the research

"Building on each child’s strengths—and taking care to not harm any aspect of each child’s physical, cognitive, social, or emotional wellbeing—educators design and implement learning environments to help all children achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas" (NAEYC, 2020, p. 5). 

This statement is part of the definition of Developmentally Appropriate Practice from the National Association for the Education of Young Children position statement on DAP (NAEYC, 2020). For more than three decades, the organization has conducted ongoing research to keep their point of view up to date given new findings and contexts that impact education (NAEYC, 2020). In today's educational climate, most teachers and leaders agree that DAP is crucial to ensure the most positive learning outcomes. The same holds true for teaching children the Bible and the Christian faith.

In the statement above, the NAEYC (2020) posits that DAP encourages educators to help all students reach their full potential by creating effective learning environments that protect all domains of a child's development across all content areas. When we look at the Bible as one of a learner's core content areas, we realize that DAP should be applied there as well.

Take the Easter story for example, a core tenet of the Christian faith. Many churches and denominations follow the age-old tradition of telling children as young as three-years-old that "Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He was crucified on a cross. He shed His blood for us. Then He was buried in a tomb. But at Easter we celebrate because He didn't stay dead. On the third day He rose again!"

This typical and simple re-telling is full of developmentally inappropriate ideas and language. Yet Sunday School teachers have been reciting this account for years. Why? Because it's how it's always been done.  Educational experts will tell you this level of detail could be detrimental to a child's emotional and spiritual well-being. 

In a case study of children's responses to Bible stories, Short (2011) found that children interpret stories in individualistic ways and the meanings they conclude are often not the intended or expected meaning of the storyteller. Therefore, children's Bible teachers and parents should consider the developmental stage of their students/children when engaging in Bible lessons, even if that means leaving more mature ideas and details out at first.

In the concrete mind of a three-year-old, if Jesus "didn't stay dead," Grandma shouldn't either. This unintended connection could be problematic. While we should never avoid the full details of God's story or the core tenets of the Christian faith, we can re-evaluate at what stage these details are taught to children to ensure not only a positive learning outcome but also healthy faith formation.

Stories play a vital role in the faith formation of all Christ followers but especially children. Jesus, Himself, was a master storyteller who used the transformative power of stories to engage His audiences (Magro, 2019). Through stories and parables, Jesus used an imaginative world to transmit His teachings through engagement rather than imposition (Margro, 2019). 

Although Bible stories have always been and still are the core of Christian education, Short (2011) posits the methods of sharing Bible stories should be re-evaluated. Through a three-month, qualitative study of one elementary Sunday school program, Short (2011) found that the teachers' emphasis was on making meaning around Bible stories rather than making meaning of them. This nuance may seem subtle but it plays a large role in how a child engages with and retains the story.

When a Bible story is presented and a teacher immediately jumps to an abstract idea extrapolated from the story, children miss out on the benefit of truly engaging with the story itself. Short (2011) reports that studies show when children engage directly with a story—through feelings and reactions—they become more deeply connected to the narrative. 

Larson and Keeley (2020) note that the Bible is more story than theological proposition with narrative making up 65-75% of the text. In order for children to truly know God, they must know His story—first and foremost to learn who He is, what He has done, and who we, His people, are (Enns, 2010). Then, and only then, can children begin to connect and apply the Word of God to their personal lives.

If Bible teachers are committed to developmentally appropriate practice, they may find it challenging to teach young learners God's story. So focused on transmitting the content of the Bible, many educators, ministry leaders, and parents simply "tell all" without thinking about what's best for each individual age and stage of child faith formation.

Focus on Story

Magro (2019) supports that "imagination facilitates the transformative process of instruction in the faith" (p. 78). When presented in effective, age-appropriate ways, God's epic story will ignite a child's imagination and engage their heart to learn more. Magro (2019) suggests that Bible teachers can enhance a student's imaginative engagement by allowing them to express, both verbally and non-verbally, their reaction to the story. For example, this practice is evident in the Godly Play methodology with the goal of making meaning through story, wonder, and play (Godly Play, 2021). 

Short (2011) poses the question, "How might Bible teaching with children look different if direct, immediate, personal involvement with the narrative became the primary emphasis" (p. 321)? Short (2011) suggests that teachers build activities around the events and characters of the story, rather than abstract concepts or themes around it.

God shared His Word in the form of story (Larson & Keeley, 2020). We can trust that our Creator understood the power of story, especially in the lives of His beloved, young children. Roberto and Pfiffner (2007) posit that effective child faith formation respects how children learn and offers experiential, rich, sensory, interactive, and engaging learning activities. At the heart of such pedagogy is story, which sparks the imagination and ignites a child's mind to learn about God.

Use a Spiral Curriculum Approach

In addition to the focus on story mentioned earlier, the use of spiral curriculum is a pedagogical method that can enhance learning for complex content and concepts such as the Bible and faith. Jerome Bruner (1977) believed the hypothesis that any subject can be taught in some form to any child at any stage of development. This belief about subject matter transmission is the foundation of the development of spiral curriculum. Spiral curriculum offers an "iterative revisiting of topics, subjects, or themes" across a content area (Harden & Stamper, 1999, p. 141). 

According to Harden and Stamper (1999), the features of spiral curriculum include:

1. Revisited topics
2. Increased levels of difficulty
3. New learning related to previous learning
4. Increased student understanding and competence

Harden and Stamper, as noted in Ireland and Mouthaan (2020), posit several advantages to the spiral model:

1. Reinforcement leading to retention of knowledge
2. Introducing topics in a controlled way, moving from simple to complex
3. Integrating information to avoid subject silos
4. Following a logical sequence of topics
5. Increasing complexity supports higher level thinking and application of knowledge

Spiral curriculum starts with simple concepts and circles back to them, at each stage building upon the stories and ideas with new, age-appropriate knowledge that can be fused with prior knowledge. This rhythmic progression leads to effective, long-term understanding and application of subject matter.

Practice Scaffolding

Pete Enns (2010) posits that children will ask two questions when presented with a Bible story or faith concept/tradition: What does it mean? and What does it mean to you? Before we seek to teach any part of the Christian faith, we must be prepared to answer these questions. Likewise, we should respond with thoughtful questions that engage the child to think of what a concept means for them. 

The educational practice of "scaffolding" occurs when a more knowledgeable person (the teacher or parent) helps a child master new skills by breaking the learning down into smaller units or concepts as they guide the learner to build his or her knowledge with time and practice (Bergin & Bergin, 2018). 

Veteran Bible teacher, Scottie May developed six principles of engagement that offer scaffolding opportunities for Bible teachers:

1. Make purpose a priority.
2. Provide experiential learning and active involvement. 
3. Develop meaningful, authentic learning tasks. 
4. Ensure moments for awe, wonder, and reflection. 
5. Allow social participation and collaborative work. 
6. Encourage connections through research and transfer to life (Linhart, 2016, p. 118).

These are just a few of the pedagogical practices that will support effective Bible teaching. More important than any approach is to be mindful of developmentally appropriate practice across ages and stages when teaching the Bible to kids.