Teaching Three Year Olds

 

   One thing about me that most people don't know is that I am a Sunday School teacher. For the past few years I have been assigned to Primary (children ages 3-11). The past few years, another teacher and I have been teaching 8-9 year olds. During Covid we delivered lesson packets to our class. Things were going on well.

   Until they decided to have in person classes again.

   It was decided that the teachers were going to be reassigned. My partner and I have going to get a new class. We were going to teach the Sunbeams. That is what the three year olds are called. I should have taken this news with good grace.

   That's not what I did. I was....not.....happy...... I was just getting accustomed to dealing with the eight year olds. In fact I was starting to enjoy it. Now I was going to have to teach a group of children that I can't understand and have no idea how to deal with. None. How could they do this? Did they think this was funny? I couldn't think of any reason why two women (my teaching partner is childless too) without children would be assigned to this class.

   I railed about it for days. It got to the point where even the ever patient C was getting irritated. I got irritated back. He didn't understand. I didn't grow up around a lot of kids and I wasn't the baby sitter that the neighborhood children liked to see. (I wasn't mean, I was just awkward.) 

   The fact was that I was scared. The Sunbeam class is the first Sunday school class these children will be in. First impressions count. If these children have a bad experience in my class, it will likely cause them to dislike Sunday school for a long time. I didn't want that to happen.

   I asked a few women I know for some advice. My teaching partner found a resource that she thought would be helpful. C suggested that I try to imagine myself at that age. I told him that was impossible. I was never really a child. Despite my fears and misgivings, I have taught a couple of classes. 

   I wish I could say that my first attempts at teaching the Sunbeams were successes.  They weren't but at least no child left the class crying, so that is a positive sign. I'm going to keep trying. Hopefully with enough practice and experience things will start to go better.