Our desire is that our Fellowship Groups be family experiences that seek to incorporate children into the fabric of our Body Life together whenever possible. We will thus encourage each Fellowship Group to integrate children into those aspects of our Fellowship Group times that are appropriate, such as meals and singing.
While the church will not be able to assume ultimate responsibility and to pay for childcare in homes away from church facilities, we will work closely with Fellowship Group leaders to make available Childcare Resources for each group. This includes a recommended list of trained childcare workers, children’s curriculum, and age-appropriate activities for children to do during Fellowship Group time. Fellowship Groups may want to consider having various people in the group lead these age-appropriate activities on a rotating basis.
This spring, we encourage fellowship groups to teach from an online curriculum called Praise Factory, which teaches children systematic theology on three different levels (2-3 yr olds, 4-5 yr olds, and elementary). The 2 preschool curricula are pretty straightforward and include the lesson and activities such as music, crafts, and coloring sheets to reinforce the lesson. The 2&3 curriculum is "Teach, Take, and Tell" and focuses on 12 basic concepts about God. The 4&5 curriculum is "Big Questions and Answers for Little People" and presents 52 key biblical truths that expand the children’s understanding of the same 12 Big Questions and Answers about God used in Teach, Take and Tell.
The elementary curriculum is called The Praise Factory and consists of 104 "Big Ideas", or biblical truths that teach children different things about God. This curriculum is a little cumbersome but can work really well with a little work. The 104 Big Ideas are broken down into 16 units, each containing 5-6 Big Ideas. Then each Big Idea includes an Old Testament, New Testament, and Church History/Missions lesson, so that the Big Idea can be taught 3 weeks in a row to ensure that children remember each concept. For Fellowship Group use, I recommend teaching one Big Idea a week, rather than repeating it over three weeks, and choosing the lesson from the three options that best suits your group of kids. There are many activities in each lesson from which to choose, including music, crafts, dramas, and snacks. Feel free to pick and choose what works best for the amount of time and resources you have. Included in your activites should also be a review of the HeartGuard verse each week. Don't let the large amount of material overwhelm you. With a little time each week, you can sift through what is available and pick out what creates a wonderful lesson for your Fellowship Group. Click here for a suggested schedule.
If you choose to use this curriculum, please let . know so that he can keep track.
To go along with the Reason for God study, we created lessons to correspond to what the adults learned. However, these lessons can be used at any time.
Lesson 3--Jesus is the only Savior
Lesson 7--Jesus is the promised Messiah
Lesson 8--Hungering for Jesus and His Righteousness
Lesson 9--Jesus is the Sin Bearer
The ABC's Of Handling Money God's Way Study and The Secret of Handling Money God's Way Children's Study are Bible-based money management curricula for children. Using a fictional story and fun activities, children are taught 12 lessons about the basics of money from God’s perspective. The teacher’s guide provides discussion questions, activities, work sheets, and teaching helps for each lesson. The student workbook includes full-color illustrations, simple Bible studies, and a guided prayer journal. Click here for a sample schedule on how to lead the study each week.
Teacher’s Guide (ages 3-7 or ages 8-12)--$10
Student Workbook (ages 5-7 or ages 8-12)--$13 or $14
Developed at Grace Community Church, this curriculum for children age three through sixth grade provide age-appropriate Bible lessons and learning activities that teach the character of God, the work of Christ, and the means of living in right relationship to Him. Each curriculum has three teacher books, focusing on different age groups (preschool, younger elementary, older elementary).
Prices vary from $20 (5 lessons) to $90 (26 lessons) per Teacher Kit (lesson guide & resources)
Developed at Through the Bible Publishers, DiscipleLand Bible curriculum is designed to help children reach their full potential by transforming them into dynamic disciples of Jesus Christ—kids who know God intimately, who love Him passionately, and who serve Him selflessly. This curriculum offers a family of resources that form a comprehensive discipleship system: Preschool curriculum (ages 2-5) surveys the Old Testament and New Testament and has seasonal lessons. Kindergarten curriculum (ages 5&6) teaches children about 48 Bible characters. Elementary curriculum (grades 1-6) is a precept-upon-precept curriculum in which one foundational truth builds upon another for six years of sequential Bible curriculum. Adventure curriculum (grades 1-6) focuses on special topics (such as missions, Bible translation, etc.). The children’s ministry has used one Adventure curriculum, in which children watch a movie clip of the Jesus Film for Children, study the life of Christ, and pray for a country for the Jesus film is being shown.
Typical Price for Resource Kit (guide & resources)--$20
Typical Price for a Teacher’s Guide (12 lessons)--$10
Typical Price for Student Workbook--$4
GCP's mission is to produce resources for the church's work of nurturing the people of God and doing so with a focus on building Christ's kingdom and preparing believers to "glorify God and enjoy him forever." This curriculum is reformed in nature, is God-centered, and has a covenantal perspective. Each set of curriculum has a different theme and is available for preschool through adults. However, each set of curriculum changes quarterly and is not offered once the quarter is over.
Typical Price for Teacher’s Kit (manual & resources)--$20
Typical Price for Teacher’s Manual (12 lessons)--$13
Typical Price for Student Packet (activity sheets for classroom and at home)--$10
Developed by Ken Sande, The Young Peacemaker is a powerful curriculum that teaches children how to prevent and resolve conflict in a constructive and biblically faithful manner. The system emphasizes principles of confession, forgiveness, communication, and character development, and uses realistic stories, practical applications, role plays, and stimulating activities. Although the material is designed for 3rd through 7th grades, it has been successfully used with preschool and high school students. The curriculum is 12 lessons, but can be split in half to stretch to 24 weeks.
Price for Teacher’s Manual (12 lessons)--$20
Price for Student Activity Booklet--$13
The David C. Cook curriculum is Bible-based and is intended to be used each quarter, alternating between the Old Testament and New Testament. Of all the curriculum, David C. Cook requires less preperation time than most curricula, and is easy to use.
Typical Price for Teacher’s Guide (12 lessons)--$20
Established by Henrietta C. Mears, the mission of Gospel Light is to know Christ and make Him known; and to provide His Church with effective Bible teaching and learning resources for use in making disciples, empowering them for godly living, equipping them for ministry and the evangelization of the world. The curriculum is gospel-centered and relatively easy-to-use, and the teacher guides, music, and visual resources are all reusable. The curriculum uses music, games, art projects, skits and other activities to help children understand and apply the Bible lessons. This curriculum is written for nursery-age all the way through sixth grade, so that the children will read and study through the entire Bible four times.
Typical Price for Teacher’s Kit (guide & resources)--$25
Typical Price for Teacher’s Guide--$7
Typical Price for Student Book--$4