Any fellow Kids Sunday School teacher's out there?

[luckylexy]

I started going to a small church a couple months ago. Because I have experience in Kids' ministry and really enjoy working with children, I was recruited immediately. Well, the class has 3-7 students in it. The three regulars are siblings. Their former teacher did not establish any structure and let them have free-time for the entire session! So, we are having a difficult period of transition! The kids are disprectful and rude. They tell me that they hate what I've planned (even the activities and games) and even interrupt when I'm praying! Their Mother does not back me up and just makes excuses for her children...

I want to teach the kids about God and have fun too, but these kids are driving me up the wall!

HELP!

edit: grrr... I made a typo. in my title and it won't let me edit it...

Edited October 8, 2007 by luckylexy

[Zadok Rox]

I used to be a Sunday School teacher (though not a very good one in my opinion). I've never had this problem before, though I had one student (a neighbor I took to church) who asked alot of questions and sometimes acted like he wasn't listening dispite stating he was. Perhaps you need to speak to the pastor about this (and don't forget to mention how the kids' mom won't do anything but play the "not my child" game).

[damo1]

from damo1

high i hope by what i share will help you as i am in an aborigonal church hear in Australia and we get kids like this in our sunday school but the parents hear work with the sunday school teachers as our pastor is an aborigonal pastor and elder of this commuity and he knows his own people and how they behave i am a youth worker and i work with troubled youth who are always rude and violent so i thought hay i can share something hear

i know its hard when you have kids who are disruptive and rude and then you have parents who keep making excuses you are in control hear you have them for that 1hr so you lay down the ground rules respect for each other respect for you and safty for new kids as kids need to be were they can be safe and were they can establish growth as you are dealing with kids that have not rules at home and ther parents let them run wild you have kids that have grown up in christian homes with christian up bringing and you need to also keep these kids safe and make sure no rude coments go towards these kids and that they get the chance to hear the message as well

its going to take time for these kids to know you do things that they also can be comfterbal with were you can see what encourages them in the lesson you do for the day

try diffrent things like get a bag off lollies or goodies and only give this out when they behave our sunday school teachers do this hear and tell the kids they only get this when they show respect and when they behave and are not rude or disruptive as remember they have no concept of what we have and you need to lead and show them this

what we did hear with the other parents who only come once a month we said to them in love we love you we want you to be part of our church we want your kids to enjoy them selves but we will not put up with our sunday school teachers being abused or being sworn at we said it clear even though you let them do this at home it stops at the front before you walk in the door

the kids we have are wild they fight among them selves they hit each other and they swear openly at each other as this is how they have been raised in home and they have picked this up by watching how their parents behave and we said this is not a baby sitting club as sevral parents would turn up drop their kids and take of to the pub and come back at 1pm and pick their kids up we new they were drinking and it had to be said we work on tuff love not soft love and tuff love works with these aborigonal kids we have as they do not get this attention at home

we have two young boys who are only 9 coming to our sunday school they have a troubled past and got in big trouble with the police yet when they come hear they know their are boundaries layed out for them to follow and we watch them close as they will do damage if you do not watch them

try this tell your pastor you want to hold a meeting with the kids parents that are disruptive and you state what you need to state also we get the more disruptive ones parents sitting in so they can see and then be a bit more open to the sunday school teachers and help with pulling their kids up

we do games as we are on a 3 acre block and we have a basket ball ring set up so they can unwind and then a short bible message is preached bring in music then a message at the end you can get good kids videos to be played in sunday school and with the goodies i told you to get this is like a bribe

always try new things as sometimes it helps and dont be afraid to be your self as these kids are also pushing you to see how far they can go

what our sunday school teachers also do is this for the disruptive ones and the rude ones they work on a reward system if your church can afford this and it does not cut the tything budget get a board with stars and say at the end ot the year you will get a reward that reward can be anything from a book from the christian book store to a christian t shirt or christian cd no cash we dont do this hear and if you see growth wear they start showing they are respecting you and not being rude or disruptive but can sit for that hr you have them then you place like a golden star alocate diffrent stars and have their names on the board and you place these stars in order for you to see how far they have grown trust me it works with disruptive kids and they will see that you are their for them

i do this with the older troubled youth i work with i help out at a local police youth club which is run by the police its called pcyc and we did this with the youth that were comming to young life the police officer is a christan detective and active with in the police force and is with the church of christ we were able to take sevral troubled youth out for the day and they were able to go on a police boat and go out for the day

with young life they have their own speed boats two of them and we took 17 of the worst behaved youth out for the day mixed males and females and we had fun these young youth have had troubled pasts and we were able to connect with these youth and form strong bonds i went on the speed boat and even took a turn at driving the speed boat my self we had big tubes and wake boards and for the hole day these youth had fun but we worked on a reward system and they thanked us for doing this it was set up threw the courts and young life which is based mainly in America and a

Anglican run and the churches hear have taken on what young life does and uses this as an out reach tool may be you can even do this if you know some one who has a boat or some one who has horses you can do it on a saturday and just spend that day with the disruptive ones and rude ones

so i hope this helps

from your brother in the lord damo1 damien

[ray]

You say you have 3 to 7 students and 3 of them are siblings. What is age range range or grade level difference? This would makes for a whole new approach to teaching since you have cross grde levels.

Find out what they are interested in and make their intrest some kind of positive reward sesytem. Since you have varied ages by least 3 to 4 years that does make a difference in activities that you should do. We had a class like this and some the non regualrs were girls so we split the classes and did boy classes and girl classes. When they got to point of maturity we blended the older one back together and kept the younger onse seperate.

If they are very active children than I suggest getting a hands-on-curriculm instead of the old fashiioned lecture curriculm with pre made crafts. Most children do not learn that way anymore.

To get the parent on your side this may sound harsh at first but if the child is rude make them sit in sunday school with their parents for few weeks. Either the parent will get the message or they will leave because there is no support for the staff for those that want to teach children were you are located.

One year my dad taught the children about temple and the holie of holies by making it out of legos.

one night because I had gone a mission trip was asked to share what ever kind money iad left over and maybe if i knew some foods they might want to try. and have the children help make the food. the kids loved it and and than made a presentation to show the church what they had learned. This made the paretns want to be more involved.

Also have the children study the book of james or part of one of the gospels and and have a night to see who is smater the parents or the children on a given book of the Bible.

One night we have bike safety night and have the kids make sure they can follow the course. Kids are allowed use whatever kind of bike or big wheel they know how to ride. This involves parent support as well interation with teacher support and family fun the learning of the BIble at in early age needs to be enjoyed not forced. This also builds relatioships with people who would not normally partipcate in childrens activities.

[Guest]

[irishcowboy]

you might start out with each child, setting up one rule, or condition, with consequences for breaking the rule or condition.....

such as talking out of turn would remove points,

being polite, waiting for ones turn to speak, or to do something would add to their points.

have a reward system, and have some nice (they do not have to cost a lot) prizes for a certain amount of points.....

reciting last weeks memory verse 5 points

bringing bible 2 points

being polite 2 points

talking out of turn - 2 points

being rude - 2 points

being disrespectful - 2 points

participating in class 5 points

bringing a guest 4 points ( a guest is only a guest one time)

bonus points:

being able to recite all the memory verses for the entire month the last sunday of the month 10 points

learning the beatitudes 20 points (and achievement certificate) *

learning the ten commandments 10 points (and achievement certificate) *

learning the armor of God 10 points (and achievement certificate) *

learning the old test books 20 points (and achievement certificate) *

learning the new test books 15 points (and achievement certificate) *

*note, these type of things would be a one time thing for each child, ..... also, it would be a good idea, if you notice a child that can not memorize very good to be able to gain points in other ways as well, not just in memorization work... maybe have a volunteer chart, where they can sign up to pick up paper or litter out of the sanctuary after the services....one child per service, and they can not sign up for more then one a month, unless the space has been empty for a couple weeks..... or maybe some one can assist with the greeters and greet people as they come to church.... even points for leading in the opening prayer or closing prayer,

prize ideas (either set it up weekly, or monthly)

($10.00) gift certificate for the Bible Book Store 100 points

grab bag ( have pencils, pens, braclets, crosses or other small things ) 50 points

a good study Bible (500 points)

a Christian themed frizbe, 40 points

a plackard of the 10 commandments 60 points

candy bar 5 points

you can come up with some small prizes, as well as larger prizes.... talk withthe parents and see if some would be willing to donate some monies for the initial prizes... talk to the pastor and board members about this..... you might even suggest that the offerings that the children bring in, part of it goes towards their prizes...

you might have prizes redeemed monthly, and a child can carry over points from month to month.... but i would not deduct from points carried over from one month to another, only during the month....

so if a child earned 40 points one month, and lost 5 that same month, they would have 35 that the y could spend or carry over.. if they chose not to spend it, then it would be locked in their account, and only the points for the next month could be deducted from..... ( this way, if one child spent all their points, and one carried them over, both would be starting the next month with a clean slate and on an even keel...)

this is just one idea, i do not know what your budget constraints are, but you can set the point system and reward system to match the budget constraints.....

let the kids also help out in setting up the rules that will take away points, and how many points would be lost if the rule is broken...... hold them to it, and make the points match the offense and the points match the achievement.......

sit back and relax and think of things....

mike

[ColleenLovesMischief]

What age group???

[luckylexy]

Thanks to those who responded so far. You've given me some good ideas to ponder.

The kids are 1st through 4th grade. It's hard because I never know which kids will show up and whether or not I'll have non-readers. I'm designing my own curriculum, because of budget constraints, and because of the age range. The curriculum I'm designing is very hands-on. It is interactive, with activities, games, and crafts. Right now we're studying the Book of Daniel, with an emphasis on obedience--how it stems from trusting God and how it a way that we practice our faith everyday. The kids will interrupt me while I'm presenting the story and say things like, "I want to go home; I don't like you, " "I know this story. Pick another one," or, "I hate Bible stories. I wish you'd be quiet!"

I've thought about a reward system, and, with the ideas presented here, will implement one this coming Sunday. I was thinking that maybe I could get some of those "gold" coins that they have in the party favour section at the store. I could give each kid so many coins to start with, and then take them away as they disobey the rules. We've already had several discussions about the rules. I made a poster with the rules and tacked it up on the classroom wall.

I have had a discussion with the parents, but it didn't go well because they won't acknowledge that there is a problem. They told me that I needed to learn how to discern normal child behaviour from defiance... When I tell a kid 3 times to stop interrupting while we're praying or something, and they keep doing it, that is defiance. The boundary is clear, and the kid keeps crossing it. How can the parents not see that? The Sunday before last, I had to send one of the children upstairs to sit with his parents because he couldn't settle down. The Pastor's wife was down there trying to help me with this child, and she couldn't get him to listen to me either!

*sigh*

Anyhow, I think that pretty much addresses what has been posted thus far. Any further feedback is appreciated! :-)

[sandwalker]

relationship is the key. so the question is how do you build a relationship with the children,when you only see them once a week, is there a posibility of maybe taking out these kids for lunch, one at a time. i think you'll find that by themselves they are different children then they are when they are together. another suggestion is when you read the stories have some of the kids come and act out the scenes as you read them, so even though they may have heard them before, seeing there class mates up there they may have more attention because they involed in the story.

hope this helps

[salos]

It is the responsibility of the pastor and the deacons to establish orderliness in the church. You need to take the matter to them. Then they can pray, talk to the parents, supply extra helpers, or whatever else is needed to turn things around. Good luck!!!!!