learners process knowledge through physical sensations. They commicate with body language and gestrues. They like to participate in musical choreography and actually do, rather than watch, the acting in dramas.
- Language-oriented learners think in words and verbalize concepts. They are great tellers of Bible stories.
- Logical learners think conceptually. They are the "wonderers" who ask all the questions.
"Spiritual giftedness, personalities, and various temperaments also have an impact on how kids learn and respond to learning. If you teach the same lesson to ten kids at the same time, each will digest the material differently!
"Six-year-olds will not get the same meaning from a lesson as nine-year-olds. Consider the following: Two sisters had the same teacher for children's church. The lesson was about the feeding of the five thousand from Luke 9. The six-year-old told her folks their lesson was about a little boy who shared his lunch and how we should learn that Jesus wants us to share. Her nine-year-old sister said their lesson was about Jesus performing miracles. They had the same teacher and the same lesson, but they arrived at a different understand.
"Have you ever heard of a sermon that every adult in the congregation processed exactly the same way? A senior pastor has staggering odds against him. During a year's worth of sermons, parishioners hear only haf the intended messages (and personally apply even fewer of those), though they faithfully sit through every service.
"Look at a few of the variables involved in an audience of one hundred adults: age, economic and educational differences, spiritual maturity, gender, stress levels, fatigue, and health. Different people hear the same sermon in very different ways. The best way to know if a person understands a message is to ask follow-up questions. The pastor is at a disadvantage because he lacks question-and-answer time.
"The same variables and true for an audience of children, but we can ask questions. Where children are involved, so much is at stake! If we don't reach kids for Jesus by the age of twelve, the likelihood of ever doing so is slim.
"When I think of all the 'lessons' our kids hear in age-appropriate church classes without having a clue what they mean, I shudder. Imagine what they don't grasp sitting in an adult church service! We assume far too much when it comes to children's interpretation of spiritual and biblical language.
"Recently, a seven-year-old girl announced to her parents that she wasn't going to pray anymore! Surprised, since prayer had been a big part of their everyday family life, her parents asked why she would say such a thing. She explained, 'Why should I talk to God when He never talks to me?'
"She assumed God spoke aloud to her mom and dad. All other adults in her life referred to things God had told them, but she had never once heard Him talk. She had tried her best to hear God speak but had failed to hear His voice. So she decided to quit talking to Him.
"Many children get lost in adult vocabulary. Their maturing in the Lord stops the moment they accept Jesus.
"We waste so many valuable years because kids don't comprehend what we say in church. My Christian experience was only somewhat important to me as a child. I liked going to my classes at church, and unlike some of my friends, I never rebelled against attending. It was a nice, social, predictable part of my existence.
"When I was six years old, I accepted Jesus, asking Him to 'come into my heart.' I really understood it because my parents painstakingly explained it to me. (However, one of my friends was frightened at the thought of someone cutting her chest open to get into her heart!)
"I remember having the act of baptism carefully explained to me as well. The same ritual ensued when I wanted to take part in communion. Those three areas had clarity.
"The majority of the other 'Christianese' spoken by my parents and church leaders lost a lot in the translation on the way from my ears to my brain.
"We are, as teachers and parents, interpreters of God's Word, translating it into a child's language. We are dictionaries defining things and encyclopedias explaining things to help children know God better--enabling them to worsihp Him.
"We may have to repeat and vary the process many times. Every child is different. Each one grasps information at his or her level of understanding. Therefore, in talking about spiritual truths, we need to turn around immediately and ask each child what was just said."
