Delwyn's 3 year "all
ages" program.
I
designed this program because I was teaching children who ranged from 3
to 12 years of age, and the parents of the kids I was teaching
were not regular Church goers. The children had no background
Bible knowledge, and few of the parents would take the time to even
read a Bible story to their children during the week..
The Program:
My
Sabbath school program is set our differently from what you
are used to, because I experimented with it, to cope with
a child who had severe ADHD; and I found that
it worked well
for all children.
The children sit in "class" groups around tables with a teacher;
sometimes the tables are split into different age groups, sometimes
boys vs girls. Each table has colouring in
pencils, a box of supplies for the teacher and
a weekly Bible
verse colouring page for each child to be coloured in..
An average program is as follows:
- Singing
- Intro
activity - a game, discussion or activity based on something the kids
already know which introduces the topic or story for the day.
- Combine for the Bible story
- Alternate time for Singing
- Return to the tables to say the Bible verse and do
the colouring page.
- Crafts
/ Activities. While doing the craft the older groups take
part
in discussions about what they can learn from the Bible story
and
how it applies to their own lives.
- Conclusion & prayer.
Note:
Some years I have done the singing in the middle of the program,
because I found with
the singing at the beginning, that many of the boys lost
interest
before we got to the story.
Downloadable program and craft
helps:
Files
are labeled according to their year, quarter and week. For
example Y2Q1W3 is for Year 2, Quarter 1, Week 3.
- The
weekly "Plan" is an overview of the program for that week. It
can
be used to help the teacher prepare to teach the lesson.
It also includes a check list of things that must be
printed
or prepared for the week.
- The "Program List" is the list that I
print out and give to each of the table teachers. It tells
the
teacher what to say and what to do, and gives suggested discussion
topics. In some cases there are multiple program lists
because I have done things differently, different years.
Click here
to browse through the weekly plans or use the website menu to
download an entire quarter.
The weekly lesson books:
The
printable lesson puzzle books are designed so that children of all
ages can do the puzzles and see the story pictures without being able
to read. The Sabbath School program and crafts are
designed
for all ages and work best when children are seated in two or three
groups depending on their ages; older children can then have a
more in
depth discussion than the younger children.
The lesson
puzzle books are split into three levels depending on the child's
reading abilities. A new lesson book is handed out each week
and
each book contains the Bible story with different puzzles and colouring
pictures.
Pink Level - No
Reading:
For preschool children. The child will like having
someone
read the story to them, but the simple puzzles and colouring pictures
can still be
enjoyed by the child who doesn't have help.
Yellow Level - Learning to Read:
This level includes harder puzzles for children who know
at least most
of the capital alphabet, but are not necessarily confident or fluent
readers.
.
Blue Level - Reading:
For kids who enjoy reading and like the
challenge of harder puzzles.
Orange Level - Preteen/Teen: This level
involves more Bible details and harder puzzles, including crosswords,
and it aims to apply the lesson in a more in-depth way.
Somewhere
between the ages of 10 and 13, adolesents start to understand the
concept of symbolism, and this is when the teen level will most
valuable.
