One of the ways we’ve decided to embark on this assignment is by integrating the teaching of what we’ve coined “Kingdom Character Traits” into our classroom curriculum. 

Kingdom Character Traits are essentially the nature and personality of God. They are Christian qualities that will prepare the students for the world around them–qualities that will equip them to be the best versions of themselves. 

As a school-age teacher, I’m incredibly excited about incorporating this into our lesson plans in 2020! It’s a wonderful way to not only sow seeds of the Kingdom of God into our students, but for myself and other staff to continue growing in our capacity!

The way we’ve decided to accomplish this task is currently threefold. First, we choose one Kingdom Character Trait for the week, with one new trait each week. For example, since 2020 has begun, we’ve touched on three traits: the power of our words, integrity, and self-control.

Secondly, we define the traits for our students and provide a scripture as an anchor for that word. The definition is important because it makes the concept we’re wanting the students to grasp, clear and plain. You’d be surprised at how often we as humans become so familiar with words that we replace our understanding of words with their actual meaning! The scripture is important because it ties everything back to the God, the One whose character is perfect and excellent in every way.

Lastly, we group the children together and do an activity. These activities do one of two things. They either show the students what happens when the trait we’re learning is absent, or they spotlight the quality we’re discussing and they get to see for themselves why it’s so important!

We truly believe that strong character will take these children to great places well after they’ve left our center! It’s our hope that these weekly lessons become daily habits, which in turn become moment-by-moment reflections for our students.