“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14 NIV
pa·tient
[pey-shuh
nt] definition –
nt] 5. able or willing to bear
Reason Chosen: Maybe this one is for me more than the kids. There are so many times I find myself virtually yelling, “Have patience!!!” Really Jodi? Hmmm. That said, we definitely all need to develop more patience – including our kids. We live in a world today where things come quickly. How annoyed WE get if we look at our cell phone and our data isn’t streaming fast enough. Remember the times we had to wait for the dial-up modem or the rotary phones that took forever to dial? That’s just not reality anymore. Kids are going to have to be taught patience more because they live in a world of being able to access things almost immediately. Yet, we are taught that patience is a virtue, so that’s what we teach.
If you want a good laugh, you can watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk&feature=related
Word Ring
At the beginning of each week, the craft will be exactly the same because we will simply be adding a new word to our already established word ring.
Materials Needed
* Stock Card Paper (I had a whole stack like this – found at any craft store)
* Assorted Sticker Letters (I just bought a bunch on clearance at Michael’s)
* Binder Clips (Craft Store)
* Paper Cutter
* Hole Punch
The girls chose a paper style they thought would look good with the letters they chose. We then sounded out “patience” together…another tricky one. This too will become a sight word for them. They took turns finding the letters we needed and sticking them on the paper…they’re kids – the letters will not be stuck on perfect. I then cut the paper to the same size as the paper from last week. We punched a hole in the corner and stuck it on our binding clip. Each week, a new word will be added to the clip in similar fashion. I then wrote the Bible verse on the back. If your kids are older, have them do it themselves. We’ll spend this week learning the word, meaning (which I simplified to “waiting quietly and calmly without complaining”) and memorizing the scripture.
My “kid-friendly” definition for patience is “to wait with a happy heart”. Total side note- Kenzie’s namesake shirt is adorable :).
I love your site and character education activities. It really is a wonderful resource! is there a place on your site where you go into more detail about helping children to memorize the verses? I have a 4.5 year old and I’m not sure how to go about the memorization part. TIA!
Thank you so much for commenting, Jennifer. There isn’t a place on my site that really breaks it down into more detail. I maybe need to get creative because my 4.5 year old has a hard time committing verses to memory. It came more naturally for my oldest. I like to set things to song if I can. I make up a little tune or use one of a familiar song. I also try to add in hand motions when appropriate. Working on it daily is important. Not for my character series, specifically, but I know there are some great CD’s out there that set scripture to memory. One we are impressed with for the musical quality lately is the Seeds Family Worship. Just look for that on Amazon. I hope that is helpful. If you come up with any other brilliant ideas, let me know. I would just say repetition, repetition.