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How To Teach Sunday School

Teaching Sunday School can be both rewarding and challenging. It is one of the greatest ways to do service for the Lord and for your Church community. It gives you an opportunity to reach out to those children who might only be able to hear the “good news” about Jesus on a Sunday morning. It brings hope to a lost and dying world; a world that is full of small children who have no hope and may never know what hope is unless they are taught.

Teaching Sunday School is an important position that should never be taken lightly. As a Sunday School teacher, you will instill the Word of God into the lives of children. You will teach them valuable lessons that they will incorporate into their lives. You will be a part of the molding process, helping to shape them into what they will become in the future. You will be creating the church of tomorrow.

Teaching Sunday School doesn’t require a license or a degree; it requires you to be knowledgeable of the Word. It requires you to be caring and honest. It requires you to have a heart for the children and for their salvation. Teaching Sunday School requires you to be creative and open to new suggestions.

Teaching Sunday School means that you are responsible for ensuring that the spiritual needs of the children who have been placed in your care are being met. It will require you to be involved in the lives of your students. You will be called upon to answer difficult questions that, when asked, may shake the very depths of your soul. You will see things that will bring tears to your eyes, tear at your heart, and move you to make a difference in a child’s life.

Teaching Sunday School also means that you will receive great rewards for your efforts. You will be blessed by the children, as they shower you with affection. You will gain a whole new family because you will come to feel as if the children are your very own. You will watch them grow, both physically and spiritually. They will share their sorrows and their joys with you. They will tell you things that they would never dare share with others. They will hold you in very high esteem. When they grow older, they may not be able to recall who their 2nd grade teacher in school was, but they will remember who their Sunday School teacher was.

Teaching Sunday School is about making a difference in the lives of children. It is a high calling reserved for those who not only desire to teach the principles of the Bible, but who are also willing to exemplify them in their everyday lives. Just like Jesus, who was the greatest teacher to walk this earth, we must also, as Sunday School teachers, teach by example. The greatest lessons we can teach to today’s generation of children – our church of tomorrow – are those that we have applied to our lives and whose success we can proclaim boldly!

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How To Teach Drama To Kids

Many teachers in schools these days are not trained for the specialty subjects they are suddenly faced with teaching. Also, there are many professionals from the world of the Performing Arts who are often forced to make extra money by teaching, but have no experience with this as a career. Furthermore, many university students are hired for summer camp counselors, or evening community center leaders where Drama is part of the program, but are floundering with the basic concepts of where to start and proceed with this subject.
Because Drama is an active subject, much like the teaching of Physical Education, it is therefore much more difficult to teach, as not just knowledge of the subject matter is critical, but captivating and motivating students who are less inspired so that their peers will not be brought down by their attitudes or actions, and, in general, just keeping basic CONTROL over the group is imperative as well.

Teaching Drama or Theatre Arts is RARELY about putting on a play. There are components and specific skills that must be first taught, such as the use of movement, of voice, and how to enhance a character, or how to improvise. Exploring the world of make-believe can also involve delving deeper into one’s own creative resources, and thus finding deeper meanings behind feelings and emotions. It is not unheard of for leaders and teachers of this subject to become therapists or counselors when a particular memory is triggered in a student. Having students almost always working in groups can also be problematic, as there are personalities to consider, injured feelings to soothe, etc.

With young people, of course, the emotions and raw creative genius run in an excitable pattern which, while often working well in active PRACTICAL lessons, will become mired down in THEORY lessons. Thus, it is usual to always keep children and teens physically busy and mindfully challenged. Extra exercises that may involve some form of presentation, such as puppetry, scene work, clowning or music can also be taught as a point at which they may become more serious about their input and participation (“Mom’s coming to see me do this tonight!”) OR as a very real introduction to the challenge of performing in front of strangers.

Any exercises suggested may also lead to other imaginary situations for furthering the development of a student’s creative skill. Scenarios that imitate real life will find the students searching for personal reflection and resolutions in instances they are experiencing simultaneously to taking Drama classes, and this can lead the teacher or leader of the group to observe many rewarding transformations or at least cathartic epiphanies.

Because the word “drama” comes from the ancient Greek “to do” (or “to act”) it is imperative that teaching Drama to young people be full of activities and thought-provoking experiences presented through movements and gestures. Teaching theater CAN be about the History of Theater – a fascinating subject in itself which could take years of study!- Set Design, Costume Design, Lighting, Make-Up, Stage Management, and Directing and Producing, but these topics are better left for college or university levels, and when teaching under 18’s, the individual studies are better left broken down into components that keep them active and involved with others and with some introspection of their individual personalities.

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How To Talk To Your Kids About Sex

Talk about Sex with Your Kids

Sex is a complicated topic and one that many parents try to avoid for as long as possible. Some parents believe that by avoiding the topic of sex, that they can “preserve their child’s innocence.” They believe that by keeping their children uninformed that they are somehow “protecting” their kids. But, in fact, the opposite is true.

Pedophiles (adults who prey sexually on young children), look for children who have little to no information about sex from their parents. These people target kids who clearly do not have good communication with guardians. You can try to train your child not to ever tell other adults that you and he (or she) don’t talk, but the fact is, pedophiles have a special radar for picking up information about how well a child gets along with parents. If you don’t talk with your child about sex, or other sensitive topics, other adults who are “tuned-in” will be able to tell.

When you talk with your children about sex, you not only protect them from pedophiles and sexual molestation but also rape and other potentially uncomfortable situations. The more kids know, the easier it is for them to avoid situations that seem questionable. A child who does not have information about sex is naïve to the ways of the world and cannot avoid situations because he has no reason to believe that they could turn disastrous. Educating your child about sex and sexuality provides him with the tools to evaluate situations and make a decision about them.

As kids get older and turn into adolescents, it’s important, as a parent, that you’ve laid the foundation for intense and honest conversations about sex. When children reach the age of 10 to 12 years, they need to start learning about boundaries in relationships. These boundaries help them negotiate boyfriend and girlfriend relationships with greater ease. It isn’t easy to establish boundaries and to know when to say, “no” without practice and thought. Parents who regularly talk with their children about sex can help prepare their children for their intimate relationships and help them learn how to set healthy boundaries in their intimate relationships. By encouraging their children to think carefully in advance about situations involving sex, parents can help their children make important, life changing decisions about sex that will benefit them throughout life.

By talking about sex, parents can help establish open lines of communication with their children. It isn’t a conversation that should be had only once. Rather, parents should attempt to converse with their children regularly about sex and sexuality. Each time they talk with their child, the conversation will get easier and more productive. As children learn that it is easy and comfortable talking with their parents about sex, they will ask more questions and be more willing to ask for help in making difficult decisions about their own sexual behavior. Parents who take the time to talk with kids about sex have the ability to confer their value system and moral code to their child. And children with parents who are able to discuss sex with them definitely have the advantage in life.

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How To Study The Bible For Beginners

The Bible is a powerful and captivating book. Whether you are a believer in Jesus Christ or you just want to know more about the sacred text, incredible truths and life changing ideas can be found between the covers. Published in over 1000 languages, the Bible is much more than just an ordinary book. It is a record of God’s word to man, and it tells us the things that he wants us to know.

Studying the Bible may seem like an overwhelming idea, especially if you have never done it before. Don’t let yourself get discouraged. Don’t be thrown off by the size of the Bible or even the wide range of instructions or teachings you may have heard from different religious leaders in the past. Although it is important to accept instruction, you must always hold up the teachings of man to the word of God.

Even if you are a beginner, studying the Bible can be simple. Just follow these steps:
1. Pray. Before you begin studying the Bible, pray and ask God to open your heart and your mind, and to reveal his truth to you. Ask God to help silence your own preconceived ideas of what is right so that you can truly learn from Scripture.
2. Choose the passage. Choose whatever scripture you want to learn about. It can be whatever you want, but consider looking at a Psalm or one of the letters in the New Testament such as Philippians or Colossians.
3. Consider the book. Understand why the book was written in the first place. A lot of Study Bibles have introductions at the beginning of each book to tell you the purpose of the book, but if not, look online for explanations of why the book was written. Doing this will help you gain a better understanding of the point the author is trying to make.
4. Consider the culture. Do a bit of research into what the culture of the time was when the passage was written. Was it during a time of war? Was it a wealthy culture? Were there specific areas of concern that needed to be addressed? Again, if your Bible doesn’t have this information included, take the time to look it up. This step is important so that you will know that the instructions found within the text are not arbitrary, but instead were written for a specific purpose.
5. Apply it to today. Now take what you have learned and apply it to the culture of today. The technology and traditions may be different, but the same issues can be found in any society. Look around and consider what similarities there are, and how the verses apply in today’s world.
6. Make it personal. Now look into your own life and see how what you have just read can impact your thoughts, attitudes, ideas, beliefs, or actions. Don’t walk away from it thinking that there is nothing for you. See what you can learn, and put it into action.

Don’t think that you have to do it all perfectly now. It takes time, but the more you learn and grow, the more you will discover as you look into the Word. Just keep going to the Lord every day and asking him to make the Scriptures come alive to you. You will not be disappointed.

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How To Start a Trucking Company

Many former drivers or current drivers think about starting their own trucking business. Most will go through the company they work for, some will just strike out on their own. You can find companies now that are willing to help their drivers become owner operators and lease equipment to them. These drivers are either fed up with the way they are being treated as a company driver or just want control of the way they run. Being an owner operator can be lucrative for some drivers, but you must be persistent and diligent with your work. Opening your company is not any different from being an owner operator. Depending on the size of the company you are planning on operating, you could have one to 150 trucks and drivers for those trucks.

The trucking industry is a very lucrative business if you operate it correctly. Your company could get some that revenue if you make sure you follow the rules and regulations. The trucking industry has earned billions of dollars in profits for some companies and some owner/operators have done very well. Whatever effort you put into it, is what you get out of it. However, before you get to this point and it is just a thought, you need to make sure that this what you want to do. Starting a trucking company is just like opening any other business, but you have a lot more overhead if you intend on having trucks, trailers and inventory. Some companies do not just want to haul another company's freight, they want to be able to house it as well. So now you have to look at warehousing. You need enough room for the inventory, forklifts, and warehouse personnel. You will also have to look at whether you want other companies to come and haul your inventory out. Now you have gone from just hauling another company's freight to having someone haul yours, you've become a shipper.

Along with making the decision to start a trucking company, if you were not already familiar with the trucking industry, it would be a good thing to read up on it as much as possible. Find someone that you can ask questions, look to the internet to answer your questions. Recently, the FMCSA has changed some rules and regulations that concern the trucking industry. When you make the decision to open your company, make sure you have read up on the new rules and regulations that not only affect the drivers but the companies as well. CSA 2010 is guideline used by the Department of Transportation to keep track of accidents, tickets, inspections, log book violations, hours of service violations, company audits and any other infractions that could count against not only the driver but the company as well and should be considered when deciding to open a trucking company. If you continue to be diligent in getting as much information that you can about the trucking industry, if you are not familiar with it, and seek help from others, you can succeed and have your business thrive in this economy.

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How To Start a Martial Arts School

Martial arts have a lot to offer people and starting a martial arts school is a great way to give something back to the community where you live. Whereas many forms of exercise like dance, yoga, or gymnastics are great fitness activities, martial arts are about more than more than just being healthy. Martial arts have a solid practical component that makes this form of exercise a worthwhile endeavor. Because martial arts confer a sense of self-confidence and self-defense skills to students, they have a seriously pragmatic side to it that other forms of exercise often lack. Martial arts instructors need to enjoy teaching and learning more about their art form in order to be successful, but balancing one's role as instructor with one's role as business person is perhaps the most important thing you can do as the owner of a martial arts school.

Because of the self-defense aspect of martial arts, many adults as well as children enjoy doing this form of exercise. Adults and children can benefit from martial arts training and, if you're looking at starting a martial arts school, marketing for both adults and youth is a necessity. Classes for adults and children often differ significantly in terms of the content covered, but children can learn valuable lessons about how to deal with bullies and how to stay away from strangers in martial arts classes that are designed and marketed specifically for them.

There are a variety of martial arts schools and each style of martial arts has a different method of teaching students. taekwondo classes often require students to do forms and practice sparring with each other. Kung fu classes are similar in terms of content and how the material is practiced. Aikido, in contrast, is often presented to students movement by movement, focusing on the subtleties of manipulating an opponent. Weaponry classes are frequently offered by martial arts schools no matter what the style. Most martial arts schools advertise their ability to get students fit. No matter what your martial arts style, you'll need to develop a curriculum around the material that makes it accessible to children and adults.

If you are planning to start a martial arts school, you'll need to think not only about the marketing, and the style of martial art and how to present your material to students in a way that is understandable, but you'll also need to think carefully about the other business aspects of your school. Bookkeeping, paying rent and other bills, cleaning, stocking inventory, and gathering supplies is a really important part of starting a successful martial arts school. Though the marketing the school and the curriculum are both really important, taking care of the business side of your school is absolutely essential.

Teaching martial arts in your own martial arts school can be a lot of fun. Meeting new students and educating people young and old about how to effectively use different movements to protect themselves in self-defense situations feels good. At the same time, however, it's important that you work with the business aspects of keeping your martial arts school running so that you can follow through for your students and increase the longevity of your business.

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How to Start a Christian Day Camp

For many parents in need of childcare, day camps are a fun alternative to a traditional setting. They offer fun activities, games, crafts, and often times are centered around a theme. School-aged children can go and have a great time, without the risk of becoming bored. A church looking for fun and creative ways to reach children and families I their community would be well-served to consider starting a Christian day camp.
Starting a Christian day camp is not as daunting of a task as it may seem at first. It takes time, organization, and careful planning, but if simple steps are followed, it can actually be quite simple. Following is a list of the steps that need to be taken:

1. Assess the Need – Before you do anything else, determine if there really is a need for a day camp in your community. Talk with parents, search out surrounding childcare options, and determine if there would be an interest. Make sure that the Christian day camp would be a service to the people you are trying to reach.
2. Determine Insurance – Meet with the proper personnel and let them know of your plans to start a day camp. Most general insurance policies should cover the activities of the day camp, but you may need to get some additional insurance.
3. Pray – Begin praying for the day camp. Nothing of significance will happen if you do not lift it up in prayer, so begin praying now and do not stop! Organize teams of people to be constantly praying for every aspect of the program, from the advertising, to the staff, to the children, to the parents.
4. Recruit Teenagers to Help – Although day camps are intended for school-aged children, teenagers can easily be the most impacted by an effective Christian day camp program. Having teenagers take time to serve, either as volunteer or paid staff, can give them a way to help shape the lives of younger children. It also encourages them to grow and mature, and eventually take on more responsibility. Plus, teenagers are can help build a lot of excitement about the program.
5. Design the Program – How long are you going to run the camp for? What is the theme going to be? What will the key Bible stories going to be? Are you going to take field trips? How much are you going to charge for the program? These are all questions that you need to answer when planning out the program. You may want to consider doing a limited or trial run as you get started with your program.
6. Spread the Word – Send out letters to parents in the community, send fliers home with students at school, put up signs about your day camp, and put an ad in the newspaper. If possible, have a local news station do a segment on your new venture. You need to get the word out that you are going to be providing a new service for children in the community.
7. Stick to the Plan and Pray – Don’t worry about trying to make the day camp perfect. If you have a detailed outline of the program, stick to that as much as you can. But be flexible and willing to go with the flow if things don’t go exactly to plan. And don’t forget to pray!
8. Make Sure the Kids Have Fun – The most important thing is for the kids to be safe, but a very close second is that they have fun. So make sure you let them be kids, and have a great time.

A Christian day camp will allow you to meet different children and their families, tell them about Jesus, and begin building relationships that could last for eternity.

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How To Self Publish

If I wanted to sum up how to self-publish in an article, it would likely be a very long article to read. However, in this case, I’m going to strip the information down to the bare essentials and most important aspects of the process.

To shorten our process, let’s say you’ve already written a book. It’s been revised a couple of times, you’ve gotten feedback on it, and you hired an editor or had a friend or professor proofread it for you. Let’s say that you feel that your manuscript is excellent and others have agreed, that you don’t think you could improve upon it any more.

Your first step would be to figure out how to publish in print and eBook formats. Three web sites: CreateSpace.com, Kindle Direct Publishing through Amazon, and PubIt through Barnes and Noble. If you have never published an eBook before, you can also go through Smashwords, but that all depends on you.
Now, for a printed book, you don’t have to do much except for make sure that your pages are the right size and that you have enough of a margin to account for any bleed that might occur during the printing process. Once you’ve resized your document, you can go through and pretty much make it look the way you want it to look. I would take an example book from your shelves and look at it as a guide. See how the layout was done, the copyright page, the headers and footers, and the table of contents. All of this is easy to replicate in Word – just apply it to your work, no plagiarism, ok? Just kidding.

Once you have your document layout the way you want it to look, all you have to do is upload it to CreateSpace. If you don’t have an account, then create one, not a big deal. All you need is an e-mail address and a password.

Once you’re on the site, you can follow the steps to publish a new title. Even if you don’t create your own PDF file, you can upload your Word document and the site will convert it into a print-ready PDF for you. Easy, right?

The next part is the book cover. Let’s say you don’t have an image editor, so you decide to use the CreateSpace online cover creator. It’s really simple and all you have to do is what the creator tells you to. You can add your own text, images, and more. After that, you choose your distribution channels which are all explained if you click on the question mark beside the instructional step. If you choose expanded distribution channels, you’ll be charged a one-time fee of $25. This will make your printed book available on Amazon, other retailers, and a CreateSpace storefront.

Once you click the publish button, it will inform you that your files have been submitted for review. You’ll get an e-mail 24-48 hours later stating that the review process is complete and your proof is ready to be ordered or viewed online. Different people have different preferences for how to view their proof copies, but if it’s your first time publishing a book, I recommend ordering a printed proof copy to see how you did.
Now that your print book is ready, it’s time to get your eBook out there. This can be a little tricky if you don’t know html, but a basic eBook shouldn’t be too difficult. If you’re an amateur and have no idea how to create an eBook, I recommend creating an account with Smashwords.com and reading the Smashwords Style Guide by Mark Coker. It’s free and highly informational.

When you go through Smashwords, you won’t need to go through the other two web sites. Your eBook will be made available in virtually all eReader formats including PDF, MOBI, and EPUB formats, which are the most common for eReading devices.

If you know how to convert and format eBooks into their various file formats and know how to work through the html code for getting your book’s content to look a certain way, it might be better for you to go through Kindle Direct Publishing by Amazon and PubIt by Barnes and Noble. This allows for higher royalty rates, no formatting issues that you can’t fix yourself, and other opportunities for marketing and distribution like the KDP Select program.

Once you have your book out there in print and eBook formats – congratulations! You’re officially self-published!

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How To Scrapbook

I remember my daughter’s first scrapbook. It was her 10th birthday, and she and all of her friends had been to church camp. They all brought their pictures from camp, and by the end of the evening, they each had a mini-album of their adventures at camp! Now over twice that age, my daughter still treasures that first album she made at her birthday party.

Isn’t that what scrapbooking is all about? We all take photos of special occasions, but then often just store them in shoe boxes in the closet. We haul the boxes out, looking for pictures for “Star of the Week” posters. Then, we haul them out again to find the best baby picture for the senior year annual.

The next time you look at those pictures may be when the first grandchild is born, and you are comparing pictures to prove the new baby really is a clone of his daddy.

But you don’t have to settle for this! With scrapbooks, you can have those pictures in an easy to view format. With the variety of albums available, they can be a valuable addition to your bookshelf, adding color and texture to your decorating, and there’s something special about the kids knowing that that one is theirs.

One of my favorite scrapbooks is from my daughter’s teen years. She was about 13, and I signed us up for an “All About Me” scrapbooking workshop. She was somewhat reluctant to participate, thinking it may not be “cool” enough, but once she got into it, she realized that she really liked talking about herself. It’s really nice to have, in her own handwriting, a documentation of all of her “favorites”. On the pages she was willing to answer honestly, I can see her plans for the future, best memories from the past, and things she likes about life in general. There are also amusing lists of her pet peeves.

Years ago, when she was born, I found a Grandmother’s book. Mom filled it out as a keepsake for my daughter. I only wish she had put photos in it. My children will have photos, and stories, and recipes.

Now that my kids are grown, I’m reduced to scrapbooking my dogs and flowers. But, you know what? It gives me joy. These may be the albums the kids show no interest in when I’m gone, but they enrich my life right now. My husband pours over these albums, as well, commenting on “how much that tree has grown” and “do you remember when we had no grass in the yard?” We look at the dogs’ puppy pictures and comment on how much they look like their father or mother.

I don’t mind scrapbooking my dogs and flowers. Not only does it keep me involved with scrapbooking, it also keeps me in practice for …someday…in the DISTANT future…I get to start scrapping pictures and mementos of grandkids

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How To Run For Local Office

Our system of government allows for almost anyone to run for government office. On the local level, usually being a resident of the city or district and a registered voter is all it takes. However, many people who are tired of the way our local governments are being run have convinced themselves that they cannot run for office for many reasons.

Maybe you think that you are not the right type of person, or maybe you have convinced yourself that there is some well-hidden secret to mounting a campaign. Many think that they do not have the money, the skills or the know how to do it. Others feel that for whatever reason, only an elite few can win.

The truth is, the only impediment to you running for office is the fact that you do not know how. However, just like driving a car or riding a bike, it is a skill that can be taught if you are willing to learn.
The first thing you need to do is lose that attitude that running for office is out of your reach. If you want to run and want to run for the right reasons, you can. Most of all, you can win. You just need to know the steps,

First off, make sure you are running for the right reasons. The public may look like it can be fooled, but believe me, they will see through an opportunist in a heartbeat.

Research the requirements of the office you are running for. Find out the filing deadlines, reporting requirements and any legal or financial documents that are needed in the course of running. Many candidates end their campaign before it begins by overlooking tiny details.

Make sure that you write an effective campaign plan that will act as the road map to your campaign. In it go over how much you think you will need to mount an effective campaign; how you will raise that money; and most importantly, what the steps you need to take in terms of social media and events in order to win.

Plan your social media strategy carefully. Be sure that your message is getting out there in the way that you want to and reaching enough people. The sure way to win is to have an effective strategy to reach your voters; the best way to lose is to not reach the voters.

Plan your events carefully. Many people are under the thought process that events are either something put together in a couple days or something that takes intensive planning and preparation. The truth is that it is somewhere in between. Depending on the event you want at least a 4-6 week planning window. The social media buzz alone will take that long.

The most important word of advice that I would give you is, be confident in yourself. You looked in the mirror and felt you had something positive to give to your community. You need to leave the house everyday believing in yourself. A confident person attracts followers, a timid man attracts flies.

You can win an elected office. There is not some secret plan or secret path to winning. Most of all it takes planning, and hard work. However, the chance to change this world for the better makes it all worth it.

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