Sharing God's Creation: For and About Children

Sept. 5, 2019

Sharing God's Creation

We are doing a wide variety of topics in Sunday School this week. Preschoolers are finishing up our summer curriculum with twos and threes learning about sharing. (For anyone who has lived with a two year old, I'm sure you'll agree this is a perfect topic.) Fours are going to follow our animal characters they have come to know throughout the summer as they play with the idea that we all have unique strengths and gifts from God. Kindergartners will begin our regular fall curriculum with the story of Creation. The theme being, "God made the whole world." So just what do all these various topic have in common? Well, that's easy! God made us each to be unique with special gifts. He gave us a beautiful world to live in that works best if we share those gifts and the fruits of God's creation with each other.

Our First through Fourth Graders will be having a special class with Pastor Ryan where they will be expanding on their learning of the Shema, found in Deuteronomy, which in part states, " You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Our Lord, Our Creator Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Announcements: What's Coming Up?

Sept 8 -Special Charter Day Activities - Children will begin the new year of Sunday School in the grade they are in in school. Children who are 2 or 3 by Sept 1 will go to Room 105. Younger children are in the nursery. Children who are 4 by Sept 1 can go to Room 204 - 205. Children in Kindergarten should go to Room 209. First through Fourth Grades will begin in worship and then leave during the passing of the peace for a special activity in the chapel. Fifth Grade and above will remain in worship.

Sept. 15 - Opening Day for all Sunday School classes. For this day only, everyone will start in Sunday School. There will be no Children's Sermon. In addition to the rooms above, 1st & 2nd Grade will be in Room 203, 3rd & 4th Grade are in Room 208, Fifth - Seventh Grades will meet together in Room 207. We have some new curriculum for the youngest and oldest students and are looking forward to a great year.

Sept. 22 - Regular times in Sunday School - Kindergarten and Below start at 10:00. First through Seventh grades begin in worship and are dismissed following the Children's Sermon.

Loving God's Creation

It wasn't that many years ago that Richard Louv wrote the book, Last Child in the Woods , and the term nature deficit disorder was born. Does your child suffer from it? Louv proposed that lack of interaction with nature led to attention problems, greater physical and emotional illnesses, poorer eyesight, greater obesity, Vitamin D deficiency, and sensory issues, among other things, in children. Children today need time outside to develop the physical aspects of their bodies. They need unstructured time without adult interference to develop executive function skills such as time management, independence, self-control, and risk taking. Did you know executive function skills are a greater predictor of success in children than IQ?

Yes, kids need to be outside in nature for themselves, but also for the greater good of everyone. If we don't teach children to appreciate and care for God's creation, who will? And who will care for our world in the future if children don't appreciate it?

We have already taken some steps in this direction in some of our recent Food, Faith, & Fellowship meetings. Having children outdoors on a treasure hunt or learning to fish (thanks fishing adults in our congregation!) help children begin to experience the joys of nature.

What are some things you can do to pass this reverence for God's creation to our younger generation?

Here are some suggestions:

Plant a garden or even a pot with some tomatoes
Go camping in a state or national park - or your back yard.
Find a beautiful, quiet place outdoors to read a book on nature such as The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
Get out in nature and walk & talk about it. Go for a hike. Get a guide and know the trees, plants, etc in your yard.
Catch lightning bugs or make a rock collection.
Even infants can do tummy time in the back yard.
Explore your local parks. Take a picnic for dinner.
Make sure your children have time to play outside - not organized sports - PLAY!
Limit electronics
Teach them ways to care for our environment - such as recycling.
Star gaze on a clear night.

Some ideas from:

"How to Teach Your Kids to Love Nature" by Vanessa Ball (Feb. 7, 2019) outdoorproject.com

"How to Prevent Nature Deficit Disorder" by Maggie Voelker (Mar. 20, 2019) greenchildmagazine.com

Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you got

Til its gone

They paved paradise

To put up a parking lot

Joni Mitchell

When the thunders roar

You don't need to be afraid

I'll lead you through the storm

So please remember when I say

I'm with you always.

Owl City

First Presbyterian Church of Libetyville 847.362.2174 www.firstpreslibertyville.org