Hi Mr. Mark,
I work with ages 6-11. What suggestion do you have? My enrollment has dropped and I am thinking of rotation Sunday school. What do you think?
First, Invest in Bible Skills where kids learn memory verses and the books of the Bible. Explain how to become a Christian. Visit the kids at home and show personal interest in them. Involve them in service projects that unify your group while helping others. I have ideas posted on my website.
Second, I would avoid the idea of rotation Sunday School. I know I enjoy the rotation plan on Wednesday nights and during VBS but not Sunday School. It seems like we always have trouble locating and enlisting enough workers and finding solutions to that problem is on my mind too.
I want to challenge you to be an advocate for the child. Our kids need the same teachers greeting and teaching them when they arrive at Sunday School. Many families are also visiting and seeing the consistency of the teachers who care for their children. Please consider at least one teacher that is always present and building relationships with the kids if you have to rotate other teachers through the class. That would not be the goal but rather a temporary solution.
The other idea is to rotate kids to different classes. A teacher only preps one lesson and teaches it for four weeks, each week to a different group. Again I would repeat the reasons from above. How are teachers effectively connecting the lives of the kids. I observed a church using this model, the kids learned four parts of a lesson (one each week). This means the kids got 12 Bible Stories that year. When a church offers 52 Bible story/ learning times, there is a greater foundation for spiritual learning happening for the child.
I suggest staying with the basic model of teaching your class each week, loving the kids and leading them to Christ. Your consistency will be the greatest reward kids can have.
