 | Be a friend.
Children like to please their friends. Visit individually with each
student every Sunday. Listen! Encourage! Praise! Let
them know you are interested in each of their lives and want to see each of
them succeed. |
| Earn their trust.
Be reliable, consistent, and fair. |
| Earn their respect.
Be prepared each Sunday and know your materials well. |
| Encourage each child to participate.
Participation keeps the energy focused on the right things. |
| Adapt the teaching style to their personalities.
Some children prefer to read and answer questions alone while others learn
better through interactive approaches such as games. Some are shy,
others are aggressive. Some have been sitting in church for an hour
and need a break. |
| Use a variety of teaching styles.
Variety adds interest. Interested students are well behaved learning
students. Variety also appeals to the different personalities that
will be in each class. |
| Move quickly from one activity to the next.
Students get rowdy when they have nothing to do. |
| Move on when they lose interest.
Even the attention span of the best student has its limits. Recognize
when it is time to move to another activity and recapture their interest. |
| Plan active times.
Children can learn while playing games such as "Who Wants to Be a
Christian Heir?" or "Bible Baseball." |
| Establish class rules.
Let the children know your expectations.
 | Expect older children to remember the rules
after reviewing them once. |
| Remind younger children of the proper behavior
at the beginning of every activity. |
| Examples of class rules
include.
 | Do what the teacher asks you to do. |
| Listen when others are speaking. |
| Treat the property of another with respect. |
| Treat your classmates and teacher with
respect. |
|
|
| Be confident.
Children take advantage of uncertainty. |
| Keep it positive.
If you do have to correct a child's behavior, keep it positive. Do not
embarrass the child. For example, encourage the whole class to listen
closely instead of telling the one talking student to shut up. It
takes many positive comments to offset the damage caused by one negative
word. |
| The difference between a well behaved child and a
disruptive child.
| The energy of the well behaved child is focused
on the right thing. |
| Learn to focus their energy on the right thing
and you will have a well behaved class. |
|
| If none of this works,
consult with a member of your church staff before taking any disciplinary
action. |
