What suggestions can you offer to the parent who has his or her own child in a Sunday school class, either with other children or as a single student?
Children differ greatly. Some respond very well under the Sunday school instruction of their moms and dads. Others may not respond well at all for any number of reasons. Knowing this, here are a few things to consider.
- Many advantages and blessings can come from teaching your own child in Sunday school.
(a) It can strengthen the spiritual bond that you have with your child.
(b) Your child can observe, first hand, the genuine commitment that you have to God in Christ. You are a living role model. This is true when your child sees you in action in Sunday school, and it is also true when he or she sees you spending hours preparing Sunday school lessons at home.
(c) When you willingly do your Sunday school homework, there is an increased likelihood that your child will do his or hers as well without a lot of urging.
(d) Your positive attitude toward Sunday school can become his or her positive attitude toward Sunday school and toward spiritual things in general.
(e) You know exactly what your child had in Sunday school last week! You can help him or her build on the lesson and apply it at home. This goes beyond just doing Sunday school homework.
(f) Your child can be a source of feedback on how things are going with the Sunday school class. His or her perspective can help you make valuable adjustments in the way you teach and manage the class. - There may be times when your child does not respond well.
(a) Attitude and behavior problems can show up in Sunday school when a parent is directly involved with his or her own child. The problems may show openly with younger children and be more internalized by older ones. Try to recognize them in any case. Address them if they threaten to take away from the well-being of the class.
(b) Try to keep things in perspective. Children have a lot to learn, even when they think it’s the other way around. Mark Twain said that he was amazed how much his father learned between the time he was 17 and 21! I wonder what his father thought in the meantime. Charles Wadsworth said something similar: “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.”
(c) Don’t give up. Pray. Place it in God’s hands, be patient, and persevere. Sunday school teaching is service with God as well as a service to the children and the ecclesia. What you have joined God in doing, let no man or problem child put asunder. - Having said this, there may still be times when it is not advisable to teach your own child in Sunday school. You need to be realistic about this. Another teacher may be more effective at this time in your child’s life.
- It may also be desirable to:
Share the authority role with a teaching assistant.
Draw on guest teachers from time to time to vary the input and interactions that take place in class (e.g., ask another brother or sister in Christ to come into your class and handle a special topic on a given Sunday).
Plan occasional peer teaching activities. It may be possible to do this with the students in your own class, or it may be good to have students from another class become involved this way from time to time. - A couple keys to success in Sunday school:
Don’t show partiality to your own child, one way or another. Treat him or her the same way you treat the other children.
Value all of the Sunday school children equally and let it show. This may not always be easy! - A couple keys to success that carry over from home:
The relationship that you have with your child at home will often carry over to the relationship you have with him or her in Sunday school.
Be consistent in your own life. Live the Sunday school lessons that you teach. How your child perceives you in this regard will bear on the success you have as his or her Sunday school teacher. - If you have not taught one of your own children before, talk with parents who successfully home school their children. Find out what works for them. Talk with other Sunday school teachers, too, and find out what they suggest.
- We have mentioned prayer. It deserves to be mentioned again. Keep your vital work in God’s hands, and thank Him for the problems and the blessings that He provides along the way.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One