With a diagram of the different parts of the brain projected on a screen behind her, the speaker might have been teaching a biology class. But Mary Ann Bradberry was engaging 230 children’s ministry leaders and teachers in learning how to teach biblical truths that will stick with boys and girls.
At the regional LifeWay Kids workshop, held recently at St. Andrews Baptist Church in Columbia, Bradberry outlined what the latest research reveals about how the brain develops and functions. A childhood ministry consultant and former editor at LifeWay Christian Resources, Bradberry challenged the participants to make adjustments in their teaching based on the knowledge of brain development.
“We learned about the impact that small things such as movement can have on retaining information,” said Kimberlee Duncan, children’s ministry associate from Lexington Baptist Church.
Other classes at the workshop supported the idea of teaching in ways children learn best, including sessions on how boys learn differently than girls and on the eight identified “approaches” to learning. Some classes focused on ways to teach specific groups such as preteens, babies through 2-year-olds, or children with special needs.
The event was presented by LifeWay Christian Resources in partnership with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and Columbia Metro Baptist Association. Participants came from churches in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Allyson Kelly, children’s ministry director at Spring Valley Baptist Church, Columbia, said her teachers left the workshop “enthusiastic and rejuvenated about their new ideas.”