Religious Education

Time of Grace (0-7/9 years)

Experiencing Grace

• Take in the message of grace with care – as a store for later
• Experiencing goodness and security with all the senses
• Translating God into the lives of children through action
• Fixed habits and rituals help the child understand the meaning of faith before they understand the content

becoming linguistic

• Concepts like „faith“ and „trust“ are fleshed out through stories
• Song lyrics stand up to life experiences and pr  Good song lyrics w 
• „To whom I belong, I belong.“

Recording Biblical Content

• Depending on contemplation: „No impression without expression“
• Stories and narratives conspire to form inner images that sink down into the subconscious and work from there
• Breaks and repentance are only tangible for teenagers and adults!
• Miraculous hearts do not yet prepare for joy. Parents have more possibilities at their disposal than the child can imagine
• The child identifies with heroes and role models, sense of justice
• Do not overburden the child in moral-ethical decisions

>Contents up to about 8 years:

• Stories with the message of God's goodness: YOU are wanted
• Stories that show God and Jesus as acting and creating
• Stories of Jesus proclaiming God's love for people
• Stories that interpret the meaning of the great feast
• Tales of miracles that portray God's omnipotence or Jesus' authority    (not just telling miracle stories)
• Narratives that show consequences of human behavior for good and Bösen
• AT: primal stories (creation), father stories (Abraham), Joseph story
• NT: Christmas story, childhood of Jesus
• Topic circles: healthy and sick (Bartimäus), joy and fear (sea storm), celebrating feasts (wedding and baptism), workers from abroad (Ruth)

> Talking to Jesus üabout the child more than talking to the child üabout Jesus

Guilt and Forgiveness

• „Saying sorry“
  • As a social rule, this makes sense
  • for his reactions, however, is questionable

• „I did that,“ admit guilt
• I am allowed to make mistakes without having to accept loss of love

Image of God

• Does the child need to endear himself to God?
• Are educators/leaders aware of their own image of God?
• Only carefully überprprueftes understanding of God.

Time of Law (7/9-11/13)

Tracing realistic, real events

• In the realität period, the child is interested in „action“

events

• Ideal of justice, punishment of the Bösewicht
• Historical – geographical contexts, competitions, sense of order, collecting frenzy, and ritualization of action
• In contrast to the pre- and post-latency phases: physical-cognitive rather than physical-emotional drive
• Right, will-power, the good deed – because it is „right“ and not out of mercy
• History as a timeline is understood

Teaching material and biblical content

• Bible study especially at age 10-12!
• AT: Exodus, 10 Commandments, covenant making, land grabbing, Judges period, Samuel to Saul, David – Jonathan, Israel's glory and decline, Elisha – Elisha, Jeremiah, Bab. Captivity
• NT: John the Baptist, Jesus and the Teachers of the Law, Passion Narrative and Acts (ages 11 and up), action-packed parables, general coherent texts
• God as a covenant partner, faith teaching (catechism) because code of conduct and rules of the game are part of age
• Miracles are not as easily accessible from about age 11

Character Formation

• Real sense of guilt: formation of conscience
• Children keenly observe how closely adults take the truth
• Taking doubts about children's faith seriously
• Sense of order is formed; lessons with a firm framework, disciplinary arrangements adhered to

• We owe the child a sense of purpose in education, youth program and instruction
• Memorizing, opening passages, learning psalms: biblical knowledge as a foundation
• Theater, experiential program, camp, …
• Introducing yourself to others becomes möpossible

Gospel Time (11/13-16+)

Character Development

• Even „irreligious adolescents“ are concerned üabout their own existence
  • Do not give rash answers
• Youth need times of alone time and times of community
• The conversational atmosphere before puberty is the foundation for conversation during puberty

Religious and Biblical Theme

• The feeling level is considered the key to questions of faith – but for the time being, without having to talk about oneself (telling stories of other people)
• The lives of the young people themselves determine the lesson content more than the biblical stories
• Biblical figures as radical types: John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Job, Peter,…
• Exploring miracle stories at the symbolic and experiential level
• Youth literature and biographies, experiential stories of Christians, of ex-drögels, disabled people, missionaries, …
• Image meditations, films, music
• Tangible role models help with persönity building, role models to reject and accept
• Involve young people in responsibility
• Clear agreements, combine humor with clear direction
• Create an atmosphere, design the space

Theological statements

• God's image, guilt and forgiveness, hope and discipleship as central basic motifs, which can be unfolded by various themes of the
• True engagement with the doubts of young people. Those who are taken seriously as doubters take others seriously as believers.
• Models of common life sniffing up close, rudimentary to experience. Question of meaning from the thought of the common and the relationship of the develop.
• Binding community forms (also in the partnership) as mögliche life goals develop. (Based on thoughts of the covenant rheology)

Source reference

• Title image: Juropaarchiv, www.juropa.net
• Content and literature:Felix Studer, Theologisch-Diakonisches Seminar Aarau, 2004 (course materials) building on: Bridger, Francis: How Children Believe, (Oncken, Wuppertal and Kassel and Bibellesebund Winterthur, 1990) and on Rinderknecht Hans Jakob and Zeller Konrad: Methodik christlicher Unterweisung (Zwingli Verlag Zurich/Stuttgart 1968);