by Victor Chen

This is the second part to the previous blog post, “What Are My Children Suppose to Do During Sunday Service?”

With distance learning in place, our home has discovered one common need among our three children. 

Sure, our 5th grader is quite independent and able to log on, listen to instructions and track assignments. Our 2nd grader is pretty independent as well and able to follow along. Our Kindergartener is doing his best and making the most of it. 

All of them, though, need parental guidance. 

The younger ones need more parental guidance in varying degrees, whether it be sitting next to them during class or checking class schedules ahead of time. But the older ones still need accountability, because assignments can be missed and instructions can be misunderstood.

But this makes sense, right? This is the reason why distance learning is particularly difficult for the working parents. Because at some level and to some degree, parents need to monitor their children when it comes to learning. 

Why do we think it is any different when it comes to Sunday service?

Sure, our 5th grader can be independent and track along with the sermon with the help of the Church Sermon Notebook. Our 2nd grader may not be too far off with engaging with the passage and message through the Children’s Bulletin. We may need to encourage our Kindergartener to find simple key words in the sermon passage like “God” or “Jesus.”

All of them, though, need parental guidance. 

Our children cannot listen to Sunday service without us. 

They can’t do this alone anymore than they can do distance learning on their own.

We need to help them listen. 

What is the one thing to help children listen during Sunday service?

Parents, it’s you.