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Need Book Ideas for Church Classroom
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Hello, ladies!
I have been asked to help with the organization and decoration of our church’s 4th-5th grade classroom and I’m so excited! I see this as an amazing opportunity to bring in some CM ideas into our very not CM church.
So as a part of designing a room that is warm and inviting, I am wanting to put in some bookshelves with really good books. I know lots of great living history books, but, in addition to the Bible, I’m looking for Christian living and character book ideas for the 9-11 age range.
As background, our church is non-denominational, tends to be a bit “trendy” and attracts lots of unbelievers/brand new believers. So while some of the children in the class come from Christian homes, many of them either come from homes with unbelieving parents, divorced/single parents, are foster children, are in public school, are obsessed with pop culture, etc. I’m excited to be able to start introducing these kids to real, living ideas and putting a spark back into their dulled minds. (I also help teach the class occasionally and I’m consistently amazed at how tiny and limited their worlds are. It’s really sad.)
Any recommendations? What would be your “must-have” book for a church classroom of mentally starving children? Thanks!
I wish you the best. There are many good book lists. Search on here for missceegee’s book lists and there is a thread with loads. However, do not be discouraged if you find little interest. Do what you feel led to do and pray. When I was teaching 4/5 year old ss and I brought a book to share during the service hour (normally free time hour), I was met with groans and complaints galore. It actually turned my stomach to have such young kids have a distaste for books.
Here’s a link – http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/missceegees-book-lists-lots-of-them/page/2
Louise Vernon’s books — maybe you could do a weekly read-aloud? (She writes historical fiction as it pertains to the church world. Gutenberg, Martin Luther, etc.)
How about incorporating an Aesop fable that pertains to the week’s lesson? That could start them with the whole “listen then narrate” thing.
I think Lois W. Johnson writes books for that age – christian author, historical fiction.
Hope that starts your wheels turning! 🙂
How about the books by Patricia St. John? My children really get into them (and so do I!)
http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=18&category=5960
I groan aloud at the types of books that are found in school rooms. My kids just this week were talking about books on the public school shelves like Captain underpants and diary of a wimpy kid, etc. They expressed displeasure at them which I was thankful for! However, you dont want these kids to not read at all so I might suggest something along the lines of magic tree house/school bus, and the Boxcar Children books. Lois Walfrid Johnson as mentioned above is really good.
My son likes Time Warp Trio books and he is in 4th grade. These may be a bit easy for him but I needed to find books he was interested in to keep him reading. Now these may also be considered twaddle but I think they are better then the earlier book’s I mentioned.
I just read a quote the other day that said “There are people who like to read and people who are reading the wrong books” or something like that. Meaning everyone would like to read if they found the right book.
I have a dream of being able to throw out all the twaddle books on school room shelves and switch them all with living books.Isn’t that a great dream?
I have two books that come to mind. My children ages 7 & 8 loved them although I’m not sure they could read the advent book. Anyway, my favorite it The Legend of Three Trees, there is a book called the Tale of Three Trees and it is similar, but not as good as the Legend IMO. It is a story that begins describing different trees and how they are different and used for different things when building and then goes on explaing that each tree wished to be made into this or that and just when it looked like none would get their wish fulfilled, it shows that with Jesus’s help they each get what they needed and it was ten times better than they had hoped. Such a powerful message for our young ones these days and it isn’t a long novel either. Could actually be read in a Sunday School class time.
The second book that comes to mind is a bit deeper and longer and would be for an older child or an adult to read to 2nd grade or up…. we used it as our advent book this year and it was an absolute hit with the kids and myself. It just brings the events leading up to Jesus’s birth to life. It adds depth and character to people we read about such as Mary and Joseph, Zacharious and Elizabeth, etc… it give a bit of a history lesson regarding the inn and why there was no room and how it was God’s plan and was actually beneficial. It is called Destination Bethlehem. I am catholic, but grew up non-denominational and I can’t say either book is for a certain religion, just christianity based. HTH
I second the Three Trees books. We love the Max Lucado books about Punchinello. You Are Mine. If I Only Had a Green Nose. You Are Special. Best of All.
And, how about some lovely “missionary” stories, or books about famous people, like David Livingstone, Eric Liddell and such, you know those put out by the Jacksons, or a compilation of them, such as Hero Tales 1 or 2?
For little people we have really loved the Little Jewel books by Rod and Staff. I find that they touch on so many issues children face. I understand that the portrayal of Mennonite families with headcoverings may be a bit foreign to your group, the stories are so sweet and direct one to something higher.
Look forward to reading more on this post.
Lindy
Thank you all for such great ideas. I know my own children love some of the books mentioned here particularly Hero Tales and Patricia St. John books. I never even thought of those although I should have!
Unfortunately, I am not the primary teacher and don’t have much say in how the class is taught so I’m not sure how trying to read aloud to the class would go over with the staff. Most of the teachers think reading out loud to 9-11yo children is “babyish”. My personal opinion is that the mainstream Sunday School curriculum the church currently uses is awful, twaddly and grossly underestimates the children’s intelligence. My hope is to stock a bookshelf with some real books that would be available to the kids before or after the official lesson time. The “problem” is that the children would have to pick them up and read them on their own. Based on this, I’m assuming that I should have books that cover a broad range of reading abilities, since the class ranges from kids who read really well to a few who struggle with dyslexia and can barely read at all.
I know my original post was asking for book ideas, but I have to vent for a second on how terribly frustrating and heartwrenching it is to interact with these mentally starving kids. The teacher is lucky to get their full attention for more than 5 minutes at a time; their behavior is erratic and kind of wild and even when I do manage to get them into a quiet spot to talk to them their eyes are constantly roving. It’s almost as if they all have learning or behavior problems, but what are the chances that an entire class has learning or behavior problems?! *sigh*
Anyway, thanks for the ideas, please keep them coming! I need all the help I can get! 🙂
Oh and I thought perhaps you ladies could groan with me when I share that last Sunday, when I was helping out in the 4-5 yo class, I found a Hannah Montana book called “I Want to Be A Rock Star”. I was so angry I almost took the book home to accidentally, maliciously destroy it. 🙂 It wasn’t so much that it was a Hannah Montana book (although I think that those kinds of books are the queens of twaddle) but it was the fact that a book encouraging 4 and 5 year old children to aspire to rock stardom as the ultimate dream was in our church! Shouldn’t we be encouraging young children toward lives of good character, integrity and personal relationships with Jesus??
Ugh.
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