Challenges We Face: Just One Student!

What suggestions can you offer to a Sunday school teacher who has just one student in his or her class?

  1. Get this in perspective. If a next-door neighbor came to us for one-on-one Bible instruction, we would be thrilled. This Sunday school class is a one-on-one opportunity.
  2. Don’t minimize the importance of just one student. A life has been placed in your hands. Look at it as an advantage and not a problem. It is possible to do things with a single child that would be much more difficult to do with bigger classes. For example:Customizing the entire learning experience. Planning can focus on the needs of one child. Instruction can directly address his or her needs.
    This can proceed on a personal level without having to divide your time.
    Capitalizing on the strengths of the child. Sunday school projects and extra-curricular activities can build specifically on what this child does best.
    Addressing the weaknesses of the child. Remediation can be entirely indi­vidualized.
    Planning and carrying out in-class and out-of-class activities will almost certainly be easier than it would be with a larger class.
  3. Do a lot of listening. Find out where the child is coming from. This is im­portant with all children, but can be especially critical when working with an older child.
  4. Talk with the parents. Find out what the child’s needs and interests are. Find out how he or she learns best; i.e., what his or her learning styles are. Use this information to develop relevant Sunday school lessons and teaching strate­gies. Personalize.
  5. Talk with parents that home school their children. Find out how they handle the individual needs of their children.
  6. If the child is older, involve him or her in decisions about the Sunday school lessons and class format in general.
  7. Be prepared to drop a planned lesson to deal with a problem that has im­mediate relevance for the child. Be flexible; be approachable.
  8. Use every opportunity, in class and out of class, to build a good interpersonal relationship with the child.
  9. Be willing to meet and interact outside the formal Sunday school setting if this can help the child’s spiritual development. Again, this may be particularly important with an older child.
  10. Combine classes occasionally with another teacher. Involve your child with  others in the Sunday school in as many ways as possible.
  11. Bring in ‘resource people’ to get varied inputs and broaden the kinds of in­teractions that take place (e.g., ask another brother or sister in Christ to join you on a given Sunday to deal with a special topic).
  12. Bring in an ‘extra’ (e.g., ask a respected young person/role model to join the class, possibly someone who is a little older or more mature). This can help enliven discussion and interaction. This has been known to work fairly well with mid- to upper-teen students, but it may not work in all situations.
  13. Encourage the child to bring a friend to Sunday school.
  14. Recruit new Sunday school students to enlarge the Sunday school class. (Of course, new students create an entirely new dynamic in the class!)
  15. Be willing to relinquish the reins and bring in someone else if it is evident that another teacher may have more success with this child than you are having. But don’t be too quick to give up! Pray.