Drawing on the Art of Telling Bible Stories For Children

Bible stories for children are worth telling! They are vital since they are the living Word of the eternal God and therefore essential so that we know what God has to say to us and the lessons we need to learn. When you read the Bible, you read a message from God himself.

Often these truths are presented in the form of stories of characters and how they acted in certain circumstances with subsequent consequences such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Joseph, David and Goliath, Daniel, Jonah, the Rich Man and Lazarus, Mary and Martha etc. This enables the listener to connect at a deeper level with the story and consequently think more about the implication of its teaching.

Jesus taught primarily in the form of parables which were short allegoric stories, taking examples from nature or contemporary social life. One of the reasons for Jesus doing this was so that a specific and colourful story based on the details of everyday life would remain impressed on the memory for many years and through contemplation of it the person would come to an understanding of the wisdom Jesus was conveying. Well-known parables include the Good Samaritan, the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son, the Wise and Foolish Builders, and the Rich Farmer. All of these include the elements of a good story – a setting, interesting characters, a challenge and a resolution.

Children love Bible stories. Educators are aware of this and very often receive catalogues of resources and books which contain the titles of Bible stories for children. Instead of always reading from books alternate with true story-telling of the Bible stories.

Story-telling has existed for as long as humans have, not just as a way of entertaining, but of passing on information to teach the young and to change minds, for a good story changes the people who hear it. Many people do not realise the extent to which stories influence our behaviour and shape our culture. Our own lives are made up of stories. Stories are particularly effective in influencing the way children think and behave because they like to hear them over and over again. Stories create an emotional attachment and they provide a wealth of concrete examples of behaviour which help children make sense of life. Children’s imagination is stimulated and through this they build up a mental image which cements the story in their mind.

As educators and Sunday School teachers we can capitalise on this through good story-telling of the abundance of stories we have in the Bible, bringing to bear on young minds the significance of their teachings. There are cutting-edge Bible images available to assist in this which will greatly enhance your story-telling and captivate your audience.

Chess For Children – Benefits of Chess in the Classroom

Schools all across the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia have been teaching chess in the classroom. We’re not talking about chess for children as an extracurricular activity but as an academic subject. Since the early 20th century Russians have dominated the world of chess. Why? Maybe it’s because chess has been taught in Russian schools for about 50 years!

There had long been anecdotal evidence that chess promotes intellectual development in children. Then in 1991 and again in 1996 Stuart Margulies, a well-known educational psychologist, conducted studies on the effect that chess has on children’s reading ability. Both studies showed that children, who participated in a school’s chess program, improved their scores on standardized tests. The improvement was even greater for children whose initial scores were low or average.

In Texas in the 1990s a study showed that elementary students who participated in the school’s chess for kids club showed more than twice the improvement in reading and mathematics between the third and fifth grades on standardized testing than did students who did not participate.

Why is chess so beneficial to young children? Chess has been proven to improve or increase:

* Math problem solving skills
* Reading comprehension
* Self-confidence
* Patience
* Logic
* Critical thinking
* Pattern recognition
* Ability to concentrate
* Analytical skills

The list goes on and on.

All across the country schools and teachers are getting the message and are bringing chess into the classroom. Chess clubs in schools have been in existence forever but now chess is being taught as an academic subject. New York City schools have been particularly effective in introducing chess to the classroom. This effort has been spearheaded by an educational, non-profit organization called, “Chess-in-the-Schools” whose mission is to improve academic performance and increase self-esteem among inner city public school students. Since 1986 this organization has been instrumental in teaching chess to over 400,000 students in New York City alone. In a recent survey of teachers involved in the program 86% reported that chess has had a “direct and positive” influence on their students.

On March 20, 2008 The International Herald Tribune reported that this year Idaho would become the first state to offer a statewide chess curriculum to all second and third-graders. Idaho has 40,000 second and third-grade students and the program is estimated to cost at least $200,000. How’s that for putting your money where your mouth is?

Many states have enacted legislation approving the introduction of chess into school programs. In particular the state of New Jersey passed a bill which allowed individual boards of education to offer chess instruction beginning in the second grade. The bill stated that:

1. Chess increases strategic thinking skills and stimulates creative activity.
2. Students in countries where chess is offered in schools show an increased ability to recognize complex patterns and consequently excel in math and science.

If our politicians recognize the importance of chess for children, it must be pretty obvious.