When I worked in TV news, I realized how undervalued children were in the industry. Unless these children were particularly newsworthy--think Baby Jessica or the Cuban boy who was caught in a custody battle--many news outlets passed up stories that would affect children for more glamorous/money-making stories. I always found that disappointing.
In contrast, our church puts a huge emphasis on the welfare, nurture, and education of children in all stages of life. In fact, we believe that we are all God's children and should treat each other accordingly. We also often hear that we should strive to be as little children--teachable.
There are Sunday School classes for all age-levels in our church. The children's classes are called Primary. Children who are younger than age three attend a Sunday instructional class called Nursery.
This year, the church is releasing a new Nursery manual to help instructors and parents teach their little ones about their identity as children of God among other things. The lessons include pictures and coloring pages to help young children internalize the message.
You can use this manual in your home to teach your children simple concepts such as:
I Can Pray to Heavenly Father
I Am A Child of God
I Can Be Happy
Jesus Christ Showed Us How to Love Others
You can download lessons or the whole manual (for free) online at this link: Primary Nursery Manual
I have already started using the manual with my young children at home. If you have young children, I hope you take advantage of this great opportunity to teach them these important concepts!
Another wonderful resource for children is the Friend Magazine. Check it out!
Jocelyn,
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I didn't know there was a new manual. It looks like they did a really good job with it. I especially like how they have a line drawing/coloring activity for each lesson. It was hard to follow the counsel not to use commercial supplementary materials when there weren't any church approved ones.
Thanks for sharing!
-Karen
good stuff, didn't know you could download the nursery manual online. I'll tell daniel.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! I am still looking for a church. It is hard to do it alone - I wish hubby was more supportive about actually going. He considers himself agnostic, so it all falls on me. Any advice would be welcomed...as usual. :)
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