A good example of how vividly children feel the reality of God is a three-year-old boy I knew. Repeating his short evening prayer after his mother, he looked out of the window, waved his hand to the sky and said: "Good night, God!"

A child who is unaware of this sense of God's reality will perceive His absence just as easily. His world "without God" will be just as real and multicolored, he will also enjoy life, if only his parents surround him with love and create an atmosphere of safety. For him, "ideas" are of little importance, and the lack of religious education will be noticeable in the same way as, for example, in children from not very cultured families, the lack of the habit of reading is noticeable. However, the "absence of God" will deeply affect the child if it is expressed in the fact that there is little love in the family, that anxiety, worry, and fear reign in it.

To the extent that; As a child grows up, it is very important for him to separate the "real" from the "unreal". Any story told to a child of seven or eight years old always raises the question: "Is this true?" At the same time, it becomes much more difficult to instill in the child a sense of the reality of God. Children between the ages of seven and nine are rationalistic, albeit at a primitive level; they have strongly expressed cause-and-effect relationships, but abstract thinking is still poorly developed. An eight-year-old child won't believe that God is somewhere in the sky beyond the clouds, but the adults' explanation of what we mean by "heaven" remains unrealistic. It is doubly difficult to convey to children of this age a sense of the reality of God because of their tendency to moral rigorism, as well as because of a specific sense of humor that adults often cannot understand.

Religious education of children at this age is often complicated by the fact that we tend to present religious instructions without trying to link them with what the child learns and perceives in everyday life. This weakens the sense of the reality of God. Sunday school lessons remain an abstract set of ideas, knowledge and information; Another set, often more attractive and exciting, the child finds in the world of school, television and among friends. What, for example, is more realistic for a child: biblical stories about miraculous healings or his own experience – doctors, vaccinations, hospitals? If God is present in healings and absent in everyday medicine, the sense of God's reality is greatly weakened.

As a child reaches adolescence, the sense of the reality of God becomes more and more vague. The life of adolescents is full of interests and emotions that have nothing to do with what they understand as religion. Daily prayer is forgotten because parents no longer follow it (and indeed, prayer should not become the same habit as brushing your teeth!). Religion is often identified with going to church and observing external rules and habits. Teenagers believe, worst of all, that it's "not for them." It is when children begin to think for themselves, even if they are still very immature, when they begin to discover themselves as individuals, even if they are self-centered, that they are too often told about religion in an authoritarian style:

"The Bible says...", "Teach the Church?..", "The priest says..." No one tries to explain what all this means to them, how it agrees with their thinking, whether it needs their approval. And yet, it is among children of this age that we can for the first time count on a deep response, on a real understanding of what religion is, on the ability to feel and think religiously.

Helping a child to experience the reality of God is the goal of our entire life. Of course, no textbooks, no lessons and teachings in themselves can instill this feeling. And yet I am convinced that the teacher must always keep this goal in mind, that it must become the true criterion of all our teaching methods and lessons

"You're not alone."

The Orthodox experience of Christian life teaches that man is not alone before God. Only we can be with God, all together. We're all gathered around God. We are one: one Body. The tiny family unit, the wider community of friends, the people, the Church, are all manifestations of unity. At every level, it is a potential religious experience, and if it has not become part of Christian upbringing, then it is wrong in some way. Playing in the kindergarten at the church, the implementation of what has been learned in Sunday lessons in the relations of a teenager with friends and neighbors, the awareness of responsibility to society and the people, participation in church life – all this is a part of the experience of unity that is fully acquired in the Church.

Этот опыт причастности к единому Телу является основой религиозного роста. Ребенок, который вырастает вне своей семьи, испытывает огромные трудности, страдает духовно и даже физически. Когда дети трех–четырех лет приходят в детский сад, наибольшее впечатление оставляет у них не сказка, рассказанная няней, а совместная игра, песня, действие – сам факт причастия к группе. Те рутинные действия, которым так трудно обучить дома, – повесить пальто, тихо подвинуть стул – становятся привлекательными, когда ребенок делает их «как все» когда он становится членом группы.

Оптимальное число учеников в классе – то, при котором дети становятся слаженно работающей группой, а учитель – членом этой группы, лучшая преподавательская методика – та, при которой дети работают коллективно, хотя необходимо сохранять простор и для индивидуального творчества. Лучшая школа – та, которая организована при общине или в приходе, когда родители и учителя хорошо знают друг друга. Подлинный литургический опыт – тот, когда люди «собираются вместе» как единая Церковь, когда они что–то делают вместе. Для взрослых христиан это совместное богослужение, совместная молитва. Они могут молиться молча, в сердце, совершая минимум движений. Для детей участие в молитве и богослужении должно проявляться физически, влиять на все чувства. В православном богослужении для этого существует много возможностей, их важно использовать.

Благодаря «активному» участию дети лучше поймут, что означает быть частью того Тела, которое есть Церковь.

Проходят годы, многое из того, чему мы учили наших детей, может забыться, но если они ощутили, что являются частью Церкви, принадлежат к единому Телу, если у них завязались личные отношения внутри той группы, которая отождествляется ими с Церковью, то мы заложили прочное основание для православного христианского воспитания.

Религиозное воспитание – это рост.