tntgoodwin Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I was wondering what Sunday School curriculum you have used and either liked or disliked, and why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara in Colo Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I write my own curriculum and have for years. We live in a small town and churches here are small-- it HURTS the budget to pay $150 every 18 weeks or so for Sunday School Materials! (and that would be considered a good price!). I'm seriously thinking about publishing it and marketing it (at a more reasonable price) with all proceeds going to two of my favorite charities (both caring for orphans in Africa). I used to give workshops on how to write your own curriculum-- and I may do that again sometime in the near future... I'm not into 'edutainment' --but I do like programs that inspire the children to think about AND USE their Bibles. It seems like most of the current programs are either entertainment with a tiny side-lesson, or a dry boring lesson that puts the kids to sleep, or (my biggest pet peeve) a lesson that is not age appropriate (I'm not making 'Munch Munch Lions' with 5th graders!). In three weeks we launch our "Time Machine" series. Imagine a 'tardis-like' box that is rolled into a doorway. The teacher for the day activates a remote and the Time Machine comes alive with lights and a person in costume(Bible Character) comes out and gives a 5 minute talk about something going on in their life.. The teacher then presents a lesson--with the majority of it straight from the Bible (kids following along and using their Bibles). After the lesson the class is broken down into smaller groups and the 'leaders' take their groups through a few short 'thinking' questions, practice the Bible verse for the week, take prayer requests and pray with the group. There is a short game time before or after the lesson (the first time we used this series we did games after group time-- this time we will do games before the lesson as the class will go to the worship center after the sermon and join their families for 'family worship' and communion. E-mail me if you want to see a sample-- maybe it will inspire you to write your own too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Has anyone used Praise Factory? It's free. And I heard Desiring God has one also, any thoughts on that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I was wondering what Sunday School curriculum you have used and either liked or disliked, and why? Our church uses Gospel Light but I think it's mostly because the ease of use. You can pick it up and teach. No prep required. There are times that's been important. But it's not very deep and except for the youngest kids, I'm not sure they really learn anything. We tried David Cook once, but it was "too much prep time". I wasn't teaching then. I don't remember why though. But it was deeper. Not just surface level stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrappyhappymama Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 (edited) I suppose it would depend a lot upon your spiritual perspective, and I don't know yours. But I'm happy to share my favorites: Our Spiritual Heritage: http://www.ourspiritualheritage.com/JCS2_Products.html We use this for our home bible studies, but I've seen it implemented in Sunday school classrooms as well and love the approach. It is not taught strictly chronologically, but instead each semester focuses on a Bible theme like "God is Wise" or "Falls and Changes" and then Bible stories are taught that support this theme. I like it because it not only teaches the common Bible stories but also gives them a context to hang on, and also demonstrates that God is the same God he was from the beginning and that the Bible has a cohesive message. Shaping Hearts for God: The congregation we worship with now and several of the ones we are considering when we move use this bible class curriculum: http://www.shapingheartsforgod.org/whychooseshapinghearts.html It has a lot of supportive materials and it fun for the kids, but is very focused on teaching Bible messages and stories and not just fun activities with questionable relation to the material. Bible Study Guide for All Ages: http://www.biblestudyguide.com/ I've seen this curriculum mentioned here many times, and we had the opportunity to use it in Bible classes where we lived previously. I liked it from a doctrinal standpoint, but the worksheets are a little too much busywork for my taste. For example, circle this answer in blue, and then underline the next one in red. In my opinion, that takes the focus off of what's being studied and moves it to learning to follow instructions. I want a curriculum my kids will enjoy, but I prefer the activities to relate directly to the lesson. But, I know a lot of folks really love these, and my kids did enjoy the cartoon drawings as well, so I thought it deserved a mention. Edited August 3, 2011 by scrappyhappymama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Well, my spiritual perspective is... probably hard to define. It would fit into evangelical Calvinist Protestant I imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I like this. It goes through the Bible chronologically while focusing on the themes of the Bible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I echo Jann in TX sentiments. Hear, hear. I have directed many a church program over the years, at more than one church. I have also written curriculum extensively. I hate-hate-hate the shallow, Disneyesque curriculum that is commonly used--they tend to be poorly written and very shallow. I spend a lot of time training my staff how to either write their own curriculum or beef up/edit the church-provided curriculum. A fabulous book and training tool is Follow Me As I Follow Christ, by Cheryl Dunlop. It's about childrens ministry generally, and includes a wonderfully well-written section on curriculum. She shows the reader how to evaluate lessons and how to modify lessons. I highly, highly recommend this book. Outside of that, the only curriculum that I recommend is from John Piper's church, called Children Desiring God. It's totally different from mainstream curriculum, and focuses heavily on good inductive Bible study. I have worked with many other curriculum in the past (Group, Faithweaver, Discipleland, CharismaLife, Cook) and find that the CDC materials are far superior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.