REg Parables

I am in Early Childhood Education here at BYU, and I am constantly surprised by how much I am a literal child in God’s eyes. In many ways it the is the most clear and comforting lesson I learn from my early development classes. The most encouraged method for teaching is open ended lessons. An open ended lesson follows the same pattern as an open ended questions such as: why did you enjoy playing in the snow? what is your favorite thing about your grandma’s house? and why? There are two main reasons a teach asks an open ended question: to have the students formulate a complex answer, and to allow the students to form an answer at their individual level of complexity. For example one child might say that their favorite thing at grandma’s is grandma’s toys kitchen set, because they are fun. While another more mature child would answer that their favorite thing about at grandma’s house is that the family can all get together, because she enjoys spending time with her extended family. An open ended lesson plan strives to achieve the same principle, have a lesson that encourages the child to think cognitively about a subject and give each child the opportunity to reach their individual level of complexity. This is what I was thinking about during the lesson on parables; God using open ended lessons/parables to guided our lives. There is so much to learn from the parables, but at the same time the parables God shares are simple enough that the meek and humble can understand all the principles. They are for everyone, and I can constantly review them to gain new insights and ideas.