Learning the 10 Commandments

Back when I was teaching a Sunday School class in Franklin, I discovered that most of the teenage kids could not recite the Ten Commandments or the books of the Bible. Regardless of your particular theological bent, those seemed pretty fundamental to me. So we discussed why it was that none of them knew such basic info despite being raised in church. Not only had no one ever taken the time to teach them, no one had taken the time to teach the kids how to learn and how to remember (one of my chief complaints with standard outcome-based education).

So, utilizing a standard mnemonic technique, I made up a quick way for the kids to not only memorize the commandments, but to be able to recall them backward, forward, or from the middle. Later, I used a more complex device to teach them the books of the New Testament. I recently ran into one of those kids (who is now an adult with his own kids) who said he still uses that technique instantly whenever his pastor tells him to turn to a book in the Bible.

Anyway, I told you all that back-story for a reason. On Wednesday nights we've been studying the Pentateuch -- the first five books of the Bible. And, of course, we came across the Ten Commandments. To my surprise, most of the adults in the room, while being familiar with them, did not really know the numbers and commands in order. So, I introduced them to the memory trick I had been teaching kids.

Of course, the digital recorder was running so that moment was posted on our website as part of the weekly lesson. And Phil at Reformed Voices grabbed that portion of the recording and made a YouTube video from it. That led to our being contacted by the folk at NotablePraise.com, asking if they could develop that teaching method into tools and videos for very young kids. I gave them permission to use it, with the caveat that they let me know when it was finished.

Well, this morning I got an email with a link to the site and I wanted to share it with all of you. Go have a look:

Notable Praise 10 Commandments

Now honestly, how cool is that?

If I've learned anything this past eight years, it's that we never know what's going to happen with the teaching once it's out there on the 'net. Sometimes it takes on a life of its own and goes to places we would never have expected. This is one of those times.

Thanks to Ahava for her efforts and I'm humbled to be part of their effort to teach God's word to children.