General Lesson Plan

Each chapter may be taught over one to three days, as time permits. It takes only about ten to fifteen minutes at each sitting to cover a chapter thoroughly, if you do it over two or three days. It may work best to do this toward the end of each week, after your child has had an opportunity to read through the chapter and complete the workbook lesson. It can save a lot of time if you can discuss the lesson during a meal time. Have no doubt that this is time well spent, for the spiritual edification of yourself and your child. It also shows your child just how important your faith is in your life.

Day 1

1. Read the chapter yourself ahead of time, noting
   • How the main topic is addressed
   • That God's Word provides the answers to each question on that topic
   • Certain vocabulary words are noted in italics, and definitions may be found in the Glossary at the end of the book
   • Some of the questions are reinforced with Bible Examples, and there are Bible Readings at the end of the chapter that show the main theme
   • The chapter is summarized in the Introduction and Conclusion
2. Ask your child to tell you, in his own words, what the chapter is about
3. Check to see that your child has completed the workbook chapter.
4. Ask if your child has any questions that have not been answered by the catechism book. If so,
   1. Scan the chapter in the book to see if the answer is mentioned there.
   2. If the answer is not there and you are stumped, say "I'll ask the Pastor" or "I'll look it up." Then, either contact the Pastor or use any other reliable resources you may have. Remember that some questions are not answered by the Bible, for various reasons. (Maybe we couldn't comprehend the answer!)
5. Ask your child to recite the week's memory work, or what has been learned so far. The goal is to learn it word-for-word, by heart, so that no prompting is needed. While it is being learned, memory games and some prompting can really help. The fill-in-the-blank quizzes may help some children in the learning process.

Days 2 and 3

1. If any work is unfinished in the reading of the chapter or the workbook, do not begin the instruction session until your child has finished the work.
2. Take some of the questions from the textbook or workbook, and discuss why each one is an important question, noting that the answer is found in God's Word. You might point out how others in the world disagree with God's Word, especially where your child may hear those people in school or elsewhere.
3. If there were questions from the last session to which you had to find an answer, bring them up and explain the answers.
4. Have your child describe the Bible Examples and Bible Readings, saying (if possible) how they relate to the chapter. It will sometimes help to look them up as you discuss them.
5. Discuss how the hymn verse(s) at the end of the chapter teach the theme of the chapter. It might be fun to sing it together, if you can.
6. Have your child recite the week's memory work word for word. If this is the last session for the week, the entire assignment should be recited. If you wish, a fill-in-the-blank quiz may be used in place of recitation, but understand that recitation is the goal.