Mistakes Sunday School Teachers Make and How to Avoid them (Part 1)

We know that as a Sunday school teacher, you are a unique type of person who understands the complexity of being both a leader and a friend, but all teachers make mistakes. The first major mistake I can think of that will take your classroom from being a space for love, learning, and fellowship, to a place of frustration, negativity, and oppression, is being too serious. I know that you are doing everything you can to make your sessions enjoyable and fruitful for the children, so I encourage you to read through these articles. With each one there are several suggestions about how you can improve your classroom so that it becomes more like the space you imagined it would be.

The first thing to do is ask yourself some simple questions to get your class back on track. “Why am I doing what I am doing?” “What about my tactics is working, and what is not working?” “How can I change my own behavior and attitudes to achieve the environment I wish to create?” These questions may be all you need to get your classroom and your teaching style back on track. Everyone makes mistakes. Take the time here to learn how to fix them!

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Editors note

Checkout Sunday school lessons for 3-11 year olds CLICK HERE
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Often, teachers focus only on the lesson throughout their sessions, and while the lesson is the most important part of the session, having fun is also allowed! If teachers focus too much on the serious, faith-filled side of Sunday school, children are bound to become bored of lessons and their attendance will drop off. When they do come, they will be rowdy, unproductive, and unhelpful. This will stop you from doing your job as a teacher, because you will have created an environment not conducive to growth and education.

Sunday school is a serious place and one where children can learn a great amount about their lives as children of God and about Christianity in general, but it also needs to be a place for fun. Even the most normally well-behaved children need to let off steam now and then. While your lesson should be focused on Christian principle and values, children need to understand that Sunday school is a safe place that they can learn while they relax.

To create a safe space where children feel comfortable, make it clear to your students at the beginning of your sessions that Sunday school is supposed to be a place of learning and fun mixed together. Tell the children that you will have a lesson each week that will be the focus of the session, but let them know
that there will be fun activities that go along with each lesson, and that you hope they will make suggestions and help make the sessions enjoyable. Remind them that Christianity isn’t a boring or useless lifestyle but one that can combine moral living with regular life and produce normal, fun-loving people just like themselves. Just as Christian living does not mean trading fun for faith, nor does Sunday school. This should be an important part of your Sunday school lessons.

Also, taking yourself too seriously can hurt the dynamic in your sessions. Keep in mind the audience that you are speaking to. While most teachers know a great deal about Bible theology and are comfortable discussing Christian principles with a group of their peers, remember that your audience is a group of children, some with very little exposure to Christian thought before your classroom. For that reason, simply speaking the words is not enough to get them to understand. You must be able to loosen up yourself and find different ways to explain things, or else the children will feel overwhelmed. Tailor your lessons to the children and be prepared to explain things several different ways; all of those ways should be something they can relate to.

Goals of Sunday School

Have you ever stopped to think about why your church has a Sunday school?

It is the wish of most of us to see Sunday school grow and expand, but before we can se such growth, we need to take time out to think about our purpose and goals for our Sunday school.

During the past 20 years, the overall Sunday school attend has been in decline. It has been estimated that this decline means that today roughly one in three persons attends church, but only about one in nine attends Sunday school.

In spite of the decline in Sunday school, many surveys tell us there is a need and hunger for spiritual guidance in today's society. A recent survey undertaken by the Princeton Religion Centre asked teenagers what they would like to study and discuss. The top three responses were 64% - "Is there really a God", 56% - "What is the meaning of my life?", 55% - "Is there really a heaven or hell?". All have significant religious implications.

Another survey found that 46% of all adults had at least one problem or question for which there was no answer or solution.

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Editors Note

Check out the resources for Sunday school here. Object lessons, skits, colouring pages, activities, games and recipes for 3 - 11 year olds.

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The Bible has the answer to any problem or question that any of us might have about living our lives in the way God wants. For the person who doesn't know the Bible well or how to apply it to their lives finding these answers can be difficult. That is exactly where Sunday school should come in.

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