VARIATIONS

The learning cycle can be applied to any learning situation that lasts for about one hour or longer. When teaching to a much shorter time-frame, such as family worship or the children's lesson in church, order the four segments as follows:

1. Reduce the time for readiness; simply make reference to a common experience and answer the WHY question.
   
2. Deliver the message of the objective through a Bible text.
   
3. Make the explanation and application of the main idea through an everyday story.
   
4. Suggest one simple thing that the kids can do during the next 24 hours to follow through on what they learned.

Some Children's Ministries programs, such as evangelistic meetings, camp meeting, and even Sabbath School, may go for longer than one hour. The time can then be expanded as follows:

1. Add an extra 15-30 minutes sharing time segment.
2. Design sharing time around the same objectives, but use signing, prayer, and a mission story or a quiz. Sing songs that relate to the concept, bring the objective into the prayer.
3. Insert sharing time after segment 2 or segment 3. Do not begin with sharing time because the kids do not really have anything to share, nor is there yet a stated focus to the lesson.
4. If your Sabbath School time is limited to one hour, you will still want to provide a sharing time. You may want to reduce segment 1 by five minutes and combine segments 3 and 4 together, taking 20 minutes.
5. If the time is to be expanded beyond this, draw the Bible lesson to a close after 60-75 minutes, take a break, and then launch a new activity, such as games time, craft time, etc.

Know Your Objective

Narrowing the Objective

Missed Opportunity

Total Time Teaching

Divide Your Time
1 - Readiness
2 - Lesson Content
3 - Application
4 - Sharing
Variations
Conclusion

go to "Conclusion"