Planned Teaching Moments

Often times the Holy Spirit uses either situations or gives you little glimpses into the heart of a child to allow you to teach a child about God, His Word or how to act out His character!  But part of the training has to be planned. 

As a teacher, if I don't plan out exactly what I want to accomplish for a week or month, it'll never got done, or half of my objectives will get left out.  I encourage you to make a monthly theme & plan out week by week what you would like to accomplish.  I am going to start a monthly theme with ideas & resources, starting in September.  I am going to go along with the Chapel theme that I will be working on.  In September we will be doing Respect & in October we will do Patience. 

Some of you may be thinking that your son/daughter is not old enough to start something like this with them.  I urge you to think otherwise.  My daughter is 14 months old.  I will be planning several things with her...from children's literature to DVD's to music!  I will try to include some simple ideas for others of you that are in the same boat.

Here are some planning tips:
1. Make a visual for your virtue & its definition for the month.
2. Find a main bible verse to memorize for that virtue.
3. Make a visual for the bible verse.
4. Read the visuals whenever the subject comes up, even if they can't read it.
5. Find 1 or 2 bible stories that go with that virtue to tell your child.
6. Find 1 or 2 object lessons (lessons based on a simple object in your house).
7. Plan a weekly theme that goes with that virtue.
8. Plan 2-5 times a week that you will do a lesson on the virtue.
9. Plan a daily time that you will go over the virtue & memory verse.
10. Plan a daily time to be in prayer asking the Lord to help your family grow in that virtue.
11. Establish an area to have your lesson & visuals.  I suggest having a bulletin board, white board or wall space to display them on.
12. Create a binder or file foler to keep any ideas & lessons in for a quick resource.  There is nothing like needing an idea & having to go searching for it!
13. Take time on a site like Bible Gateway or Blue Letter Bible to search for verses or references to the monthly virtue.  Keep a list of things you are learning about the virtue.

If you have any other ideas that will help a parent or teacher, please leave a comment!  If you are using a resource from someone else's site or from a book, please list it as well.