My wife was asked to teach Sunday School and she was hesitant, so I told her I thought it was a great idea for her and she could make a difference.  Long story short, she rooked me into teaching the class with her.  Today is our first day.  Please say a prayer that we do a good job.  I believe this is going to be as great an experience for us as the kids.

If only I can refrain from yelling. "you little bastards...................!!".

Pray, I tell you, pray for me (and them)!

I'll post update after class...........if we survive.

*********

We survived and had a great time.  Only 10 kids today. It was a good lesson about communication and being honest with your friends.

There is one boy who does not want to participate.  He does not misbehave, but just comes in and politely refuses to participate.  He just sits and observes.  A couple of times I tried to engage him and he just said "No".  I could see that if I forced the issue he might really shut down.

Any suggestions on how to engage someone who does not want to participate.  I am hoping over time that with some gentle nudging he might start coming around.  Any tricks of the trade?

Thanks.

Lablover

Older kids, young kids, Teens, young adults, young marrieds, older marrieds, seniors, singles, divorced....

 Come on man, details......

5th and 6th graders

"This is an AR15 boys and girls. God gave it to us to protect our freedom to worship him. "

You'll do fine and probably even enjoy yourselves. Good luck.

Dont sweat it, it will fun, if you like that kind of stuff....

Yes, at one time ole 1shott taught sunday school, I had 3rd anf 4th graders, those kids asked me all kinds of questions, they were a pretty good group.

We had a study plan, but it was crap, so I did not use it, I made my own, I took topics that they had to dealw ith in thier lives, school, peer pressure and such, and used the bible to helkp show them how to deal with things like that.

The kids really enjoyed it, they were very active in it, and told me that alot of what we talked about helped them during the week....

BUT the powers that were there, did not like that I was not useing the lesson plans and materail THEY WROTE, and I got the boot......seems the kids being tought about LIFE, and how the BIBLE relates to our everyday life, and can help us, was not in the kids best interest, only the lesson plan provided by the powers that were, were accaptable.

And that was when I realized that I was on the out, that since I was not a ass kisser, and stood my ground in what I believed was right, I was a threat....


The parents of the kids pulled to my defense, as I had given each parent a copy of each sundays schools topic, so they could talk to thier kids about it, if they wanted....they had no problems with what I was doing, heck alot of them thanked me every sunday,....


Oh well, now my sunday mornings are free to go shoot, hunt or whatever I wish to do....

Quoted: My wife was asked to teach Sunday School and she was hesitant, so I told her I thought it was a great idea for her and she could make a difference.  Long story short, she rooked me into teaching the class with her.  Today is our first day.  Please say a prayer that we do a good job.  I believe this is going to be as great an experience for us as the kids. If only I can refrain from yelling. "you little bastards...................!!". Pray, I tell you, pray for me (and them)! I'll post update after class...........if we survive.

Not a Church goer myself, by I applaud anyone who teaches the younger generations. Good Luck!

BTT...please read update and offer advice if you can.  Thanks.

Lablover

Quoted: BTT...please read update and offer advice if you can.  Thanks. Lablover

Do you know the aloof boy's parents?  They might be able to shed some insight.  'could be lots of things; it's hard to know going in cold.

Candy bars.  Trust me.

Tell him his soul will burn forever in hell if he doesn't pay attention!!

j/k... just give him time.

Quoted: Candy bars.  Trust me.

I've taught all the way from 4 and 5 year olds to college kids in Sunday School and the best way to get them to participate is "What do you think," if they have some sort of experience with that lesson, and CANDY. Even the college kids I was teaching were great at participation when I winged chocolate at them

Take a bag of Tootsie Rolls or Starbursts.

When somebody does something to partisipate such as answer a question, read, pray, or share an experience toss them a candy.   No need to do it every time, especially for those trying to be the center of attention,  just enough for everyone to get a few treats.

I also start class off with a treat for anyone who brings their scriptures to encourage everyone to bring theirs each week.

i so do not miss sunday school. i would have rather sat in school for 8 hours than 1 hour long sunday school class. thankfully there was a food store next door for me to sneak off to, buy doughnuts and read comic books.

It depends.  Why does he not want to participate?  Is he shy or do you think he is not participating as some sort of rebellion?

If it is due to shyness, whatever you do, do NOT try to force him to interact.  You will only make things worse.  It is fine to ask him what he thinks or to ask him a question but do not try to force the situation.  Try talking to him before or after class so that he can become comfortable with you.  Watch him during class and try to figure out what interests him and use that to your advantage.  Give him time to come around.  Talk to others who know him to try to find out about his behavior - is he shy at school; if so why?  Because he is picked on, made fun of?  Is he new to the church?  What is the family situation?

I'm not sure about the candy as a reward for participating.  If he is really shy - to shy to actively participate - he is only going to feel worse if all the other kids receive candy and he doesn't.

Good luck with the class by the way.  I use to work with the kids at our church; it is very rewarding.

I respect anyone who has the courage to teach kids in church.

I also was the kid who didn't want to participate. I got over it to an extent... but I did learn a lot by listening instead of talking. It served me well in the long run.

-Hobbit

First chance I have had to look at responses.

Thanks to those who took the time.

Jolly Ranchers - I taught 5th and 6th graders. Have contests, ask questions and the winner gets to pick a candy from the jar. They really go for that. John ..edited.....I forgot to tell you, Sam's club sells 4 pound bags of them.

I had the same feeling about coaching soccer.  I did make a little girl cry, but it was because I have two girls named Jessica on my team and one of them got confused and flustered.  I learned my lesson and never have them on the field at the same time.

It also happens that Jessica is the girl who also doesn't want to participate.  Of course, that changed the day she scored her first goal.  Make the lessons fun and interesting, and the kid will be dying to take part.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

A few years ago I was teaching a Sunday Schoolclass of 12 year olds.  One of them was a real difficult kid.  He would try to be disruptive in class and very disrespectful.

One day I had just about had it with the trouble-maker, then I found out his history.  The poor kid had experienced hell.  His father had murdered his mom with the help of a mistress.  His dad is now in a Mexican prison, and the poor kid is being raised by an uncle.  It's a wonder he isn't more messed up.

After that, I made an effort to bear with his antics.  I found him sitting in the foyer outside of class,  patted him on the shoulder, and asked him how he was doing.  That little act seemed to change alot.  He no longer acted out in class (well, no more than a normal boy) and talked respectfully to me.

Lablover, I don't know what you're quiet boy is like, but hang in there, and just let him know that he matters.  You never know when they come around.

Quoted: I had the same feeling about coaching soccer.  I did make a little girl cry, but it was because I have two girls named Jessica on my team and one of them got confused and flustered.  I learned my lesson and never have them on the field at the same time. It also happens that Jessica is the girl who also doesn't want to participate.  Of course, that changed the day she scored her first goal.  Make the lessons fun and interesting, and the kid will be dying to take part. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

I've got the same problem. Third year coaching soccer and I always end up with a few kids that for neither love or money will participate. I've got U-10's this year.

I've got one girl (a bit chubby) that will just fold her arms and not move. I've talked to the parents and still came up empty. Finally, she got hit with the ball, got mad and kicked it. She's coming around now.

Funny about the "Jessica's". I had three Jordon's on my front offensive line and that was confusing. I named them Jordon 1, Jordon 2 and Jordon 3. It worked.

I have found each child has a key. Finding the right key to turning them on takes insight and trial and error. Humor works pretty well.

That age group is pretty tuff, but I don't think they are quite as bad as teens. My wife teaches third graders and its pretty much an attention thing. When it comes to teens though it becomes an attitude thing. As teens approach the age of being on their own and out from under the protection of their parents, spiritual warfare increases. Couple that with the messages they are being bombarded with through the various media sources and peer pressure, and you tend to have quite a challenge on your hands. Here is a pretty good site with various resources for teachers.

Children's Sunday School Teacher's Online Resources