Jeannie is at VBS this week, at a Trinity United Church Of Christ. ( She doesn't go to VBS at our church if this church and our church has VBS the same week.) Yesterday they did the story about Shadrac, Mesach(SP????) and Abednego(SP??). It scared her terribly bad. They played 'ghost music'-her words- while the three were being put in the fire. Snack that day was called 'fire food'. she was up until after 2:30 this morning because she was afraid to go to sleep, and she wanted me to sleep in her room with her. Our Children's Church has done this story and not scared any children. I was the director for years, and I never heard about any child being terrified with this story. I think it was a combination of the music creating a freaky mood and maybe the teen teaching story time perhaps getting a little theatrical. I was going to let her stay home today but she really wanted to go,so I let her go in an hour late. I talked to the VBS director before she went, to ask if shge could come in that late, and she made no comment when i told her how Jeanne was affected. I didn't complain, I just told her the facts. Still, I wish she had shown some concern. To me, with younger kids you have to be careful how you present these more scary Bible stories. I guess whoever did storytime didn't take their age into consideration. Did anyone see that one Indiana Jones movie where a man is being lowered into a fire? That music is creepy and builds tension. I think it was The Temple of Doom.
Becky, are they by any chance using Lava Lava Island as their VBS curriculum? It's from Gospel Light, I think. That kind of seems like what our VBS is going to use. I'll have to tell them to be aware. Poor Jeannie! I hope she's feeling ok. There are certain Bible stories that I don't do with my preschool kids because of that fact. We haven't done that one yet, or the story of Cain and Abel, among a few others. I have a few very sensitive little guys that I would hate to go home in fear. Then I'd have to deal with upset parents-not my cup of tea!
IMHO.... :wink: .....there is nothing in the Bible that can't be shared with any person, regardless of age. BUUUUUTTTTTT......that would also require the teacher being sensitive to the positives in that story rather than the fear. That is scary to think that they devoted so much time to the setting up of fear....we aren't supposed to feel that as grown-ups, let alone kids too young to process the information in such a way as to see the triumphant outcome in the midst of the trial.
Poor little Jeannie :shock:! I really don't know what to say...... other than it is a shame that the "actors" weren't more conscious of the age level of their audience :roll:.
Jen, they did L.L.I. last year. I didn't hear any reports then. Jeanne's a little bit better, able to sleep, but I still get questions about if people can go into furnaces. Our gas furnace has a fire, which she knew before all this happened, and I'm surprised she doesn't talk about it. I still don't know how to approach the first part of the Easter story with her, due to her age.
Not on my watch she won't. To me, there are ways to tell these stories without the harsh parts. The older they get, the more you can elaborate.
When I did the curriculum for 2's, I had the Sunday School superintendent tell me straight out that she didn't want me to do the Fiery Furnace. She was afraid that the very young ones would think that fire couldn't hurt them. She felt that at a little older age, they could handle it better. (Which was fine with me; I never considered that point. There would be plenty of other times for that story!)
Veggie Tales did the story...well, as much as Veggie Tales can...about Rack, Shack, and Benny :wink: . I wonder if they ever got sued for a kid thinking fire was okay to touch? Interesting....I never woulda thunk it.
Oh, poor sweetie! I would have hoped for some concern from the director too, but maybe she had other concerns on her mind too... I am glad that Jeanne is sleeping better. A couple of years ago I had two of my boys in Awana and the lesson teacher was soooo dramatic that she had my then 5 yr old convinced that he should only own one shirt and give the rest to the poor or he was being a bad Christian; and she told the story of St Patrick who thought people were after him and committed suicide and had my boys in tears. (Parents weren't allowed to sit in during story time). Well, we had that amended, and I sat in class with them and personally talked to her about "toning it down". I agree that the Bible should be shared with our children, but never with a spirit of fear. Maybe a show of Veggie Tales can help you "tone it down" for Jeanne, and then open the channels of communication about it again. momx3
My son LOVES LOVES LOVES Veggie Tales!!! I haven't seen the Rack Shack and Benny one, but I am sure they make it as tame as possible. I didn't mean to sound like we shouldn't share the stories with young children at all, you just have to word things in a proper way and be sensitive to their feelings. I did the whole story of Easter with my kids and we did a crafty project (built a tomb, put Jesus in it after he died, etc.) and they actually "got it" and learned a lot from it. Talking about death to little kids is important, but things like the stories mentioned have to be done in taste and much sensitivity. Like the post said though, kids will conguer up a lot of things in their head and things must be explained so they don't think something like being able to be safe in fire is being respresented.
Had it been me telling the story, I might have said this king took them and did mean, scary things to them- period. I tried everything to calm her that night. We sang funny songs, I even told her to think about when the dog farts!!! :shock: I tried to explain that even in Piglet's Big Movie they used music to create a mood, and that's the same thing they did during this story. I pointed out other movies and CDs of hers where music is used to create a mood. It's interesting to note there was another little boy who was scared by this, and he acted wound up the rest of the week. He even climbed their FIRE ESCAPE. I'm not sure she'll be going there next year. While I didn't complain to them about all this- I just told them how she reacted - they didn't show any concern at all. Not much, anyway. The thing is, she loves it there. She's not wishy-washy when she truly feels one way or the other, and that's why I let her go this year.
Jen brought up explaining death. In April a lady that works at our town office died. Jeannie knew her well and since Jeannie saw her everyday I knew I had to tell her something. I told her she won't be seeing Mrs.B the next time she and her dad passed the town office, because Mrs. B went to Heaven to live with God. (She knows about God and Heaven, to an extent.) This was a Monday and I told her Mrs. B left the Friday before, four days ago. Jeanne asked why she didn't say goodbye and I said we don't know when it will be our turn to go there , and she just didn't get a chance to call us. I told her what a good place Heaven is and that we'll be there to see her someday. I reminded her how you get into Heaven, explained sin on her level, and told her someday she would need to say a special prayer that would get her into Heaven, too. I didn't go into why her friend died- didn't even use that word- didn't tell her all the sad details. To Jeannie, her friend went somewhere without saying goodbye. She wasn't sad or scared, she was TICKED that her lady friend didn't say goodbye. There's a way to explain these things,m you just have to give it some thought.
BTW, I was even able to take her to the cemetery and show her Mrs.B.'s headstone. I told her a cemetery is like a park where they put special signs for the people who have already gone to heaven, so we can remember them. I pointed out how some people put balloons there, flowers, even pinwheels! When we saw a headstone with decorations obviously for a baby Jeanne asked if that sign was for a baby. I told her yes, and that even kids get to go to Heaven sometimes. I made it sound like such a treat, and a happy place. She asked if the mommy likes it if their baby goes to Heaven without them and I said the mommy knows the baby will be happy there and taken care of, and she knows she will see her baby as soon as it is her turn to go there. ALOT of dancing around the specifics, but I think this is a gentle way to explain things on a level she is ready for. I'm careful to not lie to her or change the truth in any way, though.
Oh goodness, reading all that stuff about death makes me want to cry-seriously. I keep thinking of when I may have to tell Tanner about it when my mom and dad pass. He MAJORLY loves his grandma and grandpa to pieces!!! They are heavy smokers and aren't in that great of health. Something keeps telling me that's what's eventually going to take both of them :cry: .
Well, Jen, hopefully you'll have many more years before you have to get into this. I hope so any way.
Jen, Faythe had a good friend pass away unexpectedly in a car crash two years ago. We had taken the children to a great-uncle's funeral just about two weeks before, thinking it would be better for the "first time" to be someone they didn't know very well, rather than a grandparent, where Mom and Dad (and everyone else in the family) might be busy grieving and not help the children understand as they need. Phillip was only three at the time. All my children handled both funerals very well; there were a good many tears at Danielle's! Every now and then, something makes Faythe think of Danielle, and she will get a little teary or mention how she "still misses" her. When we saw the movie "The Yearling", there's scene where the boy visits a friend to find he had died. The boy is standing there, talking with the boy's brother and viewing the body. Faythe looked up at me, big tears in her eyes, and said "I know just how he feels!" Shortly after the funeral, I heard her explain to Phillip that "Danielle's body is dead, but her spirit is living with Jesus!" One thing I was taught back in my preschool-teaching days is to NEVER talk about a dead person "sleeping" to a young child. As adults, we tend to use nice phrases, and will often say "They're sleeping peacefully now" or some such phrase. Little chidlren tend to be very literal. They don't always understand the use of language in this way. There is a possibility of the child being afraid to sleep, because "what if I don't wake up like Grandpa?" Or become fearful of parents sleeping.
I never agreed with the sleeping excuse either. I believe it's important to be truthful to children (on most things).
