My Wonder Studio

Note to the parent or teacher: Here is a 30- to 45-minute lesson plan to fill out the post “The Parables of Jesus: The Three Servants.” (It can also be broken into two smaller sessions.) It goes with the lesson objectives “Study more of the parables that Jesus taught and their meaning” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: Jesus, God’s Son-2b) and “Learn what putting love into action means, and that real love results in good deeds” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1f).

Read “The Parables of Jesus: The Three Servants.” (You can also read this parable in Matthew 25:14–29.)

Explain to the children how a person can put some money into a savings account in a bank that will pay a small amount of interest each year. Another example is investing in stocks in a company, which makes them the owner of a small part of that company. If the company succeeds, then the stocks they have bought will be worth more, increasing the value of the money invested.

Explain that this parable is not just about money, but it’s about our skills, our talents, our education and knowledge, our social skills, and the possibilities we are presented with in life to do good. Through this parable, Jesus encourages us to use our lives in the best ways possible and promises that He will reward us for that.

Read “A Thought for the Day: Grow Those Talents.”

Read “Talents and Skills.”

Ask the children what skills they have. Feel free to bring up other skills that you’ve seen they have. Talk about how those skills can be used to help others and better our world. Then talk about how to improve these existing skills, as well as the importance of gaining more skills through investing time and energy in education.

Read “11 Reasons for Investing in Your Education.”

Pause and consider what it is we each have that Jesus is most concerned about us investing. If we have money, is Jesus mainly concerned that we invest it to make more money? Or if we have a talent or skill, is Jesus’ chief concern that we invest our time and efforts to make that talent or skill the best possible? What talent or skill is Jesus wanting us to make the most of? What talent or skill do we have that should be the umbrella under which we use all the other talents God’s given us?

Listen to “The Love Chapter: 1 Corinthians 13.”

Read “1 Corinthians 13 for You Today!”

Read “Don’t Get Buried.”

Wrap up this time by talking about ways for each person to improve their talents and to put them to use in ways that will be a help to others. Include some appreciation for one another’s talents, pointing out the love they have manifested to others through those talents.

Additional reading:

• “Follow Your Dreams”
• “Level 2 Lesson Plan: Super Traits for Super Students”
• “Hunting for Study Treasure.”

Note to parent or teacher: This 30- to 45-minute lesson plan is the conclusion of this series of lesson plans that highlight the various aspects of the lesson objective “God’s Law of Love” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1a–h).

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Conclusion.”

Listen to “Audio: ‘Love Thy Neighbor.’”

Read “The Old Maple and the Fir.”

Listen to “The Love Chapter: 1 Corinthians 13” and follow this up by reading, “1 Corinthians for You Today!”

Read “The Love Game.”

Prepare the 18 cards of “Love Memory Joggers, Part 1” and “Love Memory Joggers, Part 2.” Set the cards in a box or envelope and draw one to review each morning or evening.

Read “Check Your Love Meter, Part 1” and “Check Your Love Meter, Part 2,” stopping after reading a page to reflect on the question presented. (Tip: Since there are 14 questions, you could consider spreading these out over the next week or two, addressing one or two questions a day.

Read “The Ways of Love.” (You might wish to follow this up by doing the activity on pages 7 through 9.)

Read “Bible Adventures with Joe Key: Slave for a Day.”

Note to parent or teacher: This 45- to 60-minute lesson plan is the fifth part of a five-part series of lesson plans that highlight the various aspects of the lesson objective “God’s Law of Love” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1a–h).

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 8: Give, Don’t Steal.”

Ask your child if she has experienced a time when she wanted to take something that didn’t belong to her but decided against it. Talk about how it turned out. It’s quite possible she wasn’t given something similar as happened in this story. Talk about the other good things that could have resulted from having made the right decision, such as a sense of well-being or other positive results.

Read “Encourage Others—Be Courteous.”

Discuss the benefits of being generous in doing things for others.

Read “Bible Adventures with Joe Key: Out at Sea.” Then read Acts 27 and 28:1–10.

List, with your child’s participation, what Paul gained by his generosity, such as his life was spared, he was respected, he won others over to the message of God’s love through Jesus, etc.

Read “God’s Law of Love.”

Read “Life of Friends: Greedy Kitties.”

Ask your child if he remembers a time when he was greedy, and nearly lost (or did lose) the privilege of having something he wanted due to not being willing to share it with others. For example, he had been told he could only have a privilege if he shared with another, or a toy broke during a struggle over who got to play with it.

Then talk about a time he shared something, and yet in the end, he was still able to fully enjoy the thing he had wanted. You might have a story you can share about your own experiences along these lines.

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 9: Speak Well of Others.”

Discuss how this story could have turned out if the boy hadn’t spoken up on behalf of Asher.

Read “Life of Friends: Our Words.”

Read “Jury and Judge for a Day.”

Talk about (if applicable) a time your child has spoken well of others and ways that might have helped the person. Also, if applicable, talk about damage done if your child knows of a time when she took part in talking about others in a hurtful manner.

Listen to “Audio: James 3.” Or read James 3 here.

Additional reading:

• “Every Feather”

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 10: Be Happy for the Good Fortune of Others.”

Read “Life of Friends: Have Friends or Gloat.”

Examine together with your child if he has missed out on any friendships due to being jealous over another’s good fortune that he would like to have himself.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Contentment.”

Discuss how when we focus on what we don’t have, we often miss noticing what we do have. Ask your child to think if she has made this error in any aspect of life, and if so, take time to look at that situation from the standpoint of gratitude and contentment.

Read “The Life of Friends: Honor Our Differences.”

Examine together with your child his friends and acquaintances to see if there is anyone who might be feeling left out and in need of appreciation for their own set of talents.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Be a Good Listener.”

Discuss how listening to another person’s tale of good fortune is important. Ask your child to think of times she has enjoyed talking about something good that has happened to her and how she would have felt if no one had listened.

Additional reading:

• “But to Understand”

Note to parent or teacher: This 45- to 60-minute lesson plan is the fourth part of a five-part series of lesson plans that highlight the various aspects of the lesson objective “God’s Law of Love” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1a–h).

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 6: Help One Another, Don’t Hurt Others.”

Read “The Life of Friends: Admirable Strengths” for more on the importance of not putting others in danger.

Read “Tales of Farm Friends: Star: Spirited but Gentle.”

Read “How God Blessed Joseph.”

Talk about how even though God made good out of the difficulties Joseph faced, it was very wrong of his brothers to sell him into slavery.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Lifting Others Up.” Explain how saying unkind words, though they may not put someone in danger, can still hurt the other person’s feelings.

Read “The Life of Friends: Respect Wins.”

Read “Turning Mistakes into Something Good” for other examples of God making something good out of something that is wrong, including the hurt of unkind words.

Read “Bible Adventures with Joe Key: The Old Man and the Sailing Vessel” and the full story of Noah and the ark in Genesis 6-8.

Talk about how God is very concerned about the state of the world He’s given us to live in, and He wants us to care for it and each other. In the days of Noah, people had become very bad and were doing things that hurt themselves and others, but the Flood gave the world a new beginning. God asked Noah and his family to help by preserving the various species of animals.

Additional reading:

• “Love Never Fails to Love”
• “Every Feather”

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 7: Faithfully Care for One Another.”

Discuss the importance of your family unit and each person doing their best to be helpful and care for each other.

Read “A Lovely Nest.”

Read “The Life of Friends: Guarding Friendship.”

Discuss how at times there will be misunderstandings in families and amongst friends, but it’s important to guard our relationships and do our best to overcome misunderstandings. Talk about how we need each other.

Read “Standing on God’s Will: Don’t Argue, Have Fun.”

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Considering Others.”

Read “Celebrating Birthdays” and “Standing on God’s Word: Happy Birthday.”

Discuss how birthdays are a good opportunity to keep family and friendship relationships strong by showing one another appreciation.

Note to parent or teacher: This 45- to 60-minute lesson plan is the third part of a five-part series of lesson plans that highlight the various aspects of the lesson objective “God’s Law of Love” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1a–h).

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 4: Set Aside Time for Jesus.”

Talk about how studying the teachings of the Bible, especially the stories about Jesus in the four Gospels, helps us learn how to reflect Jesus’ love to others.

Read “The Magnetic Pull of Love.”

Read “The Light of the World.”

Discuss why we, as God’s children, want to help others know about Jesus and His great love for them. Talk about the good we experience in our lives from knowing Jesus, and how we want others to benefit from that as well. Then discuss how we can attract others to Jesus through the example of our lives.

Read “The Overcoat.”

Discuss how we are bound to fail at times in being an example of love; however, when we apologize and endeavor to make things right, that is a testimony of God’s love as well.

Read “Sing for Jesus.”

Take some time for praise by listening to (and singing along) “Audio: Sing, O Heavens” and “Audio: O, Praise the Lord.” Feel free to include other favorite songs of praise.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Strength for the Day.” Stop to reflect on each verse. Highlight how, even though we can’t do it on our own, we can ask Jesus for help to manifest His love in our lives.

Pray the second prayer in “Pray a Way: Care for Others” together.

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 5: Honor Your Parents.”

Recount a time your child did something special for you. Talk about how it made you feel encouraged and appreciated.

Read “Honor Your Parents,” and then do the activity on page 5.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Be Appreciative and Thankful.”

Pray one of the prayers from “Pray a Way: Friends and Loved Ones.”

Additional reading:

• In Level 2, “Honor Your Parents.”
• “Level 1 Lesson Plan: Appreciation for Parents”

Note to parent or teacher: This 45- to 60-minute lesson plan is the second part of a five-part series of lesson plans that highlight the various aspects of the lesson objective “God’s Law of Love” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: God’s Law of Love-1a–h).

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 2: Worship God, Not Things.”

Discuss together how when we worship God, we draw close to Him through praise and thanksgiving, and we are then able to reflect more of His loving ways in our lives.

• Bring out that God wants us to have the things that we need and also things that we enjoy, but these things are not what fill our lives with love and joy; that is what God does for us.
• Examine an experience your child had of focusing on a desire to have something to the exclusion of being kind to others. Did they find joy in that? You might also find it helpful to share an experience you’ve had along these lines as well so the child doesn’t feel singled out, explaining that it’s something we all must take notice of in our lives.
• Discuss experiences you and your child have had of putting love for God and others first and how things worked out.

Read “Manifest God’s Love.”

Read “An Important Race.”

Pray the first prayer of “Pray a Way: Forgiveness” in relation to a disappointing experience; for example, someone breaking or losing one of your toys or hindering a fun event you were looking forward to. Showing forgiveness in such a situation is one way of worshipping God and not things.

Read “Bible Adventures with Joe Key: A Dream and a Prophet.” Because of his closeness with God, Daniel was blessed with great wisdom. Ask your child if he or she can think of a time when Daniel and his friends followed God’s ways instead of the way man views things. (Suggestion: Read from a children’s Bible the story of Daniel 1:3–20 when Daniel and his friends declined to eat the king’s fancy foods and would only eat clean and healthy foods such as vegetables.)

Read “Bible Adventures with Joe Key: The Temple Episode” and the full story about what Jesus did in the temple in Matthew 21:12–13 and Mark 11:15–17. Jesus always put love for God and others as His main focus, and He was upset when the poor were taken advantage of by these sales of material goods in the temple.

Read “Love, the Greatest Commandment, Part 3: Honor God’s Name.”

Explain to your child that part of showing our love and respect for God is by only using the names of God (God, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit) in a positive light—God’s names that we and others can call on for the help we need in life.

• If your child has heard others use God’s names as swear words, talk about how to react. Explain that we shouldn’t take part and imitate others doing so, but we don’t need to feel compelled to correct others for it. Discuss ways to react that will not alienate someone they might hear using God’s name as a swear word. Explain that the best testimony is to continue to personally love Jesus and let His love shine through us in our deeds and loving interactions with others.
• Another way to use God’s name in vain is to live in ways that hurt others while bragging about knowing Jesus. For example, bullying other kids and saying that Jesus cares more about you than them; or talking about Jesus’ love for others, but then being disrespectful to people. We’re responsible to do our best to be a reflection of God’s nature.

Read “Standing on God’s Word: Having Right Priorities.”

Read “Meals with Jesus: She Showed Great Love.” (Your child might enjoy the accompanying coloring page and 3D picture.)

Read “Acting God.”

Talk about things your child does and things they see others and you, his or her parents, do that show God’s love for people and are therefore ways of honoring God’s name.