Quick Question

[xkaurx]

waheguru ji ka khalsa, waheguru ji ki fateh

omg one of the giani jis asked me to teach the little kids about sikhi at the gurdwara in english im just kind of stuck on ideas on what to talk to them about apart from the obvious. if anyone has any suggestions id be really grateful

[kaur_khalistani_lioness]

is it a group thing? or u have to speak in front of the kids?

try to have the kids sit down and talk to them. how old r the kids btw? do u know? ask the kids if they have any questions...nd then have 10 questions of ur own to ask them when they say they dont have any questions. u pose the questions to them, and ask them to answer. if they can't then u know thats the thing u need to talk to them about=)

just have both easy and hard questions. make sure when u ask u ask two easy questions that they can answer so they feel little confident in themselves. after that pose a hard question u think they wont be able to answer so u can answer for them by talking about it. have the kids talk to each other as well.

try that...but i can also give u more ideas.(really would help if u know their age)

hope that makes some sense. let me know thax

bhul chuk muaff karni

and dont forget to have some fun!!! :lol:

[dalsingh101]

Also. If you have a projector and screen and laptop, reinforce your information with pictures, images. Children learn easier that way.

Try and stay away from miracle stories but give them moral stories to help develop their character.

[malkeet]

are you doing like a weekly sikhi class? or this a one off thing?

if they are very young, then teah them sakhis of the gurus lives. and teach them the basics...the k's, go through the mool mantar maybe.

if there a bit older then do veechaar with them also. and go through japji sahib and nitnem.

iv never done anything like this b4, these are jus some of my ideas, sorry if there not appropriate

[xkaurx]

thanks for the reply guys. the kids are about 5-13years old they all go to punjabi school and giani ji just asked me to tell them a few basic things with stories, and children from the other gurdwaras are coming as well, this is going to be like once a month kind of thing. iv never done this before so not sure about what im going to do lol, but like penji suggested it'l be like a question answer thing that way i suppose they'll find it less boring.

i was thinking of talking to them about

1. what a sikh actually is and a bit about guru nanak dev ji and what his message was

2. what the 5ks are, who gave us the 5ks (tell them the panj pyare story maybe)?

3. why we come to the gurdwara

4. mool mantar

what you think?

[dalsingh101]

1. what a sikh actually is and a bit about guru nanak dev ji and what his message was

Stories that I was told that stuck in my mind and probably helped shape me where:

Guru Nanak and Bhai Lalo (Milk and blood) - When I was first told it, it didn't have Guru Nanak squeezing the food and blood/milk oozing out but rather I was told that Guru Nanak SAID that the milk of kindness and humility was in Bhai Lalo's food and the blood of the poor in Malik Bhago's. You could tell the story and tell ask the kids what do they think is meant by blood of the poor. This would bring home the point about exploiting the vulnerable and poor, very important in these capitalistic times.

Also the story where Guru Nanak throws water the opposite way to Brahmins performing some ritual by throwing the water towards the sun (this was meant to reach their ancestors). Then saying he was watering his fields. This would bring home the pointlessness of following rituals unnecessarily and applying logic to thinking as opposed to blind faith.

Do it like this;

Deliver sakhi. With pictures. (Keep it short!)

Then initiate class discussion. Get all of them to contribute.

Also take some pictures of related scenes that they can colour in. Sikhnet has a nice bunch....remember to take a good supply of colouring pencils! Good for the really young.

Don't hit them with too much as children only have limited capacity to store information at this age.

Hope it goes well.

[dalsingh101]

3. why we come to the gurdwara

Langar, langar and then langar! LOL

Make sure you bring home the point about equality. That people before weren't allowed to eat together because of caste and the Gurus fought this. Kids really need to told that caste is wrong these days.

DON'T get into the debate about chairs and seats etc. as this will detract you from the important lesson. Link it to seva where we are supposed to do voluntary community work to stop us being self centred i.e. help each other and contribute positively to the community. Help those less well off than us.

Actually plenty of adults could do with these lessons too...lol

[xkaurx]

great ideas thanks :lol: im doing this next sunday so got plenty of time to put things together, you think talking about martydoms is going to be a bit over the top for them? unless i told them about the chote sahibzade

[dalsingh101]

I would wait a bit before martyrdom stories myself. First teach them what values people where martyred for. Then it will make more sense.

[xkaurx]

hmm yeh your right. how long shall i do it for, would an hour make them lose concentration?