Each year one of the greatest challenges faced in my classroom is learning to be a good science reader. Hitting the middle school world of non-fiction reading often throws students into a challenge not faced before in their academic world. Gone is the effectiveness of elementary strategies that they have all grown to love. Arriving at their mental doorstep is a need for new skills and new strategies.

In the middle school science classroom, students now face non-fiction material written at a higher reading level with fewer in-text clues given. Students begin the year by attempting to face this new challenge with the same strategies that worked before (i.e. looking for bold print words, reading the first sentence of each paragraph for the main idea). When students continue to use these strategies learned earlier in their educational life, they will often miss important content as they move into more “grown-up” material.  In the classroom, I often describe this as the difference between the “bones of the material” and the true understanding of the material. Do we really understand something if we only have the “bones”? We have a general idea but are missing how those pieces all fit together. Our conceptual learning is hindered.  When an archeologist finds new bones during a dig, the story behind the bones (aka bold print words) is not obvious initially. It requires deeper digging, further study and focused research to gain the entire meaning of the “bold print words”.

Our faith also faces “growing up” moments. We are not intended to continue living with just a focus on the bold print.  Spiritual growth comes from learning to see beyond the bold print to the flesh of what God has for us. It requires deeper digger, further study and focused research to gain the understanding of our lives that God intends us to have. Just like my middle school students, we will get as much out of our faith study as we are willing to put into it.

Take some time today to think about the strategies you are using in your spiritual growth. Are you relying on elementary faith strategies hoping that they will be enough?  Are you just reading the “bold print”, assuming that is all that God has for you? Are you struggling to get beyond the first sentence of your paragraph? Take some time to focus your reading. Focus your growth. Focus your life.

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity…”- Hebrews 6:1a (NIV)