I received low-resolution pictures of almost all the illustrations for my next illustrated children’s book on Noah and the flood. The color drawings are amazing. The book is coming soon, possibly by late September or early October.
Story by Brenna Phillips
Illustrations by Kristie Chamlee
Take a look at this drawing showing Noah choosing to follow God’s way:
Once again I read an article about a positive way to succeed in adventures and life tasks. Awhile back I read in Len Sweet’s AquaChurch 2.0 book his advice for being a risk-taker. Read that post by clicking here.
Most recently I read an article about an educator who credits much of her success to her grandfather’s advice while learning to waterski: ”He told her she would never have a good ride unless she went outside of the wake.” Read that article by clicking here.
I am reminded once again that we must get out of the boat. We must get our feet wet. We must try. Even if we sink toward the bottom a few times in our efforts to succeed, may God pull us back up and help us to try again.
I recently found this picture on a friend’s Facebook page.
She said when the preacher said “let us pray” at a wedding, her little boy bowed his head.
That’s what it is all about. We teach them at young ages. We model what to do. Then they demonstrate on their own what they have learned.
… move up to children’s worship. It’s that time of year. Transition time. New class time. Larger classes. More children. Older children.
Make the transition moving up easier with this book: Savannah Goes to Children’s Worship. Click on the title or see the book link to the right of this post to place your order for the book.
Click on this video to join in the song Every Move I Make.
People of all ages can be involved in missions. Any kind of mission project. One 4 year old Bible study class at my mom and dad’s church made cards for people who are not well enough or able to attend church right now. Here is the card they made for my mom while she is at home:
This video is meant to be fun and is in NO way a slap or blow at homeschool families. I have great friends who homeschool their children. There are many reasons for homeschooling. Homeschooling can be very effective and beneficial and depends on the needs of each family.
Click on the link for the following video:
It’s almost time for students to go back to school. Many of them will go to new schools. It can be stressful enough just going to a new class and a new teacher. It is even more stressful going to a completely new school and environment.
Start early talking about the transition with children. Talk about the expectations of a new grade and age group. Talk about the school. Talk about the teachers. Click here for tips and helps on going back to school.
Transitions not only happen at school. They also happen at church. Children promote to new classes at church as they grow older and move on to older classes at school. Preschool is a big time of transition and can be very stressful and overwhelming to young children. Click here for a helpful resource on transitioning preschoolers at church.
Here is an excerpt from Savannah Goes to Children’s Worship. Preschoolers grow up and older and are ready to move on to bigger classes. However, those classes can be overwhelming to young children at first. They have been in a preschool class with only other children their ages. Now they are older and being promoted to school-age groups often with children of multiple ages.
Check out this picture of a young girl in her preschool classroom with toys on the floor and posters on the walls:
Now check out this picture of a young girl in a large group setting with many other children, loud music, and much more:
Click here to order your copy of Savannah Goes to Children’s Worship to help ease the tensions and stresses of transitioning to a new classroom or group.
I read a recent tweet from another children’s minister professional who said he finds himself planning activities for 5th-6th graders that were once planned for high school students. I teach early childhood students ages 3-5 and they are doing activities and learning assignments that used to be accomplished in K-1st grades.
It is amazing how much children are growing older and how young they are in their thinking processes and at what ages they are when they reach certain lifestyle milestones. This is true for their physical attributes as well, causing young children (especially girls) to mature faster and experience adult physical conditions and characteristics.
Here is a recent article explaining how children are younger and younger when they begin to reach their puberty years. Researchers have linked many reasons to these younger years but here is the most recent reason:
“The biggest culprit seems to be the super-sized American diet. The rate of obesity in children ages 2 to 11 has nearly tripled over the last few decades. Fat cells produce estrogen, as well as the hormone leptin, which can stimulate the release of the hormones that trigger puberty. Girls who are overweight also produce excess insulin (a hormone that helps the body use starches and sugars from food for energy), which can stimulate the ovaries and adrenal glands to release more sex hormones. A 2003 study found that nearly 60 percent of girls with precocious puberty were overweight.”
Click here for the full article.
Facts like this greatly change the children’s ministry thinking. Not only must we change our ideas and thoughts on activities for early childhood and elementary students, we must change how we think about fun activities and summer camps. Elementary students must almost be thought of as youth when it comes to camps, etc.
It is amazing how much teachers can learn from their students when they listen more. Teachers often talk too much and think they have to be talking to be teaching. Teachers are intense learners. They can learn from their students and more learning will take place if teachers listen more to their students. Both parties involved in the learning process will learn more if they listen to each other more and talk less.
Read this post on teachers talking less and listening more.
