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Christian Doctrine for Children
This year-long course helps children understand the teachings of Christianity using Bible lessons.
The conceptual approach for teaching of Catechism was presented by Professor Robert Dommer at a CLC teachers' conference.
"Two points ought readily to be clear: When we speak of the conceptual approach, we are restricting ourselves only to the Small Catechism, and not to the "explanation," whether Gausewitz, Schwann, Kuske, or a committee; nor to workbooks or worksheets or guides. And, secondly, we do not highly value a strictly dogmatic approach, but suggest an "intuitive" approach to the formation of concepts. "
"For children of all ages the chief intuitive material of Luther was the Bible History. Nothing is as powerful as the Bible History to impress truths upon the soul of the child. Consider how frequently our Lord Himself used parables and illustrations to make His point and then would ask a penetrating question at the end,"
With the idea of doctrine being taught in the Christian Day School twice a week, there are 72 lessons using the intuitive approach. Each concept is taught with a Bible lesson.
"The most elemental intuitive material, of course, is pictures. That is why Luther incorporated many wood cuts in the later editions of his Catechisms. "
The media that we had in 1982 when Dommer wrote this paper was way beyond what Luther could have imagined. Today, we are probably equally as advanced. We use videos and computer animations for our lessons from the Bible.
"To use the Bible story effectually in the teaching of the concepts of the Catechism to children, it is almost imperative that the teacher understands children and their development and how they think. Luther said in 1523: "And let no one consider himself too wise and despise such child's play. "
Child development tells us that children first of all think only of themselves and their immediate surroundings. For that reason, the first unit is on our heavenly family. We follow developmentally with the things we have been taught to believe from God's Word. In answer to our Lutheran heritage of apprehending God's Grace only through the Gospel message in word and sacrament, we study briefly the means of grace. The children next learn about the characteristics of God followed closely by the ten commandments. A short unit on the Scriptures is next followed by prayer and worship.
Each lesson has three different levels: primary (K-2,) intermediary (3-4,) and elementary (5-6.) The curriculum is thus designed for either graded or combined teaching. Each level has a different emphasis from the lesson. The students grow in their understand through the years. Since there are two grades in each level, a second course in Christian Doctrine alternates years.
Materials
The main materials each student will have are a Bible and a composition book. This chart from the Wartburg project shows the varying translations.
We use the ESV for both the word for word aspect as well as the fact that the teacher uses the Lutheran Study Bible ESV. A person can also use the EHV. While the chart talks about "without sacrificing accuracy" a paraphrase version of the Bible is really only as accurate as the people who are paraphrasing. If you use a paraphrase Bible, read through it first and then go back to a word for word translation to make sure no misbeliefs are included. (see the lesson "You think you have eternal life" for more information on studying the Bible.
The pictures below illustrate how the students are to write in their Bibles. The "CD131-132" references the pages in their notebook. As the teacher is going through rereading the story, the underlining and notes are made by the students. Usually the students get more notes as they progress through the three levels of the story.
The composition book has the advantage over wirebound that the pages are firmly attached. As the students go through the levels, they encounter each lesson three times. They add notes to their composition book each time. The entire composition book notes are available. The illustrations below are from the Bible lesson above.
As indicated above, the teacher should have a good study Bible available. We highly recommend the Lutheran Study Bible. It has the most extensive notes, comes with a pretty good translation, and has plenty of room for writing reminders. My only disappointment is that the binding is wearing out.
Video Resources
Videos of lessons being taught to adults in Bible class
The Bible Dino de Laurentis film
Bible.com Life Church
Bible is audio written Bible with drama in some parts.
Bible Videos: The life of Jesus by the Mormon church
Jesusfilm.org CRU
https://www.jesusfilm.org/watch/life-of-jesus-gospel-of-john.html/english.html
Jesus.net
Genesis the movie
Creation the movie
Online resources
Understand Christianity I haven't explored this in depth, but it seems to have a lot of good information.
Read and Grow picture Bible PDF
https://thebiblerevival.com/clipart.htm
Journal of Theology The Journal of Theology is designed to deepen the understanding and sharpen the skills of those who teach the Word of God. The Journal of Theology also testifies to the confession of our church body and serves as a witness to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, and His unchanging Word.
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Digital Library Welcome to the WLS Digital Library (WLSDL). The WLSDL collects, preserves, and distributes digital theological materials. Among the repositories hosted by the WLSDL are the WLS Essay File and the WLS World Seminary Library. Subscribe the our RSS feed to receive notification when our repositories are updated.
Kretzman Commentary Online version of 4 volumes
Project Wittenberg
https://www.holybooks.com/ante-nicene-fathers-vol-i-ix/ ante nicene fathers
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