Vacation Bible School

This week is Vacation Bible School at our church. Nathan & I are teaching (with another couple) the 4-5 year olds. We are there 4 hours/night so we are pretty tired, but it's been a lot of fun. We have 19 kids in our class and only 4-5 of them attend our church, so we have a lot of visitors which is great. I have definitely gained an appreciation for school teachers because I don't know how they possibly teach a class of students by themselves. We could not do it without at least 4 adults! (Thank you, Mrs. Lester, my kindergarten teacher!).

You can tell within the first 5 minutes which group the kids will fall into. Our class seems to have these groups, each of which is precious in their own way:

1. The Criers. These children are homesick and the crying begins about 30 minutes into class. We comfort, we hug.... but nothing can stop the crying until mom or dad arrive.

2. The We-Will-Do-Anything-For-A-Prize kids. These are the kids who raise their hands for everything, even when they do not know the answer. These are the kids who answer "Jesus" to every question. We also give prizes for bringing new friends. When kids from this group are asked "Who brought a new friend tonight?," the members of this group all raise their hands. When you ask them where their friend is, you get an "I don't know." When you ask their friend's name, you get "I don't remember." I try not to laugh.

3. The "Spirited" Children. These kids are described as being very 'spirited'. We knew right away which kids these were. These are the kids who seem to have twice as much energy as the other kids and tend to need some extra 'reminders' of what they should be doing. We love their energy when it's channeled in the right direction.

4. The Shy Kids. These are the kids who are quiet all night (they are just praying, right?).

5. The Church-Goers. These are the kids who have been to VBS and/or children's church before and they seem to know how it goes. They do well listening to instructions and have experience being in a classroom setting at church. They are great at answering questions (one girl in our class was able to tell me that the "Philistines" were who Goliath was with-- wow!).

6. The Hypochondriacs. These children have a host of boo-boos, ailments, aches, and pains.... all which require a trip to the nurse's station for a bandage. Their pains also magically go away if you tell them it's time to play a game and there will be prizes.

7. The Ninjas. These are the kids who are making constant ninja moves either alone or aimed at another innocent subject.


Each group brings something fun & special to the group. I wouldn't trade any of them. We have come to love the children this week and will miss them when the week is over!