True Wisdom in Discipline.

Pastor Marv was speaking in chapel this morning from James 3.  He spoke about wisdom that comes from God, not the world, and it hit me.  We need wisdom in discipline all the time.  As parents, as volunteers, even as a spouse or friend.

The world may say that to have discipline in the classroom, you must be strict.  You must be just.  But true wisdom comes from God.  And in James 3:17, it says, "But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere."

When we discipline with wisdom from God, we're not thinking about ourselves!  So, here's what I'm taking from this:

1. We need to be PUREly thinking about the child being disciplined.  What they need.  What they are going through. 
2. We are ultimately striving for PEACE in the classroom.  Not submission.  Not order.  Not just obedience, but peace!  
3. We are to be gentle at all times.  Our tongues get us into trouble, constantly! If we let out what we're really feeling, sometimes we lose favor with that child, forever!  Be GENTLE when you speak, and in how you act.
4. We need to be WILLING TO YIELD.  Don't just to conclusions.  Don't assume you know everything that happened while your back was turned toward the chalk board.  Ask questions, and be willing to yield, even to the kids.  Know that you're not always right!
5. We are to be full of MERCY! Would you like to be treated with justice in every single thing you do?? NO!  God gives us mercy constantly!  Treat your kids with mercy and look for ways to bless them with GOOD DEEDS.  They will repay you with mercy and good deeds when it counts!  On that day when your kids kept you up all night, you missed your coffee fix because you had to rush out the door, you're not prepared with your lesson plan, and you have a full day ahead of you...they will give you grace and mercy and good deeds back.
6. Show NO FAVORITISM.  Favoritism breeds discontent.  Treat all the kids with love and grace, not just the quiet, perfectly behaved, little cutie-pie in her Sunday best.  
7. Always be SINCERE.  Kids can smell a lie, or flattery, or an insincere threat (!!) a mile away.  Be sincere in discipline, in love, and in kindness.

I would encourage you to ask God for wisdom!!! In the classroom, as parents, in our relationships, workplaces, every where!! God wants to give you his wisdom! Just ask!!  The most important thing to remember about this is, you can't come up with this stuff on your own.  True wisdom comes from God.  You can't always be peaceful, gentle, merciful, etc, on your own!  Go to God to change you from the inside out!

Volunteer Covenant Training

Hey Kids Staff!

I'm trying out a new approach to training!  If you have not sat through the Kids Training in 2012, please click the link below and have a listen!

Volunteer Covenant Training

Kids Ministry isn't baby sitting. It's not child care. It's not day care! It's unlike any other interaction with children that you may have had in the past. For one very specific reason. JESUS.

We teach about Jesus! We GET to teach about Jesus! PLEASE DON'T COME TO VOLUNTEER IN FREEDOM VALLEY KIDS MINISTRY WITHOUT TEACHING JESUS IN SOME WAY OR FORM! There's too much opportunity to miss!! Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and don't stop them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these!" (Matthew 19:14) If we allow children to come to CHURCH, and not meet with Jesus, in my view, we're stopping them. Which would be a direct violation of what Jesus taught. 

Yes, that goes for babies. Yes, that goes for toddlers. THEY CAN BE TAUGHT! Paul wrote to Timothy "from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures." (2 Timothy 3:15). 

Our babies and toddlers need people passionate about teaching them who Jesus is. Will you?








If you'd like more encouragement on this subject, check out this article: http://www.childrensministry.com/articles/tips-for-baby-spiritual-growth

Hi Kids Staff!
Just wanted to share this with you all...thank you so much for everything you do!!!

From Robin Deitch: "I am so impressed by the detail at which my grandaughters leave church and share the bible stories to us on the way home! I am so thankful for the childrens ministry at Freedom Valley. Having served for 8 years or more in childrens ministry I PRAISE YOU MUCH for what you are doing in bringing the word of God into the childrens hearts. [My granddaughters] have went through a lot in the past year. God and church have been the one stable thing in their lives."

Thanks for serving with me and helping kids see Jesus through you!!

Candace

Effective Evangelism

Hi Kids Staff!
I am starting a new CMUO.com (Children's Ministry University Online) class today, called "Evangelizing Children", and hope to be updating this blog more often with everything I'm learning!  I hope to bring you all alongside me, so that we can learn and grow together as a team!

Today was the very first day of class, and I'm already learning so much!  One nugget, from George Barna, really hit me though: "The most effective evangelists are the most obedient and committed Christians.".  Here's what I know to be true: you cannot fully convince anyone - much less a kid - of something that you are not fully convinced of yourself!  So, the most important thing to remember about teaching children is not really about teaching children at all!  It's about you.  Your personal life between you and Jesus.  It affects your teaching, it affect the kids, it affects everything!

So, here's the reminder for the week: Spend time with Jesus!  Get into the Word, find some quiet time with Him.  Isaiah 55:11 says, "It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it."  In other words, NOTHING bad could possibly come from reading the word! It always produces fruit!  What do you have to lose?

Preschool Teachers!

Along the same lines as my last post, there is another critical window of time in a child's life.  A time that we have the change to influence for good!  The preschool years are also VERY important!  According to Hohmann's book, Kids Making A Difference, crucial attitudes are developed in these years that are very hard to change once the child gets older.  "These attitudes include how a child feels about God, the church, and authority."

Our relationships with the kids make the difference!  You can try teach them facts about God and the Bible all day long, but if you don't KNOW that child, they are less likely to receive from you. We need to love those kids like crazy for the short amounts of time that they are with us!  We are their models of God, authority, and the church! That's a big responsibility that we shouldn't take lightly!

56ers especially, but for all teachers!

Hey 56ers teachers!

I am going through a "Kids In Ministry" course right now through Valley Forge, and I'm learning so much great stuff! One thing I am learning is how important it is to train kids to DO ministry, not just be ministered TO.  It's especially important with the age group that you are working with this very weekend!  The follow excerpts are from a book called Kids Making a Difference, by Pete Hohmann.

"The preteen years (ages 10-12) are our second critical window.... They are no longer little children, but not quite teenagers.  You probably noticed that the flannel graph stories and secret code word searches in Sunday School just don't seem to have the same impacts as they did with the younger children. In fact, many of the age group have grown bored with Christianity and are just going through the motions of memorizing material, only to quickly forget it the following week."

"Because of this boredom...many are lost at the age, even though their parents may faithfully bring them to church each Sunday....  Could it be that they are bored with Christianity because they have not been given opportunities to personally prove that the promises of God are true? Their ideas and beliefs remain untested, and therefore are not integrated into their own faith in a meaningful way."

"Children of all ages in the Millennial Generation want to make a difference, but it is CRITICAL that PRETEEN Millennials be given opportunities to ministry to others!"

In light of this information, I'd like you to hit hard a few things with the kids this weekend.  Whether it has ANYTHING to do with the lesson or not, emphasize the fact that giving back is important, and ministry to others is what Jesus called us to do, and they are not too young to do it! Let them know that we have a Jr. Helpers program that they can get involved in (I'll make sure to have applications ready for you this weekend), and we have a Kids Worship Band that they can get involved in!    Ask them how we could make Kids Connect better, and what their gifts and talents are that they could be using!  Write down their ideas (with names!) and make sure that information gets to me, and that you follow up with them the next time you see them as well!

Challenge them to get involved and to use their gifts and talents for God!  That's the only way we're going to keep their hearts and their faith through their teenage years! 

Thank you all!

Leading Kids Worship

Hey Everyone!
I came across this awesome how-to video for leading kids worship! I really think that it can apply across the board, however, because the principles Priscilla Tan shares can be applied to teaching as well!  Watch it and see what you think!

1 Corinthians 14

I've written about this before, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately again.  1 Corinthians 14:3 says that prophecy is "strengthening, encouragement, comfort"!   My post from April 23rd, talks about how people have been drawn to Freedom Valley in the past because they got strengthened, encouraged, and comforted within the walls of the church, from church people, like they never got anywhere before in their lives.

I would venture to say that kids are even more drawn to someone who strengthens, encourages, and comforts them than adults!  I think that is why some teachers in Kids Ministry are loved and met with with exclamations in the hallways!  They LOVE the kids!  They put the time in to ask them questions, and remember their name, and ask how their week is going!  Kids know when you are genuinely listening and when you're just humoring them.  They know when someone really cares, and when they're just going through the motions.  You can be an expert at teaching or classroom management or discipline...but if you don't LOVE the kids...if you don't encourage them, and comfort them, and strengthen them, they won't care.  They probably won't learn much either.  


Think back to your favorite teacher growing up...was it the most educated one?  Was it the most prepared?  The funniest?  My guess is, for most people, it was the one that took the time to get to know you.  The one that invested some time into you.  

There are plenty of churches out there with gorgeous, pristine, perfect facilities.  There are churches out there that have the most expensive and cutting edge curriculum on the market today.  There are churches that paid top-dollar for the most experienced Kids Ministry Team available.  All of that is good, and helpful, I'm sure...but none of it means anything, without love. (See 1 Corinthians 13:1-3)  


Help me communicate Jesus' love to the kids that come through our ministry.  Help me ask them what their favorite color is, and how their week went, and what's new in their lives!  Don't let them walk out the doors of your classroom without the knowledge that at church, they are loved.  That idea will be what makes them beg their parents to come back every Sunday morning.  That idea will carry them through the rest of their lives.  

Discipline

Hello Freedom Valley Kids Staff!
Harvest Cry is under our belts for the year, it went AMAZINGLY well, definitely a home run for us, but coming out of that, I had some questions about our discipline policy at Freedom Valley Kids!  It hasn't been made clear lately, and I'll be reinforcing it with you all over the next month or so.

Until you get that information, it would be awesome for you to hear the latest Children's Ministry Talk podcast!  This is a podcast I listen to on a regular basis, because it always has great, relevant information for me!  You can read all about Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode on that website, they have some great ideas and proven techniques they use in their own Kids Ministries!  Episode 40, the latest episode, came out June 8th, and the first topic they cover is...you guessed it: Discipline!

You can listen to that podcast here: http://www.childrensministrytalk.com/.

Thank you all for partnering with me this year, ministering to our precious little ones!  It's going to be an amazing summer!

Johannes' teaching on the NEXT GENERATION!

Freedom Valley Kids Staff!!

Our good friend and world-wide evangelist, Johannes Amritzer, did an amazing leadership training this morning on the next generation and why youth and children are SO important!

I will list my notes from the teaching below (sorry they are a little scattered, but you can see all the scripture references in there somewhere and see his points and follow along), but please go here to either listen to it or watch it!  http://freedomvalley.org/audio-video.  It's called "Friday Morning Young Leaders"

• 27% of the worlds population is under 15 years old.
• Hebrews 11:20-22

1. We need to be a church that lives for & blesses the next generation!

• PASSION communicates!
• don't try to act like something you are not! (i.e. a "big kid")
• Psalm 8:2 - children should be in the front ranks! They have POWER in their innocence!

2. We need to be a church that's young and aggressive!

• Psalm 110:1-3
• plan 10 years in the future. LIVE now and in the future, but NEVER in the past.

3. We need to be a church that prepares for a young army from all nations to arise in the US!

WHY YOUNG LEADERS ARE SO IMPORTANT:

1. Youth have a certain power & strength.

• Job 20:11
• 1 John 2:14

2. Youth have visions & ambitions for the future.

• Acts 2:17 - It's important that we listen to the young!

3. Youth are creative & they are trendsetters!

• 1 Timothy 4:12 - (LOVE this verse!!!)

4. Youth have a certain joy and inspiration!

• Ecc 11:9-10

5. Youth are given special visions & tasks.

• Luke 1:26

Teaching the Bible to Kids: Making the Bible History Instead of Stories

Check out this great article about Teaching the Bible to kids! I've been really fascinated lately by the concept of a Biblical Worldview and how to teach it to children. This article helps a little and even has more links that open up the WHOLE world of the reliability of the Bible!

Teaching the Bible to Kids: Making the Bible History Instead of Stories

Ideas for Talking to Kids

I found an awesome article on Ministry-to-Children.com by Wayne Stocks about talking to kids that lists ideas for conversation starters!

Check it out here: http://ministry-to-children.com/100-conversation-starters/

How Babies Learn!

I'm currently looking into a very simple curriculum for the infant nursery, but I came across this, to help get us started!  Nursery Staff, please read!

How Babies Learn

Babies have to be physically comfortable before they can learn.
If babies are hungry, sleepy, in pain, sick, they cannot pay attention to any learning activity. Watch for babies who seem content. Then take a safe activity to them that matches their level of ability. Offer the activity, using a duplicate toy in a way similar to what you want the baby to learn to do--eventually. Wait to see what happens.

Babies learn through repetition.
Rather than changing the lesson every time the babies come to church, repeat lesson ideas and activities. These little ones need the repetition to give them time to respond to the activity. For this reason, consider making lesson activities, complete with instructions, that can be stored in and taught in the baby room during every service for a month, several months, or permanently.

Babies are dependent on adults.
Generally, nursery helpers will need to be sensitive to babies' needs to move to new positions, to have toys within reach, to have interesting pictures or objects to see.

Babies learn through their senses.
Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling--all add to what babies are learning. Babies like to handle and mouth everything. So every nursery toy needs to be safe and cleanable. After one baby finishes with a toy that has been in his mouth, teachers should remove it until it can be washed and disinfected.

Babies learn from imitation.
If a teacher shakes a bell or moves a toy in a way related to a Bible story, eventually babies will probably imitate that part of the lesson.

Babies learn to talk when they hear talk.
The more often a baby enjoys eye-to-eye "talks" with adults, the more quickly she learned to understand and communicate. At first babies will begin moving their mouths, then making coos, then jabbering, and finally repeating a word or two.

Babies need to be protected from one another.
Crawling babies may climb over other babies in their path. Babies need help to learn to go around, not over, other babies. Teachers can help babies learn to use gentle touches. Teachers can also distract babies from exploring one another to exploring interesting books or toys.


Babies are learning to trust and love.
When babies receive tender, loving care during the first year of their lives, they learn to love other and to trust that their needs will be met. Learning to love and trust adults, whom they can see, can be the first step in learning to love and trust God, whom they can't see.

First Impressions

I've been catching up on my http://www.childrensministrytalk.com/ podcasts lately, and I came across one about First Impressions that caught my eye.  One of the speakers was saying that you have 10 minutes, when a family first walks onto your campus to make them go "Wow!"  If they don't, you've already lost them.  10 minutes!  It's got to be about 2 minutes for a child, and even less than that for a preschool or toddler.  Here's what he had to say about his experience:

"When my son Tim was 3 years old, we walked into a church and checked him into the 3-year-old class, and boy, the lady at the door was friendly, welcoming, used his name several times when she opened the door to let him in. He looked in the room and saw the kids having fun, playing with play dough, building with blocks, playing with cars on the floor, he ran in, no problem!

"I went to a friend of mine's church the next weekend, a large church, church with a brand new facility, we went to check him into the 3-year-old classroom, and the lady didn't talk to him at all, she only talked to us (my wife and I), he looked in, and grabbed my leg and starting crying.  Why?  Because kids were sitting on a tape line on the floor. They were waiting for class to begin.  There were bins full of fun toys to play with, but they didn't have any of them out yet.  Kids that age, boy, if you don't impress them in the first 5-10 seconds, you have a problem with a kid crying the whole service, wanting his parents.  With elementary kids, you can have up to a couple minutes, when they walk in to check out Children's Church. You gotta have kids welcoming kids, something for them to do! Appeal to the child, to that culture, IMMEDIATELY when they walk in the room."

Good word for all of us to get a hold of!  Please help make families and children feel comfortable and happy! I can only do so much with the environment and classrooms, I need your help, FV Kids Staff, to do the welcoming!

How To: Response Time With Kids

Hey Kids Connect, 56ers, & Explorers Teachers!

In the past, we haven't done a whole lot of response time to our lessons, but I think it is vitally important that we do some!  Kids should know that they have a responsibility to DO something when hearing the Word of God, and they NEED to respond in some way in their daily lives.  The Team Leader can't always be the one to offer this response time in Kids Connect, because of other outside-the-classroom responsibilities, but I really need you to help me offer one of these options in some way, shape, or form for every lesson you teach.  Please use simple words, easy to understand, and please end every lesson with prayer and response.  

I have discovered that children don't need dim lights and soft music to respond to Jesus!  When they want to, they aren't ashamed!  And they almost always want to! We just need to give them the opportunity.  I'd also like the names of the children you lead to the Lord.  I will send their parents a letter or e-mail with information for them.

Below are listed some options for you to consider when asking the children for a response (taken from a book by Dick Gruber, called, Focus on Children: A Handbook for Teachers):

Altar Call

An altar call is the traditional approach. Have the children close their eyes and think about the theme of the day. Sometimes I just tell them to close their eyes and think about Jesus. Those that wish to respond to today's lesson raise a hand. After the hand is raised, encourage them to stand and step to the front of the room. When up front either lead the children in a prayer or urge them to pray in their own words or in their own way.

Altar Service

An altar service is more of a group activity. Invite the children to gather at one point in your classroom. Typically, the front of the room is used as an altar area. In the altar service, children are encouraged to worship and pray as a group. The class can kneel, stand, or even sit together. Children may even pray one for another.

Group Prayer

Divide your class into smaller groups. If you have four children, make two groups of two. In the larger class, groups of three or four is effective. Assign a location i nyour room for each group. children in each group should pray one for another. Sometimes they may even hold hands and pray.

Prayer At the Chair

When beginning the response time, ask the children to turn and kneel at their seats. Those wishing prayer for specific needs are asked to raise a hand. Circulate through oyur class praying for those with special needs.

Prayer Circle

The entire class stands and makes a circle around the room. Children may or may not hold hands in this circle. Take turns going around the circle with each person praying out loud. If a person does not know what to pray, they may pass to the next. Have them pass by speaking a key phrase such as, "I love you Jesus," or "Thank you God."

Prayer Partners

Have the children pair off with one or two friends. The prayer partners spend time sharing and praying for each other in the classroom. The children may then exchange phone numbers and call one another for special prayer throughout the week.

Written Requests

Children are given paper and pencil. Ask them to write down their specific needs. Papers may be collected and prayed over. In one church I visited, children pinned these requests on a cardboard cross in the front of the room. After requests are written out and prayed over, keep a record of the answers that God provides. You may want to begin a prayer notebook. Lists of prayers and answers can be kept and read occasionally as an encouragement to the children.

Prophecy = Easy Recruiting

I just read a list of the top ten obstacles to recruiting for a Christian Education Ministry.  Number one was obvious, a lack of prayer!  We don't have because we don't ask!  

But it was the last one that really got me: "People's lack of confidence in themselves."  Recently, we've had a few different people join our church (I didn't ask them if I could share this, so I'll leave their names out), and when asked why they they joined, why they decided to keep coming, they said that it was because of the encouragement they felt when they were around!  They had never been encouraged like that in their entire lives!  They said that it was no one person in particular, but that it came from every side, all the time.  They got addicted to it!  They loved being around the church and started to get really involved, because for the first time in their lives, people weren't condemning them all the time, telling them everything they were doing wrong, being negative about their lives!  They were surrounded by people who built them up, and told them what a great job they were doing!  Therefore, they got more involved, and more involved.

That's called Prophecy!! 1 Corinthians 14:1-3, says that prophecy is "strengthening, encouragement, comfort"!!  When the American church gets a hold of that concept, the church will explode!  What a contrast between God's people and the world!   If we become a ministry that can prophecy over everyone that walks through our doors, we will never lack for volunteers.

I need your help to do this!  I need you to see your job as a Children's Ministry worker, not only to minister to the children in your care, but to every parent, every helper, everyone you come into contact with.  Prophecy over them by strengthening, encouraging, comforting.  People won't be able to stay away!

Note to Self:

Really great article from March/April 2010 K! Magainze by Dr. Tim Elmore:


Three kinds of kids (leaders):

1. Drivers. These are strong-willed students. They're often stubborn. They want to be in charge. They are natural leaders, but they must learn specific qualities that are not intuitive for them, like patience, people skills and planning. As an adult, you must be direct with a "driver" since they have strong ideas of their own.

2. Diplomats. They are the opposites of the drivers. Diplomats are harmonious, cooperative, and value peacemaking. They're relational and make marvelous leaders as everyone loves them. However, they must learn to stand for their convictions and gain their own vision. To lead them, simply seek cooperation.

3. Dreamers. These are the most misunderstood students. They are creative, reflective and imaginative, and often are quickly diagnosed as ADHD if they can't sit still. They will lead as visionaries, but must harness their own energy and ideas. To lead them well, offer them as many options as possible.


CULTIVATE HEALTHY HABITUDES INSIDE OF THEM:

1. Play chess not checkers. Checkers all look alike and move alike, so you treat the pieces all alike. In chess, however, the only way you can win is to know the strengths of each piece. Mediocre leaders play checkers with their people and get average results. Great leaders play chess and connect with others at the point of their uniqueness.

2. Build thermostats not thermometers. Both of these instruments have to do with temperature. One merely reflects the climate; the other sets the climate. We must cultivate kids who don't just mirror culture, but who set the spiritual tone for their peers.

3. Be a river not a flood. Floods are water going in every direction. Rivers flow in one direction. You must flow, not flood. You must become focused, not fuzzy. You can do anything in your ministry bu you can't do everything. Narrow and clarify your focus.

The Difference Between Arts and Crafts

I thought this was interesting!

The Difference Between Arts and Crafts

What I Learned: Unit 6

I'm not sure how to adapt the following into something that makes sense for everyone NOT in my Christian Education class, so I'll just leave it as is.  This is my "I Learned" post from Unit 6.  It has some really great nuggets in it from my textbook, by Michael J. Anthony.  

I loved this unit!  I am constantly trying to find creative and different ways to teach concepts, and love on kids!  Going through all the different learning styles I could identify people in my life that are Visual/Spatial learners for example, and Musical/Rhythmic learners (my husband!).  I loved the ideas about how to get ideas across in different ways.  For example, on page 144 of the book it says, "...after studying the relationship between God and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, students listen to nature sounds while recording a journal entry of Adam's or Eve's thoughts."  Cool!  Never would have thought of that, but what a great idea!

Another thought-provoking statement was on page 144, "It has been said that your weakest teaching method is the one you use the most."  I think that I teach from my own learning style.  I talk a lot, because language is my thing.  I also like to use videos to reinforce a story or idea.  But I never even though of the fact that kids need to MOVE to learn...I mean, other than the fact that they get fidgety and need to move for that reason.  To move in order to learn is a new concept to me.  The only examples I can think of for that would be like...acting out a Bible story as we learn it, but that's only the kids that get picked to act it out.  Or, maybe...passing around something that the kids can see and touch and feel, while telling the story.  Can anyone else think of anything that can help incorporate movement in a Sunday School environment?

There was one other thing that really struck me from the book.  Page 145 says, "We noticed that we learned as much from failure as from success.  In fact, the way one learns from success is predictable and leads to repetition, but the way one learns from failure is always different and surprising, rich with nuances to be mined at a later date."  I love that!  I consider myself to be creative in certain ways.  I'm not an artist by any means, I'm not a musician.  But I do try new things all the time with kids...like, I'll think of a game on the spot, and go ahead right then and try it!  If it works, great! If not, we'll move on.  I do tend to keep doing things that work, however, and I should probably try to mix that up a bit.  Keep the kids learning by keeping them guessing!