1. Grace Link How to Run Effective Sabbath Schools and Build Spiritual Champions

2. Spiritual Champions A persons moral development is either based on God’s word or on worldly perspectives. We don’t make lifestyle choices in a vacuum. Foundations develop early. What Kids Need. Purpose – God’s vision for their life Perspective – have a biblical worldview and apply it Provision – conditions to grow in a healthy manner/love and acceptance/empowerment Performance – Worship, evangelism, discipleship, stewardship, service, community.

3. Spiritual Champions Individuals who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord; accept the Bible as truth and as the guide for life; and seek to live in obedience to its’ principles and in search of ways to continually deepen their relationship with God. Goal Children who make their faith in God and their relationship with him, their highest priority and proceed to live as intentional and devoted servants of God. George Barna, 2007

4. The Need For Balance Truth Curriculum firmly based on the Bible – a solid foundation on Scripture Relevance Curriculum that captures the interest of children and is meaningful to everyday life Balanced Activity Conveys information in ways the student relates to Has a good ratio of children to adults - 1 to 5 Balance activities done in small groups to large groups Mentors who stay in touch Depth rather than breadth Parental involvement

5. Spiritual Dynamics Total Christian Faith Learning COMMUNITY: COMMUNITY: We love each other GRACE: Jesus loves me WORSHIP: I love Jesus SERVICE: Jesus loves you, too

6. Grace Jesus Loves Me

7. God loved us when we were sinners There is nothing at all we can do to earn that favour God’s grace is enough to cover all our needs How much Jesus loves us is shown by the fact that He would have come to earth and died for us had we been the only ones on earth who needed His help. GRACE is what God does for us even though we don’t deserve it. GRACE Jesus Loves Me Comes down from God Spiritual Dynamics

8. Worship I Love Jesus

9. WORSHIP is everything we do in response to God’s wonderful gift. It is: Our beliefs, values, and behaviourOur beliefs, values, and behaviour Our praise, prayer and Bible studyOur praise, prayer and Bible study Our decisions about life-style choices:Our decisions about life-style choices: friends, school, church, home, hobbies, sports, entertainment, and more WORSHIP I Love Jesus Reaches up to God Spiritual Needs

10. Community We Love Each Other

11. COMMUNITY is the church family. We learn to share faith, worship, fellowship, acceptance, trust, involvement and outreach. Church members can: create a community of faith where children’s Christian experience can be fully developedcreate a community of faith where children’s Christian experience can be fully developed involve children in religious activities in home and churchinvolve children in religious activities in home and church encourage children to explore their own faith and to grow spirituallyencourage children to explore their own faith and to grow spiritually demonstrate to children how they can support their family and community through prayer and acts of kindness.demonstrate to children how they can support their family and community through prayer and acts of kindness. COMMUNITY We love each other Reaches inwards Spiritual Dynamics

12. Begin with a faith community which invites children to belong and which demonstrate how Christians behave. Children will grow and embrace its beliefs and adopt the Christian behaviours they have seen demonstrated.

13. Service We Love You Too

14. SERVICE Jesus Loves You Too Reaches Outwards SERVICE is how we treat others outside our church. It is another opportunity to respond to what God has done for us. Church members can: model service by extending hospitality and encouraging othersmodel service by extending hospitality and encouraging others teach children how to be Christ-like in all their dealings with othersteach children how to be Christ-like in all their dealings with others provide opportunities for young children to serve others so that they will enjoy a lifetime of service for Godprovide opportunities for young children to serve others so that they will enjoy a lifetime of service for God Spiritual Dynamics

15. “We will not hide these truths from our children but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord… so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. ” Psalm 78:4-6

16. How Kids Learn Introduce/Discuss the terms ‘Learning Modes and Learning Styles’ Learn/revise the four different learning styles Apply this knowledge to ourselves

17. LEARNING MODES We all have a way we learn best. Visual - Remember what they see, and notice more than other children. They are easily distracted by what they see Auditory - Remember what they hear. Have good verbal skills. Remember what you promised. Kinesthetic – Remember what they get involved in physically. Remember how you grouped them. Good motor skills. Tactile – Remember what they touch. Remember what you gave them. Are good at handwriting and drawing,

18. Learning Styles Learning Styles 2 Dimensions of Learning PERCEIVING  Take in through direct, subjective experience (senses/feelings)  Take in through intellect, objective thinking PROCESSING  Internalize, make part of self through reflecting (observing)  Internalize, make part of self through action (doing)

19. Experiencing Sensing/Feeling Intuition Conceptualizing Thinking Intellect How We Perceive

20. How We Process Active Doing Reflective Observing

21. Analytical Learner Common Sese Learner 4 3 1 2 REFLECTING DOING FEELING THINKING Four Learning Styles Relational Innovative Analytical Commonsense Dynamic

22. WHAT IF? WHY? WHAT? HOW? DynaLear ner Analytical Learner Common Sese Learner 4 3 1 2 REFLECTING DOING FEELING THINKING Answer all the questions. Relational Innovative Analytical Commonsense Dynamic

23. WHAT IF? WHY? WHAT? HOW? 4 3 1 2 REFLECTING DOING FEELING THINKING Teachers Facilitate Learning. Connecting to experience Conceptualizing information Creating new possibilities Personalizing information

24. Meet Four Different Kids Analytic Alan Relational Rochelle Commonsense Carol Dynamic Daniel

25. TOTAL HOUR TEACHING As a result of educational research The entire Sabbath School time is a complete learning cycle, teaching and reinforcing the point or message of the lesson.

26. READINESS ACTIVITIES firstThe first segment of the “hour” involves one or more activities which connect students emotionally with the topic for the lesson. These are known as “Readiness Activities”. WHY This section helps students see WHY they should learn the lesson. 1st A result of educational research

27. This important part of Sabbath School - mission story, offering, singing & prayer can be fitted into the program wherever the leader feels it will work best. It is recommended that the Sabbath School hour begin with the readiness activities. PRAYER & PRAISE 

28. BIBLE STUDY secondThe second segment is experiencing the Bible story. It answers the learning style question: What What is it I need to learn? A result of educational research 2nd

29. thirdThe third segment of the total hour puts the message in the context of the children’s lives today. It answers the question: How How does this apply to my life? A result of educational research APPLYING THE MESSAGE 3rd

30. fourthThe fourth segment of the hour deals with what the student can do with the newly learned concept to bless others in the coming week. What if... ?What if... ? is the typical learning style question. A result of educational research SHARING THE MESSAGE 4th

31. TOTAL HOUR TEACHING 1. Feel it! 2. Understand it! 3. Apply it! 4. Practise it! A result of educational research

32. ACTIVE LEARNING “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.” Educational needs Active learning is learning by doing (using all the senses) rather than by just listening. It includes simulation games, discussion, role-plays, service projects, experiments, research projects, purposeful games and field trips.

33. Spoken Media Role-play Direct or written Experiences communication Educational needs 5 - 10% 25% 40 - 60% 80 - 90% 5 - 10% 25% 40 - 60% 80 - 90% WHAT DO WE REMEMBER BEST?

34. Percentage of Information Remembered

35. Characteristics of Active Learning Why active learning works Emphasis is on learning – not teaching The learner processes information Kids remember what they are involved in Its fun – an adventure Its relational Adults debrief students on what they learned

36. Learning from activities Kids will learn if you: Act as a coach, encouraging from the sidelines, not doing the activity yourself. Allow freedom for kids to do it their way. If possible, allow for a choice of activities Help the children process what they have learned; debrief the activities.

37. \ reflection “How did you feel?”\ reflection “How did you feel?” How did you feel? What does this mean to you? What will you do about it? Debriefing Is the discussion of feelings and experiences produced by an activity to gain understanding. It helps children process what they have learned. It is a three-step process: reflection “How did you feel?” interpretation “What does this mean to you?” “How is this experience like some other aspect of your life?” application “What will you do about it?” Help them to apply it to real life

38. Resources

39. South Pine So How Do We Do Sabbath School? TEAM WORK One or Two Consistent Leaders per Sabbath school Lots of helpers (12 Mini Atom Team Members)

40. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? GRACE LINKS Awesome resource, best one around There is something for every child in the program. Make it your own. We use the ALL the content.

41. So How Do We Do Sabbath School ? BIG GROUP & SMALL GROUP TIME Because we have to deal with such large age groups and hence developmental differences we use a combination of big group time and small group time to ensure that the kids are learning at the appropriate level.

42. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? OUR PROGRAM PLAN

43. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? Busy Program, but seems to work well. We keep all segments to no more than 5 minutes due to the age of the kids All team members receive a data disk at the beginning of the quarter which contains all the grace links lessons, puppet scripts, music etc. that will be used during the quarter. All big group time props are kept in tubs in the trailer.

44. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? Join me for a day in our program. –Sign In – Child Protection Rules Require us to be more accountable –Fruit & Water – Our kids have already sat through church and need a pick me up to help them get to 12.30.

45. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? Join me for a day in our program. –Readiness Activity – Choose one of the suggested activities for the week –Welcome song – Change it over each quarter. Have used puppets for this section.

46. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? Join me for a day in our program. –Prayer – Rotate different activities over the quarter Bubble Prayer Letter Prayer Lords Prayer Prayer Cubes

47. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? Join me for a day in our program. –Offering –Praise – Song Cube. Six songs on cube. We sing what the kids role. Kids seem to prefer picking what they sing rather than being told by an adult. Keep it to two songs as the kids (kindy) seem to loose attention.

48. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? Join me for a day in our program. –Puppet Mini Drama – Based on teaching objectives for the week. –i.e.

49. So How Do We Do Sabbath School ? Join me for a day in our program. –Share The Lesson & Memory Verse Get the kids to help. We have a costume box and often get them all to dress up as characters in the story. Felts are good. Lots of Props i.e. Caves, Tents etc

50. So How Do We Do Sabbath School? Join me for a day in our program. –Apply The Lesson Per Grace Links –Share The Lesson Per Grace Links –Closing Prayer & Song

51. Application –Big group, small group concept can be used with any age. Great if you want to split up the boys and girls –Teamwork is fantastic and fun. Just needs someone to do some planning. Not everyone is an upfront person so you can find them a behind the scenes job

52. Conclusion –Our Kids are our biggest Mission field. They are making a decision for or against Christ TODAY. –Have FUN adventuring in the bible. –Make Sabbath School the BEST HOUR of every kids week.