the most important thing in her world right now, and she likes the attention it brings to her. Mrs. Robinson must allow Janie a moment or two to tell about her puppy, and then ask if any o f the other children have pets. This will give Janie the attention she needs and also allow the others to share their experiences. Mrs. Robinson might also work the new puppy into the lesson as an illustration of love in a child’s terms — Janie’s love for her puppy. From this Mrs. Robinson can quickly and naturally lead the children to consider God’s great love for them. 2. The Case of the Uncooperative Kindergartner Jimmy and the other kinder- gartners were gathered around the interest center in their color fully decorated k i nd e r g a r t en room, listening i n t en t l y while Mrs. Kline told the Bible story. At the end of the story Mrs. Kline led the children in singing a chil dren’s hymn about their heaven ly Father. All the children sang happily . . . except Jimmy who jumped up and ran from the cir cle. When a helper tried to bring him back he balked, pulled away and started screaming. Mrs. Kline tried to reason with him, but he continued to cry and said that he didn’t want to sit down and sing. As soon as the hymn was over he began to quiet down, but still re fused to participate in the rest of the morning’s schedule. Comments: This particular situa tion continued for several weeks. Then Mrs. Kline visited Jimmy’s home and learned that his father is an alcoholic. When J immy heard the kindergarten g roup singing about their “ Heavenly Father” he refused to sing and enter into the worship period be cause he couldn’t reconcile a lov ing kind heavenly Father with his own father. Refusing to cooperate with the other activities of the morning was another indication of his general distrust o f all adults. With this in mind Mrs. Kline began to work more closely with Jimmy, showing him that
she loved him, and leading him to a better understanding of God’s love for him. She substituted an other song at the beginning o f the worship time. She also had sev eral of the other kindergarten children ask Jimmy to sit with them during the worship period. Home visitation, however, was the key to this behavior problem. 3. The Case of the Teacher’s Pet Mr. King had put a lot of prep aration into his lesson. His Bible was open and he had a colorful and meaningful visual aid ready to help his second graders under stand the story. Several times during the lesson Mr. King called on a little blond fellow named Peter to answer questions. Each time Peter gave the correct an swer. During one o f Peter’s an swers two of the other boys began poking each other and giggling. “ That’s enough of that, boys,” Mr. King said in a kind manner. “ Please pay attention to the les son.” The boys quickly settled down and Peter continued to an swer the questions. Soon the same two boys and two others began making faces and w i g g l i n g around in their chairs. “Now, boys, I don’t want to ask you again. Please listen to the lesson.” Before Mr. King could get very far, however, one of the boys poked Peter so hard he jumped right out o f his chair. “ All right, John,” said the distraught teach er. “ You’ll have to leave the room if you’re going to act like that.” Comments: Mr. King is playing favorites, and his students know it. Children are very perceptive, and quickly single out the one who appears to be “ teacher’s pet.” Mr. King should give every student a chance to answer questions. He should call on each child by name after he has stated the question, not before. This will keep the en tire class alert and listening. He must also be consistent and fair in his discipline to avoid causing resentment and hard f e e l i n g s among his students.
1. The Case of the Small Brown Pappy C h i l d r e n ,” said Mrs. Robin son, “today’s story from the Bible tells us about how much God loves us and how he cares for us.” Before Mrs. Robin son could go further, Janie had her hand up. “Teacher, guess what! My mommie brought me a little brown puppy last night and he’s this b ig!” She spread her hands wide to show the size of her puppy as all the other four- year-olds watched. “ That’s won derful, Janie,” said Mrs. Robin son. “ Now let’s go on to our Bible story, because we want to learn about God’s love.” But again Janie began telling about her puppy — what he ate, where he slept, how he follows her around and wants to cuddle in her arms. The other children were bright eyed with interest, but Mrs. Rob inson was upset because she couldn’t get on with her lesson. Comments: Janie’s new puppy is
4. The Case of the Overgrown Class
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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