Sunday school (long, ranty)

[tigger222]

Not sure it this is in the right spot feel free to move it if it isn't.

A little back ground I teach Sunday School every Sunday morning and I have been teaching or been a helper for about 14 years now. I had a group of five kids today and because I was teaching second service and had only one kid who wasn't a staff kid we decided to have a play service instead of teaching the same lesson to them a second time. The older kids had set up a small baseball game in the play room and were playing when a mom with a new kid came in and our childrens pastor introduced me her daughter was being clingy so she took her out into the main service. She brought her daughter back in a little later and started to question me on how I was letting the kids play and if they were ever going to sit down for a lesson I told her no because they were staff kids so we were just going play (her daughter wasn't in there long enough to sit through a lesson anyways). She then asks me if we did the same lessons as another church in town and I told her yes we do similar ones because we have kids that attend both churches and she comments that we obviously had no room for spiritual growth and the movement of God and how her daughter is never this clingy and was behaving very oddly and takes her daughter back out. She brings her in a few minutes later when I had sat down with the younger kids and was doing a sticker picture and complained that the project that I was doing was to old for her daughter and that her daughter was to young to be doing it and yet I had two younger kids doing it just fine on there own. She also started going on how she didn't think that I knew what I was doing and that I was to young to be teaching kids. She looked at me and asks how old are you anyway eighteen I looked at her and said that I am twenty four and she stopped going on about it but I don't think that she believed me by the look that I got. I got the impression that she babied her daughter a lot because she finally left her daughter in the room and her daughter turned from being clingy to being just fine and very independent and wanting to play with the other kids. She then left her daughter there for half an hour after the service because she claimed that she didn't know that she needed to come and pick up her three year old from the classroom.

[PepperElf]

it sounds like she didnt want to be there anyway and you could be a saint and not be good enough to teach her child

[Kogarashi]

Holy cow. You have my sympathies.

Suddenly I'm very glad I don't get parents like this with my class at church. Though to be honest, I think every one of the kids from age 3 to 12 (when they move on to the teenager classes) would absolutely love to have a whole 2-hour block of playtime rather than lessons. Not that they don't like the lessons or the teachers or anything. Just that what kid wouldn't rather be playing?

In fact, that's basically what my group of 5-year-olds got for the last hour of church today, since we had a lesson-presentation during the first hour of Sunday School. I had them coloring Mother's Day cards since we probably wouldn't have enough time for that and a lesson next week.

Speaking of too young.... I wonder what she'd say of some of the teachers in my church. You can be asked to teach a kids class as soon as you turn 18 and "graduate" from the teenager classes, and often times the teenage girls will substitute for the women teaching the kids on Mother's Day so those women can actually attend the adult women's class. So you could have people as young as 12 or so teaching the 4-year-olds, and if any of the parents in the church cared, they never said anything.

[jedimaster91]

The best two years of my life at church was right after I graduated HS at 18 and was called to teach in the Nursery. Our Nursery runs 18mo -3 years, and I often had younger kids as well because the class was small and I didn't care if they wanted to play with cars too. I miss teaching that age group. Never a dull moment.

That lady needs a whack with a clue by four. Even the clingiest of toddlers will calm down when distracted with toys. And if they're that clingy, they probably haven't been socialized enough.

[smileyeagle1021]

you all are saints to be able to teach Sunday school... especially if you can do it well. I've met a lot of people who couldn't teach scriptures to adults much less to children.
One of the strongest memories I have of going to an adult scripture study class was when I was still in the LDS church (keep in mind, I converted to Mormonism at 19... long story, most of you who care know it already anyway). I was in a scripture study class, I did all the reading at home, I paid attention during class, but of course, not having grown up in the church I was behind the curve when it came to the Book of Mormon, so I was always asking a lot of questions. Finally, the teacher after asking a question responded "Smiley, please stop wasting the classes time with all these stupid questions... it's not fair to the rest of the class to be held back because you didn't pay attenion in primary (the LDS equivilent to Sunday school)... if you're that confused maybe you should try talking to the missionaries or your home teachers"... well a few things... I had been talking to the missionaries, my home teachers never actually showed up when they were supposed to, and you know what bitch, I have a really good excuse for not paying attention in primary... giving her some credit, a lot of people in that ward did not know I was a convert, but it still doesn't excuse her... it shouldn't matter if the person is behind because they converted or they didn't pay attention earlier and are realizing they need to catch up, the point is that they want to learn now, help them.

Sorry for the thread jack... I guess that was a really long way of saying I admire you for doing what you do and doing a good job at it.

[Kogarashi]

"Smiley, please stop wasting the classes time with all these stupid questions... it's not fair to the rest of the class to be held back because you didn't pay attenion in primary (the LDS equivilent to Sunday school)... if you're that confused maybe you should try talking to the missionaries or your home teachers"

Wrong answer.

This is why I'm glad our ward has a Gospel Essentials (the basics) class as well as the regular adult class, because we have a lot of converts who would get so lost so quickly otherwise. It also makes a great refresher for any of the longtime members who want to brush up on the basics.

Sorry for the thread jack... I guess that was a really long way of saying I admire you for doing what you do and doing a good job at it.

::chuckle:: I only manage because 5-year-olds don't care if I stutter and stumble over my lesson. I always get nervous when I speak in front of adults (which is why I'm also glad I've only had to give maybe three or four talks in my life).

[dalesys]

... a lot of people in that ward did not know I was a convert..

When I was a whippersnapper, our congregational singing leader (Brother Beasley) would pop little questions:

"How many here today are converts?"
10-15 hands go up
"When are the rest of you going to join?"

or:

"Who had a good breakfast this morning?"
Show of hands
"It's Fast Sunday."