Wright Track Ministries

6675 Moondance Drive

Olive Branch, MS 38654

(662) 890-6398

Children's Education and Ministries

Tips and Ideas for Children's Workers and Ministers

Discipline in the Classroom 

Maintaining discipline in a classroom setting sometimes pushes a teacher to his or her limit. I have found that in working with children sometimes that if you will give them a challenge to confront, it will help the situation. For children, the challenges need to be personal and easily measurable. Here are some examples:

1. One Sunday an older class was making a trip to the restroom. There was a lot of noise and talking going on to the point that it interrupted our class . When it came time for us to take a restroom break, I challenged the children to help set an example to show the entire church how a children's class was supposed to behave. I told them that I had confidence in them and that they could do a better job that the bigger kids. They accepted the challenge. The first trip was pretty good. The next Sunday a couple of strategically planted adults to brag on the kids in the hallway was all it took. It was a source of pride that "we were really the quietest!" They weren't always perfect but they did this consistently. When it became necessary to remind them from time to time to be quiet, someone in the group always referred to setting a good example and encouraged the others to follow suit. 

2. The classic "boys against the girls" can be used to help the kids to learn to discipline themselves. Several years ago I helped teach a class a  where the teacher had a "frownie face" board. She took the classic smile, gave it a frown and made 5 pink ones and 5 blue ones. Any violation of discipline got a "frownie face" posted on your side of the board up front. (Pink for the girls side...Blue for the boys side) There was a winning team every Sunday. We would tally the winners for each Sunday at the end of the month. We always used the first Sunday of the month to do something special for the children and to reward the winners (and the first runner-ups too).

3. The first and last word in discipline is love. Nearly every Sunday School teacher has had a student that acted up to get attention. Each student is a gift from God. Sometimes having an extra person in the class just to help with the discipline can make a huge difference. A hand on the shoulder of a wiggly child and a few words of encouragement can be a part in helping meet this need of your student.

I hope that these ideas help someone.

Submitted by: Jeffrey Ramey, Kirby Woods Baptist Church, Memphis, TN.

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