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"Toddlers Knowing God" ministry lesson plan.

Started by DeterminedJuliet, July 01, 2012, 02:01:13 AM

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DeterminedJuliet

You might recall when I posted about the weird creationist high-school text book. Well, this is kind of like that. I came across it through my Pinterest account, weirdly enough. It's a ministry plan to help "Toddlers Know God". Having a toddler, my curiosity was piqued.

Now, I am sure that any parent who would actually use this plan really believes that they're doing the best thing for their child. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway. But honestly, personally, I found it all pretty disturbing to read. Here's an excerpt from one of their activities designed for children aged 18 months - 24 months.  

Quote
With toddlers, you want to keep your lesson simple. If your class is able, get them to sit together on floor in front of you. Show them the picture of a shepherd. Hold up your Bible. SAY: The Bible tells us God is our good Shepherd. The Bible is His Word. SAY: God is our good Shepherd. We are His sheep. He takes care of us. (Repeat three times.)

The following activities are designed to reinforce the simple Scripture truth, encourage their development, and engage their imaginations and creativity.

This is followed by a game where the children pretend that they are sheep and the instructor pretends that he or she is God counting his sheep. I get that, at this age, kids need a ton of repetition to "get" things, but it just seems so brain-washy! An 18-month old is supposed to be able to understand what God is?

I'd actually like some Christian input on this, because I never really thought about this sort of thing at all when I was religious (I was a kid myself, for most of my Christian-days)
"We've thought of life by analogy with a journey, with pilgrimage which had a serious purpose at the end, and the THING was to get to that end; success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead. But, we missed the point the whole way along; It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing, or dance, while the music was being played.

Asmodean

QuoteGod is our good Shepherd. We are His sheep. He takes care of us.
...Until the day comes when he decides he's a bit peckish and into the stew we go.  ::)

Never quite understood the shepherd metaphor as an illustration of a nice god.
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Sandra Craft

Sounds like the same sort of thing I got in Sunday school every week, as well as at Family Home Evening (a Mormon thing).  Didn't take with me, didn't take with a lot of other people.

The way I see it is you can try as hard as you want to bend the twig/brainwash the kid, but it's still a crap shoot.  People whose minds don't fit with that sort of thing will eventually leave, those whose minds do fit it will stay.  People whose minds fit with that sort of thing but weren't raised with it will find their way to it even without childhood instruction.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

The Magic Pudding

God is a bit toddler like, prone to tantrums, jealously demanding of attention, incapable of producing a coherent story...

markmcdaniel

Sounds like more of the stamp out independent thought education that is business as usual.
It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science - Charles Darwin

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the object of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a god, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. - Albert Einstein

Religion is a by product of fear. For much of human history, it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn't killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity. - Arther C. Clarke

Faith means not wanting to know what is true. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Recusant

Quote from: The Magic Pudding on July 01, 2012, 06:17:37 AM
God is a bit toddler like, prone to tantrums, jealously demanding of attention, incapable of producing a coherent story...

I like that. They say he's grown beyond throwing his toys out of the pram, but who's to say?
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


OldGit

I wonder if modern kids know what a shepherd is.  My grandson (4) sees plenty of sheep, but there are very few shepherds in England and he's never seen one.  Nor have I.

In the middle ages  when livestock were not confined to enclosed fields, every kid knew in detail what a shepherd was and did.  Nowadays those functions are no longer performed.

Maybe the xtians should teach the kids about the good boss in McDonalds who looks after the chips and burgers.

DeterminedJuliet

Quote from: OldGit on July 02, 2012, 09:12:55 AM
I wonder if modern kids know what a shepherd is.  My grandson (4) sees plenty of sheep, but there are very few shepherds in England and he's never seen one.  Nor have I.

In the middle ages  when livestock were not confined to enclosed fields, every kid knew in detail what a shepherd was and did.  Nowadays those functions are no longer performed.

Maybe the xtians should teach the kids about the good boss in McDonalds who looks after the chips and burgers.

Haha, that's the thing, I don't get, I guess. These are crazy abstract ideas for children so little. The husband and I were talking about it yesterday, and the equivalent would be trying to explain to our two-year old what Nationalism is on Canada Day. Yeah, sure, we'll probably have that conversation at some point, but would you expect someone that young to process it? How could an 18-month old really know what a shepherd is, let alone God/Bible, etc?
"We've thought of life by analogy with a journey, with pilgrimage which had a serious purpose at the end, and the THING was to get to that end; success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead. But, we missed the point the whole way along; It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing, or dance, while the music was being played.

OldGit

Of course, agricultural life in medieval Europe closely parallelled that in biblical Palestine, so sheep herding, sowing and reaping, fishing - all these metaphors worked excellently in older times.  Not now, though.  I doubt if even all modern farmers would understand sowing a crop by broadcasting, or having to separate out "tares".

Ali

Blech.  I don't think they'll get it anyway, but there is something about the whole thing that just grosses me out.

Dobermonster

Pffft. I'd go one better and clicker-train them with communion wafers.

markmcdaniel

Quote from: DeterminedJuliet on July 02, 2012, 04:05:03 PM
Quote from: OldGit on July 02, 2012, 09:12:55 AM
I wonder if modern kids know what a shepherd is.  My grandson (4) sees plenty of sheep, but there are very few shepherds in England and he's never seen one.  Nor have I.

In the middle ages  when livestock were not confined to enclosed fields, every kid knew in detail what a shepherd was and did.  Nowadays those functions are no longer performed.

Maybe the xtians should teach the kids about the good boss in McDonalds who looks after the chips and burgers.

Haha, that's the thing, I don't get, I guess. These are crazy abstract ideas for children so little. The husband and I were talking about it yesterday, and the equivalent would be trying to explain to our two-year old what Nationalism is on Canada Day. Yeah, sure, we'll probably have that conversation at some point, but would you expect someone that young to process it? How could an 18-month old really know what a shepherd is, let alone God/Bible, etc?
The point is, of course, not to have the children understand anything.The point is to indoctrinate the children in to proper thought.
It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science - Charles Darwin

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the object of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a god, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. - Albert Einstein

Religion is a by product of fear. For much of human history, it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn't killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity. - Arther C. Clarke

Faith means not wanting to know what is true. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Asmodean

Quote from: markmcdaniel on July 03, 2012, 04:38:53 AM
The point is, of course, not to have the children understand anything.The point is to indoctrinate the children in to proper thought.
...Because YHWH gave them free will only so their parents could subvert it. After all, what fun would it be if the kids turned out smarter than the patriarch? Almost criminal, that.
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Tank

Quote from: Dobermonster on July 03, 2012, 01:24:45 AM
Pffft. I'd go one better and clicker-train them with communion wafers.
LOL!!!

Excellent idea  :D
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.