Getting mom and dad talking about faith with their kids is the Holy Grail of Christian education. Study after study has shown that THAT relationship, mentoring, and conversation between parent & child is the single most important factor in helping a child gain and mature in their faith.

Proposal for a "Faith Mentors Workshop"

In EACH rotation, we will designate ONE of our regular workshops to also be the "Faith Mentors Workshop." (You can call it whatever you want. I hope someone will come up with a catchier name.)

For example, in our next rotation on Pentecost, we'll designate the Drama Workshop as the "Faith Mentors ~ Drama Workshop."

Each student will be accompanied in the Drama (Family) Workshop by a parent, or older (teen) brother/sister, or grandparent 'faith mentor.' The discussion and activities in that workshop will be geared towards opening and encouraging faith conversation between the student and their 'mentor.' If a child shows up without a faith mentor, a volunteer mentor will work with them (rather than asking one of the other parents to split their attention from their child).

This is not a proposal for a seasonal twist. Rather, this is a proposal for a permanent FEATURE of the Rotation Model.

This is not a proposal for a "new" workshop. Rather, the Faith Mentor Workshop piggybacks on one of your established workshops each rotation.

WHICH of your active workshops that you designate as the "Faith Mentor Workshop" for that rotation depends on the story you are working on, which workshops you do, and your lesson ideas for that rotation.

For example, for this month's rotation you may designate the Art Workshop as your "Faith Mentor ~ Art Workshop" because you have an art activity well-suited to the student and their mentor working on it together.


Primary Goal:
The primary goal of the "Faith Mentor Workshop" is to get the parents talking with their kids. The lesson activities should be designed to support that emphasis. This is not a "sit with your child and listen to the teacher" workshop.

A Goal:
A goal of the Faith Mentor Workshop is to carry the conservation back home. The lesson plan/activities will be designed to give the students and their mentors FOLLOW UP marching orders.

Preliminary ideas for 'take home' follow-up activities:

1. In the Mentors Drama Workshop the two of you presented a skit. Take that skit home and put it on for the rest of the family.

2. In the Art Workshop you created something you can take home and use together, such as a dinner-time family grace/prayer jar.

3. In the Bible Games Workshop, you learned a game you can take home and play with your family.


Things that need to be figured out:

What about families that have 2 or more kids in the program? The parent could be attending the same "Mentor ~ Art" workshop every week!

Possible Solution #1
Parent would have the option to designate a different mentor (grandparent/sibling/other parent).

Possible Solution #2
Siblings of similar age could come to the same workshop with their parent for that workshop.

Possible Solution #3
The Mentors ~ Art Workshop that month could be for ALL The kids in the program together. One grand group.

Possible Solution #4
The Faith Mentor Workshop concept could be instituted ONLY for certain grades (preferably upper elementary).

The solution may depend on your particular group of parents/kids and the size of your classes/church.

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Suggested Workshops

I think the DRAMA workshop is particularly well-suited for this emphasis because it involves a lot of conversation/dialog and role-playing.

Making the Drama Workshop the Mentor's workshop also SOLVES a problem that many Drama workshops face, and that is the difficulty that ONE teacher has in managing a group of kids towards a dramatic objective. It can be a bit much for the average teacher. And the adults will have good ideas for skits and dialog. The mentors' presence will bring much needed help and discipline to this workshop.

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Other workshops:
The Computer Workshop would be well-suited to having mentors present. Often, the difference between a good and bad lab lesson are the number of available "guides by the side." Adults like multimedia computer content too, and their presence might slow the kids down a bit to answer the onscreen questions seen in so many programs.

I like the idea of having mentors in the Art workshop too. They can collaborate with their kids, -creating something together that can go home. Nice non-verbal way to share too.

Personally, I think having them in the Video and Games workshops would be a waste of the mentor's presence. We want to have more TALKING and SHARING.

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Ok, fire away.

<>< Neil

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Neil MacQueen,

WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA!

Hi
I also like this idea, and I think it would be especially meaningful for students in grade 5- before they begin middle school/junior high.

I think a cooking workshop would be a great place for this activity- cooking together naturally facilitates conversation.

Thanks for giving me something to think about that helps me focus some of my own thoughts on this topic.

Blessings
Jan S

Shooting from the hip here...

'Cooking' would be down my list for several reasons:

1. It could become a lot of conversation about ingredients, measurements, "how" to prepare, rather than engender conversation about the lesson concept. To see what I mean, compare it a Drama Workshop where the activity is centered on interacting to create and present a skit about a subject.

2. For right or wrong, the 'kitchen' and 'cooking' are often a woman's domain and forte, as well as being perceived as such by their children (and husbands). Thus, it might exactly the kind of activity I would purposely NOT choose for mother and child to interact in. You know what I mean? (Did I say this right?)

I would also tend not to do this in the Games or Video workshop either. Those activities don't encourage the verbalization of one's faith, which would be a primary goal of the Faith Mentor's concept.

Neil

I like the idea.

Sometimes we need to work within the stereotypes.
You wouldn't do cooking every time, and it wouldn't be a discussion about ingredients if the lesson was well-crafted and the teacher prepared. Really, can you think of a better workshop if you are inviting a grandma or great-grandma?
Same with video. Think of how many father-son relationships hinge on sitting together to watch the game. You might find a comfort level in a video rotation that wouldn't work for some of the others.

As the pastor and parent of three I can also imagine it being difficult getting out of other duties three out of every six weeks so I can be in workshop with my three children. I can imagine a lot of other teacher-shepherd parents saying the same. A couple times a year, absolutely. Every time? Hmmm.

Peace, Lisa

Ok, so first off - I really like your idea, Neil... but.... ;-)

Our Adult Christian Ed folks would clamor for my head on a platter. They work just as hard as I do in providing interesting, challenging classes for their population and having people miss out would throw them off. Same would go with older sibs - they'd be missing out on their confirmation or discipleship classes.

So...

What if Faith Mentorship opportunities were offered as a special family event one evening per quarter? A simple meal of soup and a roll, then kids with adults go to a workshop to reinforce the rotation's lesson?

Just thinking...

Love it! As a matter of fact, for 4 (maybe more) summers I created FAMILY workshop rotation. At least one parent, sometimes 2, sometimes a grandparent, would come with their kid(s). A single mom with 3 kids who would end up being a little squirrelly to control, but hey, she does it at home, right?! Why not put them in real life situations like they'd experience at home along with those faith "how to's"!

While I agree that one-on-one would work better for mentoring, the kids loved having a parent or 2 with them, their sibs with them, and I loved setting up situations where families had to work together to learn and do, and then pointing them in the direction of conversation around it. This has been a passion for me -- many parents want to lead their kids in faith, but don't know how to. This was a way to begin conversations, to show them it's not that difficult, and that God says they should! (Why not call the workshop: Shema!)

Games workshop worked when we had games that had talking or reflecting points interspersed throughout at stopping points, or short, quick games with a point for conversation. Sometimes it was fun to have everyone involved in 1 game together, then talk points, sometimes each family would run their own individual game at the same time.

As for a cooking workshop, I see all your points! If you want to involve dads, find some alternatives like cooking on a BBQ grill -- we did that for our Peter rotation - cooked fish on on a charcoal grill and a man led that workshop -- he and the kids loved it. While you observe that moms and kids might cook together at home already, what more 'natural' setting can you show them that it's the perfect opportunity to do some faith talking.

Video worked for us when the families were the ones making a video and then watching it, not necessarily just watching a movie.

More so than getting the kids to want their parents there, it was often a struggle to get the parents there! They often expressed that their kids being in Sunday school was their opportunity to go be alone in worship. Made me sad sometimes. I'd love to hear thoughts on just how you're gonna make the parents understand the importance of it get them there!

I like this idea alot, and can see lots of possibilities with it. As I read the posts, the game "Lifestories:Faith Edition" came to mind. Yes, it's a board game, but the faith cards have LOTS of questions and ways to get the conversation going. (It's either called Faith Edition or Christian edition). In fact, I used some of the cards for an adult new member class. So, let's not completely discount games for this.

And, let's not assume moms do all the cooking at home - sometimes it's the dads.

Julie

Lisa:
Good point about the grandma's and moms. I'll put it on my "maybe" list. Drama would still be the best IMHO.
As for fathers (working with the stereotyping again)...do the computer workshop. The goal here is to get kids/parents talking to each other, and not just "doing" together. Consider that my subversive goal! ie... can we get dad or mom to really talk about their faith with their children.

Eliana:
Gotta love those adult ed people. Are they the same ones who insist that Sr. Highs belong in Sr. High class and not helping with younger kids? Do those programs need an enema or what? Seriously.

While I don't disagree with the 'special program once a qtr" you mention, THIS particular concept seeks to piggyback on what we're ALREADY doing -transforming what we got, rather than adding yet another "good thing to do" to our calendars. Consider it my personal mantra for the church. It's that ol' Rotation philosophy: "Less is more."

JanS:
I like the family aspect! But would do it in small doses. I'd like to be a slave to this concept: one-on-one. Sometimes parents slip too easily into that "parenting the herd" mode. And the presence of both parents would probably mean one of them sitting back. I'm thinking about the dynamics and psychology of parent-child interaction here. The theory being "the more people in the group, the less potential for heart to heart sharing." A high goal no doubt.

The BBQ comment was too funny. But a good idea!

Keep going folks... like to hear more.

Neil

I too really like this idea! We have a Moms group that meets on Sunday mornings during education time. I think if promoted to them in the right way they would be willing to "take off" one Sunday a Unit to take part in this oprotunity. I can also see using one or two the their Sunday's to prepare them to better engage with their children during that Workshop.

As for the fathers I think it would be a matter of asking them to join the Workshop. In our case, currently very few of the fathers attend our Adult Education offering.

Please keep the ideas coming!