Dottie Fergus, Early Childhood Teacher, Minnetonka, Minnesota

Have you ever noticed that many children in Bible times seemed to have wisdom beyond their years? Of course Jesus was an exceptional child in every way, but he must have really made life for his earthly family interesting. Then there were the mere mortal children. I am reminded of Isaac who seemed to trust completely in his father’s ways. He remained faithful to Abraham all of his days and yet he came so close to being sacrificed on the altar.

Then there was Samuel. He actually heard God’s voice and was brave enough to tell Eli bad news because God told him to. As a boy David loved God and whiled away the hours as a lonely shepherd by writing poetry to God.

There were also incredibly assured girls who were brave beyond measure. Think of Miriam, Moses’ sister, who braved speaking to not only an Egyptian, but a princess, and offered to get a nurse for her newfound baby.

When I look around me in my early childhood classroom, every day I see children who are wise and wondering and hungering for the Word. I see God at work in many of the children I serve. I see it when they pray simple prayers and ask God for things that are important to them. “Please, God, make my dog better.” “Thank you God for the sunshine so we can play outdoors.” “Thank you, God, for Grandma’s pancakes.”

I see God at work in the child who shares his favorite toy or the little girl who draws pictures for everyone in the class to “cheer them up.”

Lately, I have heard some skepticism about whether children really can be taught anything about faith at such a tender age. I am reminded of the Old Testament call to tell the story to our children and our children’s children. Learning begins at birth. If one stops to think what a child learns in the space of 365 days from the moment of birth until the first birthday, it is positively mind-boggling. Then add another two years of language development with continued motor development and you actually have a complex little person. And all the while concepts are being tried and learned.

My 13 month-old grandson automatically folds his hands and bows his head when put into his high chair. The words are not there yet, except for something that sounds like, “Amen.” Yet Gavin knows that we pray and how we do it before meals. My four granddaughters could each sing all the words to “Jesus Loves Me” by their second birthday. Not only did they sing it; they sang it all the time, while playing, while riding in the car, at the table, in bed. True, someone had to teach them the words and the tune, but they learned it early and sang it with gusto.

For every year I have taught, I have at least one story of incredible faith development in very young children. But this isn’t just about the few whiz kids like Samuel or Isaac or David or Miriam in the Bible. I contend that all children have the capacity to learn the rudiments of faith and spirituality at an early age.

Children learn about prayer and whom it is they talk to at a very early age. Bible songs and stories are always interesting to children. When I teach a Bible story, for variety, I often have the children act out the story with simple props. Sometimes I give them colorful storybooks illustrating an artist’s idea of the characters. Then again, sometimes the art for the day will reflect the story. All of these activities help to cement the story in the minds of the littlest children and they begin to remember how the stories go together.

When the children are comfortable talking about God or Jesus in their everyday play, and can make up simple prayer petitions to add to our circle prayer, to my mind, faith formation is not only there, but developing nicely.

A few years ago I had just such a young student. His budding faith had obviously been nurtured both at home and at school. One day as our class headed down the hall, Elliot ran ahead into the classroom. As I rounded the corner of the doorway, I came upon Elliot kneeling on the floor before the classroom altar, head bowed, eyes closed, hands folded in prayer. I signaled to the class to stay in the hall and remain quiet until he was finished. When Elliot was done, he turned and flashed a smile at me. I asked him if he had been praying about something special.

Very innocently he looked up and said, “I was asking God to make my brother better. He’s sick and he has a soccer game today.” That day Elliot demonstrated a keen spirituality, a comfort level with his God and compassion for his older sibling. Elliot truly believed that God would make his brother well. What is more, he was not reticent to share his faith with his classmates.

Last year our fourth grade Sunday schoolers decided that they wanted to write prayers for the “prayers of the church” segment of worship. Their teacher and I were not sure what to expect. We were absolutely amazed at how straight forward, simple, timely and powerful the prayers were. None of them had to be edited and the pastor asked the children to read them during the worship service.

I believe that young children do learn faith concepts at very early ages. While it is never too early to start teaching and exposing children to faith concepts, it is very important to continue nurturing these concepts throughout childhood. Parents usually begin the process, but childcare providers, nursery school teachers and Sunday school teachers all play a vital role in shaping a young child’s faith development.

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