Focus on only one central aspect of the lesson for children under seven. Because of a child’s tendency to centrate, well-designed lessons focus on only one key idea. All of the activities of the day center on only one idea, which is taught in a variety of ways. A simple concept such as "God helps us" is taught through stories, songs, play, and pictures. The built-in repetition allows the child to engage the concept in a variety of ways, increasing the probability of learning.

Abstractions for a child under the age of twelve must always be tied to a concept referent. Children in the concrete operations stage are capable of abstract reason-ing if the abstraction is related to something real. Math is taught, for example, using "apples and oranges" to tie the abstract concepts to real objects. Rather than asking children to reason only in the theoretical domain, the teacher makes the concept concrete by tying it to reality. Likewise, theological concepts must be tied to real-life situations. For example, God’s love must be discussed on the basis of actual examples of His love for us. If the concept is left totally abstract, the child will have difficulty grasping it, but when it is tied to actual ways God expresses love, the concept can become "alive" and meaningful to the child. While many adults enjoy theore-tical discussions, children think such discussions are "dumb" because they cannot see relevance to their life. Only when theory is tied to actual experience can the child appreciate the importance of the concept being dis-cussed.

Finally, allow for questions and dialogue to correct mis-conceptions. Because children think differently from adults, their perceptions need to be checked to monitor how they are understanding the concepts being taught. Teaching must be dialogical with children, allowing them to express their understanding and to raise questions. Because Christian education is concerned with thinking correctly, it is especially important that children under-stand what is being taught. Misconceptions can lead to inappropriate fears or other conclusions that might hinder spiritual growth. Teaching is not just a matter of the teacher talking, it is a matter of listening as well. This is especially true when our students think in ways different from ours as adults. We need to hear what they are saying and help them to understand correctly. Through questions and dialogue we can correct the mis-conceptions of children and lead them toward a better understanding of their faith.

How Can Preachers Stay On Top of What They Need to Know?

The major obstacle to our knowing and learning what we need to know is usually time. The focus of what preachers need to do every day should be related to God’s purpose and plan for their ministries and lives. One of the best recent resources on this dilemma is Kevin Miller’s Surviving Infor-mation Overload (Zondervan, 2004). Miller writes not just for pastors, but for business leaders and others whose services and jobs demand they "stay on top" of information and data related to any degree to their work.

In keeping up with one’s reading it is not so much how much is read, but what is read. Quality should always come before quantity. When we ask our resource people about what materials we should read in researching a particular topic or biblical book, we inform them how much time we have allowed for preparation. We also specify we are looking for the top thirty books, articles, etc. on a topic, including works in print and works no longer in print, as well as forthcoming works about which they might be aware. Asking for this information from two or more resource people who are experts in their fields means we must often overlap and summarize their collective advice. All of this is to say that there must be certain limitations placed on every research project.

The time factor can be dealt with in many ways, but the best is to plan sermons and studies out for an entire year or more. This takes away the stress of rushing to gather material for upcoming sermons and allows the pastor to read and study at a more leisurely pace. We have used this discipline both in the pastorate and at EMOS.

However, the fact remains that we live in an "information age." So it is very important to know how to do research, which includes such basics as how to use a library and being familiar with standard research tools. Some common sense recommendations for staying on top of what preachers need to know include the following:

Understand the difference between what you must know and what you can safely ignore. This is much like knowing which books you should read slowly and carefully and which you can safely skim through rather quickly.

Always be engaged in deepening and broadening your knowledge of a subject or field. Never assume you know everything about a subject, because you don’t. Always be involved in reading six or seven books, so that you can read according to your interest on any given day.

Have a system for retaining or storing the information you really need so you can quickly and easily retrieve it.

Know how to do solid, objective (unbiased) research.

Pastors should set aside a minimum of one day each week in which they can focus on reading and preparation.

Select resource people or mentors who can help you in the areas where you are weakest and need help.

Allow more than sufficient time to engage in research and preparation. Research projects often have a way of expanding as you discover other resources you need to read, even though the topic has been sufficiently narrowed so it is manageable (not too broad).