Friday, February 22, 2013

Monday, February 18, 2013

Nursery

Sitting with my parents at their church Sunday. They were looking for nursery volunteers promising "no crying babies". That part was intended as a joke.

So I got thinking, of course: When we care for infants, some people seem to just have the "touch." They're better at calming them than others. Maybe skill or technique. Maybe it's the age and experience of the caregiver. Maybe a baby just "knows me" or "likes me!"

But I got thinking about visual, auditory, kinesthetic learners and I'm wondering if a child's preference for visual, auditory, kinesthetic/tactile, olfactory stimuli show up before they're even pre-schoolers when they're still infants. Beyond the comfort of the familiar, I wonder if some babies find smiles or mobiles more calming than sounds and singing or visa versa. Or whether some babies find touch, fleece, or smells more soothing than sights and sounds.

Maybe there's research out there, I haven't looked. Just wondering if, when trying to calm a crying baby - after we've exhausted the familiar (and the possibility of colic) - if babies have sensory preferences.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

Did you ever find that you really identify with a particular Bible character? How about the kids in your class?

When you read a Bible story, are there ways to help kids identify with the characters in the story?

"How do you think ____ felt? Did you ever feel like that?"

"Did you ever do something like that? Do you know someone who did?" Not just the major characters but the other characters in the stories, too.

I know of someone who makes me think of Esther . . .

I know someone who makes me think of Jonah...

I know someone who makes me think of Noah's mother...

How about you?