PrincipledMom™

I know I've already addressed planning lessons and all sorts of other things for HisStory, so please check the topic in the sidebar for all that good stuff. What I want to discuss is what your lesson should contain.

I like parameters, boundaries, limits. I like to know expectations and standards (which is another post coming soon!) so when I plan lessons I like to know what it is I'm supposed to do. I want to be a more spontaneous educator, but right now I have to work with the personality God gave me, which seems really boring at times. I love A Guide to American Christian Education for many many reasons, but one of them is all the suggestions and lists and helpful lesson planning stuff that's in that great book. One thing is the handy list that Mrs. Ruth Smith put together regarding HisStory lesson plans.

If you plan your HisStory lessons (and it works with any subject really), then you will have structure and hopefully the results you are after. The lesson should include 5 things:

1. Goal(s): (see GACE p. 204)
2. Content: what the lesson is to be about
3. Principles: one or more of the seven principles of America's Christian History and Government
4. Methodology: sources, notes to be taken, etc (recording)
5. Assignments

When I use the goals, together with this simple list, my planning is simple and focused and my lessons get results. Planning your own lessons is not a mysterious or overwhelming process. It is simply a matter of taking things one step at a time.

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