04 II. GETTING READY FOR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
II. GETTING READY FOR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Chapter II GETTING READY FOR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
General Remarks For those who have never conducted a vacation Bible school, we suggest that it differs but slightly from any other school you may have conducted. There is no definite and fixed plan for conducting such a school. You may feel very free to carry on your school after any pattern you may like. You will find in this book some suggestions which you may desire to use in setting your school to work. The main thing is to get started with your school. Many of the things which now seem to be unsurmuuntable obstacles will work themselves out when you once get started. Call together the elders, deacons, and Bible teachers and discuss the matter of a vacation Bible school. Tell them that the plan is being worked very effectively in other communities and that you would like to try to have such a school in your community. Get them to agree to help you and then start in to sell the congregation the idea. You may tell them that behind the idea of the vacation Bible school is the same aim as that behind the Sunday Bible teaching. The aim behind both of these programs is the development of righteous ideals and the direction of lives into channels of goodness. The Bible is used as the text in the vacation school just as it is in the Sunday school. From experience in other communities, you may say that the children, because of concentrated effort and because of the amount of time given to the study, may be expected to accomplish as much within ten days as they will in a year of Sunday school. Your First School A church that has never had a vacation Bible school will have to be sold on the idea, for they do not know the value of this program. In making any program successful, it is important to get the wholehearted support of the congregation. In the school you are about to begin, the members of the church and their families will be expected to serve as the nucleus of the attendance. Furthermore, there should be a vigorous advertising program put on, and the church will have to do this advertising. This advertising is for the purpose of soliciting pupils from homes outside the church. Then, of course, the teaching force must be made up of members of the congregation who are qualified to teach the word of the Lord. There will be some expense attached to the school, and the church will have to bear this expense. For all of these, as well as other reasons, the church should be sold on the idea of the school before it begins. Whoever takes the initiative in this school will have to shoulder the responsibility of arousing the congregation in interest for the school. If you live in a community that does not have a local preacher, you can have a wcation Bible school by getting some capable brother or sister to lead, if all the church will cooperate.
Begin Early to Plan for Your School
We suggest, if the congregation plans a yearly budget, that you have the vacation school placed in the budget so the expense will be taken care of. You may plead for a place in the budget for this program of teaching, the same merit as that of a protracted meeting. They are both for the purpose of teaching the truth and bringing souls to Christ. In many communities the vacation Bible school will be the more fruitful of the two programs. After the first school, if successfully carried out, the brethren will not hesitate to finance such a program. Having received the consent of the ciders, deacons, and teachers to assist you, begin early in the year to announce your plans. As much enthusiasm should be created for the vacation school as for a revival, for it will probably accomplish as much or more good than a revival in the same community would. Do not start in with the idea that this is going to be an experiment, and therefore that you do not know what the outcome will be. Just remember, fine results have been achieved in many other congregations. Such fine results, in fact, that churches, wherever vacation schools have been held, are making them a regular part of their programs.
Building and Equipment
You will, of course, have to use the same building that you use for your Sunday Bible school. Most of our Sunday schools are very inadequately equipped for teaching the Bible or anything else. Few blackboards, no maps, no charts, no pictures, poor seats, few tables, poor lights, and ugly walls is the description of many of our classrooms. And we wonder, why it is difficult to get children to come and remain interested in the work we are trying to do. In order to maintain interest we must have things both attractive and comfortable. Any church which can, and does not, provide both comfortable and pleasant rooms for its classes is failing to do its duty toward its Bible school. Perhaps you can use the idea of a vacation Bible school to remedy some of the conditions that should have been changed-long ago. Blackboards can be made for a small sum. Maps and charts can be had for a reasonable amount, and they will add much to your ability to teach. No classroom is properly equipped to teach the Bible without these aids.
Lesson Materials
We suggest that you use the series of lessons found in this book. Provide each of your teachers with one of these books so she will have all of these suggestions as well as the lesson outlines to be followed. Buy the lesson outlines published by the authors for ten cents per pupil, so as to be ready When the school begins with all the lesson materials because you will find plenty of other things to do when the school gets under way. In the chapter on “Curriculum” you will find suggestions concerning other materials that may be used in such a school. We suggest that you make a selection of songs suitable for children and mimeograph them; using art paper for binding, make up enough songbooks for the children. The children will take special interest in the singing because they have a “Child’s Songbook.”
Getting; Outside Attendance
You do not want to confine the attendance to mem-bers of the church of Christ and their families. You desire all of these church families that you can possibly get, but a great opportunity lies in those families the church has never touched. If you get the children into your vacation school and make friends of them, you may get them into your Sunday school and other services of the church, Through them you may get the parents interested in the church. It may not be as difficult as you think to get these children. Many parents are glad to turn their children to someone for a few hours in the day. This will give them time for other duties they wish to perform, This opportunity to care for their children is your chance to make friends for the church. I suggest that at least one-third of your attendance should come from these outside families; make it larger if you can. Put on a good advertising program so the community will know you are having a school. This advertising may vary in different communities; but in all communities the people should be thoroughly advised of your program. Then there should be a good deal of personal soliciting done. A personal contact and invitation may be necessary, in many ins Lances, to get the child started. No advertising is so good as a personal call.
Enrollment Before the Beginning of School
About a week before the beginning of your school, get several of the members of the congregation who are interested in the school to assist you, and taking suitable cards, which you may mimeograph, go from door to door and seek to enroll pupils in advance of the beginning day. If any who were enrolled are absent the first day, be sure to check on the reason for their absence. This plan has proven very effective in several communities. This enrollment program will give you an opportunity to explain to the parents just what the real purpose of the school is. Furthermore, it will give the members who work at it some experience in doing personal work which will be fine for them. If you are to make this intensive effort, it may be best to try to have your school at a time when the other churches in your community are not having a school. If you cari arrange it, I consider the time immediately following the close of the public schools a very favorable time for a school. However, you may find that the peculiar situation in your community will suggest a better time. In large cities you will not need to consider what other churches are doing nor will you have to consider time as carefully as you will need to in a smaller community.
Refreshments for the Children
Because many of the smaller children, when they are at home, have something to eat in the middle of the morning, some churches have found it helpful to provide refreshments for the children at the play period. A cookie, with a glass of milk, will serve the purpose, and the adult class can do the work attached to this service. If the church does not desire to accept this expense, perhaps the adult class will provide the funds for these refreshments, if you ask them to do so. This service will be inviting to smaller children and the mothers will enjoy doing the work attached to it.
All children delight in the idea of a picnic. You may plan as a part of your school a picnic on the closing day of the school, Let the children and parents bring their own lunches. The teachers may provide ice cream for the occasion. Go to the park for an outing, that the children will never forget. This pleasantness will cause them to desire to attend your school next year.
Rewards for Regular Attendance
There are arguments both in favor of, and in oppo-sition to, offering rewards for attendance in such a school. A good many teachers think it helps to offer a Certificate of Attendance at the last of the school. Such certificates may be obtained for about four cents each from the Gospel Advocate or the Firm Foundation Publishing House. If you plan to give certificates for attendance, make the announcement at the beginning of the school for the stimulating effect it may have. You will do well to get the certificates before you make the announcement or be sure you can get them.
Singing in the School
Since singing usually is an important part of any public program, it should have special emphasis in any program of children. Children enjoy singing and they should be encouraged to sing. Not only should a selection of appropriate songs be made, but a leader who is especially suited for directing children should be obtained. Not every song leader is capable of di-recting children. Many good song directors are unable to make their voices blend with those of children. Teach the children some new songs. This should be a definite part of the teaching program. If you need to import a song leader, he might be used to conduct a singing school at night during the daily vacation Bible school. The song leader might also be a good Bible teacher, and, therefore, helpful in teaching a class in your school. Get this arrangement made in advance of the beginning of your school.