Sunday school for children - your assistant in raising a child

Today, thanks to the revival of traditions of Orthodox education in Russia, almost every city has its own Sunday school for children. To find out about the presence of the school in your ward, it will be enough to turn to the priest or talk with the parishioners.

Classes with children usually begin in September, so you should prepare the child for a visit to the Sunday school in the summer. You have to baptize him, if he has not been blessed by the church so far, to introduce the most important Orthodox holidays and traditions, and also to explain to him how to behave properly in the temple and how to approach the clergy.

Traditions of spiritual education in Russia

In our country, Orthodox monasteries and temples have long been the centers of spiritual education of parishioners, and also often the only educational institutions accessible to ordinary people. Our great-grandparents also found the time of the parish and Sunday schools, where they were taught not only the law of God, that is, the foundations of Orthodoxy, but also writing, reading, arithmetic and history.

After the revolution in schools, they ceased to teach any subjects related to religion. Only in the late nineties from oblivion returned such a notion as a Sunday school for children. Many parishes revived their schools with rich traditions of spiritual education, and in general educational institutions children began to study such a subject as the foundations of Orthodox culture.

The modern approach to the education of children in the faith in God

Many students today know much more about Orthodoxy than their parents. Thanks to the initiative of Patriarch Alexy II, subjects were added to the educational program that introduced children to the history and rich traditions of Orthodoxy.

Initially, the basics of Orthodox culture were taught in some schools as an experiment. After the teachers noted the positive impact of religious education on the behavior of students and their success in learning, the foundations of Orthodox culture began to teach pupils of the fourth and fifth classes in all schools in Russia.

If parents want to introduce the child to Orthodoxy at an earlier age, a Sunday school for children will be a good option. Thus it is not necessary to be afraid, that study in such school will appear for small children uninteresting, heavy or will not approach to them on age. Teachers usually become fathers, wives of priests or hieromonks (if the school belongs to the monastery) select the curriculum so that it is accessible and interesting even for the youngest children.

Sunday School for Children is your assistant in developing the creative potential of a child

For children who have not yet reached the age of four, a Christian Sunday school for children holds special classes. Here they are taught to draw, to make simple crafts for church holidays, they are told stories from the Bible and learn the simplest prayers with them. Kids, of course, go to school with their mothers.

Children from four to eight years are engaged in Sunday schools without parents, they attend divine services, learn to sing and participate in festive performances.

Children older than eight years of age attend full-fledged classes, similar to those in a regular school. They study the Law of God, the iconography, the Church Slavonic language and the history of the church's formation, can sing in the choir and attend services on an equal basis with adults. Some churches have bell rings, classes in which all children like. In addition, any Orthodox Sunday school for children often organizes trips to holy places where parents can also go.

At the end of the school year, children are waiting for exams, which usually do not pose a problem for them. In some Sunday schools, classes are conducted in an atmosphere of strict discipline, but it is better if they take place in the form of a conversation. In this case, children better remember the words of the priest, and also learn obedience and respect.

Sunday School Program for Children

Classes in Sunday schools are held in accordance with the program approved by the Russian Orthodox Church. Children study the Bible in chronological order. First they get acquainted with the Old Testament: they learn about the creation of the world, Adam and Eve, their fall, Noah and his ark, the universal flood and miraculous salvation, the birth of Moses, his commandments and the exodus from Egypt of the chosen people, the shepherd David and his Victory over Goliath.

Then the New Testament is taught: the birth of Jesus, the stories of his life and his miracles, the crucifixion and resurrection, the apostles and the first Christians on the planet being persecuted by pagans, the formation of the church and its split into Orthodox and Catholic.

Additional lessons in Sunday schools

Children who show good drawing skills can attend additional classes on icon painting, where they will be told about the traditions of Russian masters, teach them to write icons on cardboard, canvas and boards, explain the features of the image of the garments and faces of saints.