Since I live among heathens, it has been left to me to teach religion to my grandchildren. This is tolerated by my husband and children. Yeah, good luck to me, right?
I do the best I can, given the circumstances.
Most of the time, I am led by the Holy Spirit. I think this is one of those times. I was reading something on the internet and my peripheral vision caught a title, along the right margin, of the article, I was reading.
"Dynamic Teaching Method."
Wouldn't that catch your eye?
A lady from Czechoslovakia, Ida Peterfy, who lived during and after WWII, was a devout religious person. The turmoil from the war was stressful enough, but then her country became communist, under Russia. Belonging to any religion, was forbidden.
Ida remained pious and devout and secretly taught her faith to others. I emphasize! To reach people better, her God was loving and caring and used props, to hold their attention. Story telling was used. Puppets were fun props. This was the beginning of Ida's Five Step Lesson Plan.
Eventually, she because a religious sister, moves to Canada. She ends up in Los Angeles, as a sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Here is her five steps:
1. Get Attention
2. Illustration explanation of topic.
3. Correlation with life.
4. Weekly practice.
5. Review, repeat lesson if needed.
This seems like common sense. How can you teach anybody anything, unless you get their attention. Use illustrations-videos, puppets, charts, etc. Explain why this is important to your students. Apply how to think about the lesson during the week and the rest of your life. Repeat, repeat, repeat...
