Are you afraid of public speaking? Does the idea of teaching a group scare you? Do you feel unqualified or ill equipped? Please let me share a method that helped me to overcome similar fears.

Several years ago, I participated in a homeschool co-op run by my church. My first daughter was starting school, and I wanted to fellowship with and support other homeschool moms. I had a lot of experience working with young children, so I volunteered to work with the preschoolers.

At first I did not feel comfortable taking the lead and began helping out by being a preschool classroom assistant. The idea of being the lead teacher intimidated me, and the idea of teaching older children terrified me. However, after a year or two, I was ready to take the lead with the preschoolers.

The co-op grew quickly, and with the growth came the need for more lead teachers for the older children. Like myself, most new homeschooling moms were more comfortable teaching the younger children. I enjoyed teaching preschool, but it was time to let someone else have a turn and for me to help out in another area.

My skills and experience working with the younger children were no longer going to help me, and I felt very nervous. As I prepared for the upcoming school year, remembering the reason for why I was doing what I was doing helped me overcome my fears. Around this same time, my husband I were introduced to the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms. (I used to think that they were strange Roman Catholic things, but now I know that they are a great resource both to teach and learn Biblical truth. They can be found free online.)

The first question of the catechism is:

Q. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
A. Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him for ever.

“How does this help with teaching with confidence?” you might be asking. Well, remembering that the reason for teaching, for the co-op, for homeschooling… for everything is to glorify God, helped me refocus and prioritize that truth no matter what class I was teaching!

I chose to start the first class of every semester with a short lesson on why we, both at the co-op and as believers, were doing what we were doing. I asked the children if they knew the greatest commandment and the second greatest commandment. I let them know that to obey these commandments meant that they needed to respect me and others. I let them know that this was more important than any school subject, and that we could and would stop our class at anytime to remember these truths.

What a huge help -both with my confidence and (as a huge bonus) with classroom discipline! Once we were all reminded of these truths, I was able to teach with much more confidence. First, I needed to prepare for my class, second I needed to remember why I was teaching it, third I needed to inform the class of these truths, and finally, we needed to act on these truths.

This method of teaching not only helps with confidence and classroom discipline, but using this method also supports every school subject. When we prepare, remember, inform, and act on these two truths, it enables us to learn with fewer distractions. Unifying the purpose for why we are doing what we are doing is extremely helpful to any task!

P.S. Here is a great catechism resource: Dana Dirkson’s Song for Sapling’s Question and Answer CDs.