This article is not meant to help you identify pint-sized Bible scholars or student prodigies as the title may imply. Rather, it’s a simple reminder for you to take a good look at all the children in your class. As you learn how God has designed them and the characteristics of their age group you will be a better teacher—and have more fun in the process.
Benin is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 30 percent of people living in poverty. Three in five children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition, and children are severely affected by diseases such as malaria, AIDS, respiratory illness, and diarrhea, which are sometimes fatal.
While your focus may be on the boys vs. girls or their age groups God’s focus is on the child’s spiritual condition. Each person in your class needs to know he can receive Jesus as his personal Savior. He must see that his sin makes this choice the most important one of his life.
Recently a three-year-old asked, “What if Jesus had not been born?” Ironically that was the same question my adult small group had pondered and discussed at length. Teachers who spend time with children knows that critical thinking is for all ages not just adults Educators tell us, “Young children can think critically long before thinking symbolically; that is formally or abstractly”.
Katherine Stewart wrote a book titled Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children. She claims to be a journalist, but failed to observed one of the most important elements of journalism when writing her book about Child Evangelism Fellowship and Good News Club.