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SSTN # 122 - December 3, 2002
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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:
1) Youth & Education Ministry
2) Curriculum Storage
3) Angel Wings?
4) Computer Use
5) Christmas Pageant Song
6) December Youth Sunday Idea
7) Disruptive Children
8) Disruptive students
--> Kids Can @ Christmas Time
9) Older kids worship videos?
10) Disruptive students
11) Reproducible activities?
12) Disruptive students
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1) Youth & Education Ministry
a. Who is responsible for the youth and/or education ministry in your
church? I am part of a small church (~100ppl) so our church got together
with the 11 other churches to employ a Youth Worker.
b. If this person is someone other than a pastor, how did you go about
hiring him/her? We now have two (1 male 1 female for child protection law
reasons). It's been quite hard to find them. We advertised in Church Times
& local press.
c. What qualifications does this person(s) have? (Education, strengths,
abilities, etc.) The first is a fully trained (3 years in college to get
degree) as a Christian Youth Worker. The other one is in first year of uni
more of a role model for the young people.
d. What is(are) the salary(s) for this(these) positions? Both work 10
hours a week. Trained 0 an hour, untrained 0 an hour. They get help from
volunteers from the churches. Each of the churches pays a year, the rest
is fund raised & comes from trusts & charities.
e. What are the main (everyday) responsibilities of this person(s)/what
is the job description(s) of this person(s)? They only work 10 hours a
week & the churches are very spread out. We have one youth group, but not
everyone can get to it. They are supposed to be responsible for co
ordinating the youth activities. But the youth group has been amazing. It
attracts teenagers who have never been to church before &
people feel able to bring their non christian friends. Many young people
have learnt a lot about Christianity & are becoming Christians.
There are problems with this set up though. Both workers go to their own
churches on Sundays so Sunday Schools are run by volunteers from the
churches (ie me) This has caused friction between the two set ups some
people not involved in both feeling one is taking control etc.
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2) Curriculum Storage
>What do you suggest as the best way to store curriculum?
>Does anyone have any really good ideas?
There are about 365 "stories" in the Bible that are appropriate for
teaching in Sunday School. We write our own curriculum, and consequently,
create all the games, handouts, and other supporting materials for the
lessons. I created a hanging file "bucket" for each story we were using
in our current curriculum year. I labeled each file bucket with the title
of the story and the scripture reference in the Bible. I have mine filed
in order according to the layout of the Bible, but it may make sense to
order them in other ways that will work best for you, such as
alphabetically by title. As I worked on materials for other lessons
that we were not using, I created a file for that lesson as well. I am
now up to about 240 files and have them divided and stored in large,
plastic file boxes with lids.
We are in the process of converting all of our materials (where it makes
sense) to electronic media. I will be publishing a CD in the Spring of
2003 and using that to distribute curriculum to my teachers.
Shandelle Grosbach
Children's Ministries Overseer, Calvary Chapel Aurora
(Colorado)
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3) Angel Wings?
In one of you news letters in November some one told how to make Angel
wings out of netting. Can you please send me those instructions again. It
sound ed so pretty.
--from SSTN: all the articles are Archived in the site at:
http://christiancrafters.com/archives.html
Try using keywords: "netting" and "wings".
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4) Computer Use
We established a computer lab 4 years ago. We were blessed with a donation
of 8 computers to get us started. I would suggest you visit with Neil
MacQueen at sundaysoftware.com. He was a valuable source of information on
everything from hardware set up to software. He also has a book out
entitled Computer, Kids, and Christian Education.
Eric Manlove
Central Church of Christ-Wichita, KS
--from SSTN: "Computer, Kids, and Christian Education" is available in our
bookstore. Type the title into the search box to find it:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html
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5) Christmas Pageant Song
Here is a song we used a few years ago and we are going to use it at the
beginning of our Christmas Pageants this year. So I thought I would share
it with you.
On the Eve of the Pageant (Twelve Days of Christmas tune)
On the eve of the pageant my mother had to bring.
1. A manager for a wee king.
2. Two angels' wings
3. Three gold crowns
4. Four shepherd's staffs
5. FIVE TONS OF HAY!
6. Six dozen cookies
7. Seven scenes for painting
8. Eight songs for singing
9. Nine robes with striping
10. Ten clouds for hanging
11. Eleven bells for ringing
12. Twelve cars for hauling
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6) December Youth Sunday Idea
Once a month, we have Youth Sunday were the Sunday School Children sing.
I came up with a cute idea that I am planning on doing on the Youth Sunday
in December.
The children/youth that will be in costumes for the Christmas Pageant.
Mary, Joseph,
Innkeeper, Wise men, Angels, Shepherds, etc. When it is time
for the Children to sing their song during worship service. They are
going to walk from the back of the church with their costumes on down the
center isle and go up in front of the church. Standing like the Nativity
Scene is. They are going to sing one of the Christmas Pageant songs.
"Away in the Manager".
Another idea:
Make a Christmas Pageant Invitation Postcard. Saying your invited to the
Christmas Pageant, etc. etc. Also say I (the children) will be dressed up
as a ______. And have the children sign their name at the bottom. The
children can give these personal invitations to members of the church to
come and see them in the Christmas Pageant. Also extra ones available for
the children to take home and give them to relatives.
RS
Dillsboro, IN
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7) Disruptive Children
Hello. My name is Lee. I am in 10th grade, and this is my first year
teaching the little kids, but God has taught me so much this year. I thank
God that He has chosen me. What a privilege to serve Him! About disruptive
behavior, I strongly disagree with using prizes and candy to manipulate or
make the kids listen. It does help with behavior problems, but the reason
why they listen is only because of that candy. They are more concerned
about the candy than to learn about God. What God taught me is that I need
to really pray for them (spiritual warfare), and to take this position
more seriously than I had been. I asked the kids if they, as students,
know what they're supposed to do. Most likey they do (such as listen,
respect, obey, etc). Then I told them that God has chosen me to teach
them. My duty is to tell them about God, and their duty is to listen. This
has worked with my students (6-9 year olds). Main thing is to keep on
praying, and pray for each and every one of them!
! Keep on serving the Lord!
--from SSTN: Lee, It's an honor to have you in the network!
Your sister in Jesus, Sarah <><
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8) Disruptive students
>I was shocked and deeply saddened by some of the answers to this problem.
>Look deeply inside yourselves everyone. If there is a disruptive child,
>would Jesus "send him out?" or is that the one that REALLY needs us? I'm
>sorry, I am the single mother of a 12 year old with ADHD and an 8 year
I agree with you. I teach 1st & 2nd graders and I have a couple that I
would guess are probably ADHD. They are definitely a challenge. However,
I believe God has brought them there so that they can learn just like
everyone else. I have found if you keep them busy, give them extra
duties, that they are more in control. Johnette
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Kids Can @ Christmas Time
An Advent celebration of 28 crafts and recipes. Some of the projects are:
Epiphany Ornaments, Ribbon Stars, an Edible Nativity, and the Jesus in the
Manger cupcake, to name a few!
To learn more, follow the link below:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html
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9) Older kids worship videos?
I am looking for worship video's for older children. There are lots out
there for preschoolers but not for older elementary. I have found some
and we play them for the children as they come in. It has cut down
tremendously on the running around before we begin. I am just looking for
a larger variety. Thanks for any help!
Mary Konvalin
Watertown, SD
--from SSTN: for those responding, remember to include product
codes/publisher names so I may find them for the bookstore. Thank you!
Sarah <><
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10) Disruptive students
> I was shocked and deeply saddened by some of the answers to this problem.
>...If there is a disruptive child,would Jesus "send him out?" or is that
>one that REALLY needs us? ...Kym
Kym, God bless you for being able to contend with children with ADHD &
autism. But not everyone is gifted with your capabilities. I have been
teaching Sunday School for over 35 years and been the Youth Minister
almost as long. And there are those fortunate ones like you who have the
patience and capacities to be able to contend with disruptive students.
But there are many more willing teachers who have tried and failed to be
able to reach these students in a class full of other children.
Once, to my utter horror, I asked my children's church full of children at
the end of the class, just what they had learned that day in class. I was
expecting to have them tell ME the Bible story we had worked on, but
instead one student raised his hand and gave me his honest response.
"Today we learned how to try to make A--x behave and mind you." I was dumb
struck ... this class full of kids had gotten nothing out of the hour,
except that I had to fight to control this one child. Needless to say,
that changed my attitude about disruptive kids in a class. I am not
willing to sacrifice an entire class room full of open, willing minds, to
have to spend that time trying to make this one child sit still
and be quite. The rules for my classes now state that if a student is
disruptive once, he is corrected. Twice, he gets a time out. Third time,
he is removed from the class and another adult is given care of him.One on
one, for a certain number of weeks. And I can count the times on one hand
that the same child has had to be removed a second time. I find they
want to be back in the class with the other kids.But they must follow the
same rules as everyone else. Your question, would Jesus "send him out?"
We do not know. But, in my opinion, He would deal with it. Because EVERY
child REALLY needs us. Not just the disruptive ones.
In His Service,
MaryM
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11) Reproducible activities?
HI! I have a question. Our 5-8 grade classes are learning their Sunday
lessons through the Bible. I am tried to find a website where I can input
the Bible Verse for that Sunday and different reproducible activities
show. I found it once but have not had any luck. Does anyone know of a
site like this?
Thanks!
Wendy
--from SSTN: check the links page. You might find it there:
http://www.ChristianCrafters.Com/page4.html
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12) Disruptive students
Here is an idea that I use with my preschool SS class. If a child is
misbehaving then they get 2 warnings (1st-silent--hand on their head or
shoulder;
2nd-verbal--"Josh" please stop). If this doesn't work
I make him turn his chair away from the table and he
does not get to participate in that particular
activity. After he has had a few minutes to think
about what happened, I take him off to the side and
ask why he had to turn his chair around. I talk with
him about what happened and ask if Jesus would want
him to behave that way. I explain that Jesus wants us
to obey our parents and teachers and also to be nice
to everyone. If I have to make a child turn around
more than once during class, I ask my helper to take
him to his parents. After class I find the parents
and explain why "Josh" had to leave class. I have
only had to send one child out of class and after that
he behaved wonderfully.
I hope this helps,
Louise
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