Learning about God. Introduction to the syllabus

Transcription

1 Learning about God Introduction to the syllabus Unit Lesson PDF file name (for individual lessons) Unit 1: God made 1. God made me LAG_unit1_lesson1.pdf 2. God made my family and my friends LAG_unit1_lesson2.pdf 3. God made everyone LAG_unit1_lesson3.pdf 4. God made all the animals LAG_unit1_lesson4.pdf 5. God made the trees and plants LAG_unit1_lesson5.pdf 6. God made the sky and everything in it LAG_unit1_lesson6.pdf 7. God made everything LAG_unit1_lesson7.pdf Unit 2: God loves 1. God loves me LAG_unit2_lesson1.pdf 2. God loves everyone LAG_unit2_lesson2.pdf 3. God made us to love other people LAG_unit2_lesson3.pdf Unit 3: God speaks 1. God s book, the Bible LAG_unit3_lesson1.pdf 2. Learning at Sunday School LAG_unit3_lesson2.pdf Unit 4: God knows 1. God knows all about the things he has made LAG_unit4_lesson1.pdf 2. God knows all about me LAG_unit4_lesson2.pdf 3. God knows my friends LAG_unit4_lesson3.pdf Unit 5: Talking to God 1. We can talk to God LAG_unit5_lesson1.pdf 2. God hears us when we talk to him LAG_unit5_lesson2.pdf 3. Saying thank you God LAG_unit5_lesson3.pdf 4. Saying sorry God LAG_unit5_lesson4.pdf 5. Saying please God LAG_unit5_lesson5.pdf Unit 6: God is 1. God is kind LAG_unit6_lesson1.pdf 2. God is good LAG_unit6_lesson2.pdf 3. God is great LAG_unit6_lesson3.pdf 4. God is always with us LAG_unit6_lesson4.pdf 5. God is our loving Father in heaven LAG_unit6_lesson5.pdf 6. God is revision LAG_unit6_lesson6.pdf Unit 7: Jesus 1. Jesus stopped a storm LAG_unit7_lesson1.pdf 2. Jesus made two blind men see LAG_unit7_lesson2.pdf 3. Jesus made a lady better LAG_unit7_lesson3.pdf Unit 8: Special lesson 1. Looking forward to Christmas LAG_unit8_lesson1.pdf Unit 9: Jesus friends 1. The disciples were special friends LAG_unit9_lesson1.pdf 2. Jesus wanted children to be his friends LAG_unit9_lesson2.pdf 3. Zacchaeus LAG_unit9_lesson3.pdf 4. Mary and Martha LAG_unit9_lesson4.pdf 5. We can be Jesus friend LAG_unit9_lesson5.pdf Unit 10: Being Jesus friends 1. Loving our family LAG_unit10_lesson1.pdf 2. Loving our friends LAG_unit10_lesson2.pdf Unit 11: Christmas 1. The birth of Jesus LAG_unit11_lesson1.pdf 2. The shepherds visit Jesus LAG_unit11_lesson2.pdf 3. The wise men visit Jesus LAG_unit11_lesson3.pdf 1

2 Why a curriculum for pre-schoolers? What better time to start teaching children than when they are young. Paul reminds Timothy that he had the privilege of knowing the holy Scriptures from infancy (2 Timothy 3:14-15). So what is the goal of this syllabus? We want to help young children learn about God so that they can develop a relationship with him at their level. We are not wanting just to increase their head knowledge, but focus on a relationship with their Creator. Learning about God where it fits In the first three Teaching Little Ones CD-ROMs you have a syllabus of lessons for preschoolers. There are a few syllabus options available to you, depending on what age children begin attending Sunday School in your church there is First Steps, Learning about God and Introducing the Bible. The First Steps syllabus is written with a particular group of children in mind namely, the 2-3 year olds who are too young to join the traditional Sunday School, but are ready for a bit more Christian input than they would normally get in a typical crèche. (I sometimes refer to this age group as transition crèche.) The aim of First Steps is to teach these children simple concepts: helping them learn about God and develop a relationship with him at their level, learning that God is great, that he made the world around them, and that he loves them. They are also introduced to Jesus in the Christmas story. If you have already used First Steps last year, you may notice some degree of similarity between Learning about God and the early units of First Steps. This is intentional, as I am conscious that some churches will begin their Sunday School program with Learning about God, and not First Steps (because they don t run a transition crèche class). However, the children in those classes that have done First Steps will only benefit from this repetition in the second year. The Learning about God syllabus is intended for pre-school children, aged 3-5 years. It is a syllabus that begins with foundational truths about God God made, God loves and God knows and introduces the Bible, prayer, and God s son, Jesus. The Introducing the Bible syllabus is also intended for pre-school children. It is a syllabus that begins with Jesus as God s son (leading up to Easter) and then moves from Genesis (creation, Noah, Abraham, Joseph) to Moses, Samuel and David in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we are introduced to Peter and Paul and then we learn more about God s Son, Jesus, at Christmas. 2

3 These lesson notes for Learning about God do not do all the work for you. The visual aids will not all be made for you. And there is no activity book to be handed out each week for the children to fill in. The lessons are varied and include as much craft as possible. In order for the children to learn, we want them to understand and remember what we teach them. Therefore, the main message is important and the take-home activities try to reinforce this. Please consider the children in your class when preparing these lessons. If you have a child with a physical disability, please make allowances in the lesson, and try to bring as little attention to the child s disability as possible. Similarly, if you have a child whose skills are less developed than others, think about how best to assist them without drawing attention to their difficulties. When telling the stories in the units God made and God loves, if you have children with a physical disability, a single parent, or a family member with a chronic illness or disability, some stories might need to be modified. What follows are notes for the teaching component of your Sunday School class. If your Sunday School includes a singing time or a time for activities when children arrive, you will find suggestions in my book, Their God is so BIG. Also, if you would like to understand more about the age group you are teaching or about how to manage a class or tell a story then, again, the fuller picture is explained in my book. An explanation of the lesson notes Bible reference All the ideas and themes are from the Bible although the lessons are not all in the form of a Bible story. In some units of Learning about God, the lessons are general teaching on a particular topic. This is so that we build the foundations of the children s understanding which will be needed for later learning, and which will help them have a friendship with God in the present. For these lessons the Bible reference may be only one or two verses. In your preparation think about what the Bible is saying about the topic of the lesson. In some other units in the latter part of the year, the lesson is a simplified form of a Bible passage and so it is important to understand the Bible before you attempt to tell a simplified version to children. When preparing these stories, always begin your preparation with the Bible passage rather than my version of the Bible passage. The Bible references themselves are for the teacher s benefit and, as such, they can be read in whatever version of the Bible you personally read. There is one Bible reference (Unit 6, Lesson 1) where I use a verse from the NIV Bible, but generally I base the lesson on the Good News Version text. However, I have tried to avoid using Bible references where the Good News Version is at odds with other reliable translations. For use in the Sunday School class itself, I recommend that you have a class Bible in the Good News Version. At the beginning of stories it is helpful to show the Bible and mention that what they are learning comes from the Bible. When Bible references are written on take-home activities, there is often a Bible symbol. This is to reinforce the fact that the story comes from a part of the Bible, and it is a 3

4 symbol that the children will be able to recognize. (Remember that the children can t read the Bible reference themselves, but they will learn to recognize the picture as a Bible.) However, there are some Bible references without this symbol, for example, where the caption needs to be small. Bible references on the take-home activities are written with the name of the book and the chapter number without the word chapter included. The reason for this is that the word chapter is only meaningful for readers who can appreciate what a chapter is. As the chapter numbers appear in large, bold type in the Bible, the children could spot these on a page. We do include the word verse, to distinguish the big numbers from the little numbers. I have not included this explanation in the lesson notes, as it is a difficult concept for children to grasp when they don t even know what a sentence is. I leave it to your discretion to explain, if and when you consider it is appropriate to do so. Lesson aim The lesson aim is a brief expression of what you are trying to teach the children in a given lesson and hence what you want them to learn. It is an explanation for the teacher it is not expressed in terms the children could necessarily understand. Main message... The main message is a brief, simple statement of the main learning point in the lesson what you want the children to go away remembering. It is expressed in terms which the children should understand, as simply as possible. This is what we want to focus on and reinforce in a lesson, and it is also what we want the children to take home on their activity. It will not summarize every aspect of the theme or passage being studied just one main message that we want the children to hear, understand, learn and remember. Story preparation... This describes the visual aid for helping you tell the story, and how it needs to be prepared. The amount of preparation required to teach the story will vary from lesson to lesson. I have included a variety of visual aids to keep the children interested. I try to use a variety of methods, including picture cards, puppets and 3D visual aids. When picture cards are mentioned, I m not expecting you to use the picture cards in the same way each time they feature in a story. I d encourage you to be creative and varied in your use of them. There are more ideas in Their God is so BIG. When you come to the pictures with people from the Bible you might want to explain to the children the people dressed differently back then. (i.e. The men are wearing long robes not dresses!) 4

5 Introduction The introductions have been written with the intention of preparing the children for hearing and understanding the story. The introductions are quite varied, but the intention is always to prepare children for better understanding the message of the story. A word about puppets I often use puppets in the introduction. Puppets can be almost anything, from a soft toy to a cardboard roll. Even a tennis racquet with a face on the strings can be a puppet. Puppets can be a wonderful help when teaching children. They can be incorrect without being offended by correction. They can be slow to learn and ask questions which will help you emphasize important truths. They can behave badly or behave well whichever is going to help you the most! They are very good at being attentive, never rudely interrupt, and set a wonderful example at sitting and listening. They are loved by children (often adored) and build a rapport with children which you or I can only dream of. My puppets have one thing in common they can t speak! They all whisper in my ear and I have to repeat what they say to the children. This means that you don t have to be an actor or a ventriloquist to use the puppets suggested in this syllabus. I would encourage you to look out for a soft toy or two, or a hand puppet, which can make appearances in your lessons. I have found some great soft toys in second hand shops. They have been given a new lease of life as one of my friends. If you use a puppet (soft toy or whatever) more than once, keep the same name. Children will correct you if Sam appears four weeks later as Jeremy. I will share with you some of my precious puppet friends to give you an idea of how varied puppets can be, and how I have used them. Minty monkey is a real puppet, about 10 years old, and is a favourite with children. He has arms (which can go around my neck) and legs. My hand goes up through his body and inside his head and I can give him some facial expressions, as I said, he s a real puppet. He lives in a bag and only comes out when it s quiet. Sometimes he has treasures (which may help in introducing the story) in his bag sometimes we have a bit of fun together and he has dirty socks or half eaten apples in his bag! Naomi is a doll from my childhood I won t tell you how old she is. I can dress her and treat her like a child, so she can have experiences just like the children in your class. Her friend is Benjamin a boy, teddy bear who s cute and cuddly, and can wear hats (which sometimes come in handy as they might have a note or label pinned to them, or they might be related to a theme). Jasper is a puppet who lives on the end of a stick which can disappear inside a cone. His ability to disappear can be helpful when you want children to be quiet. I have once used a square sticky note with a face drawn on by children in the class. He was great because he would stay wherever I put him. He could get up close to a caption and help me reinforce the main message, or he could stick on a picture card and look very closely at something. And then there s Bentley, a pre-loved pyjama bag in the shape of a dog that I found at a second-hand shop. I can hide all kinds of things, including a story to read, inside his back where pyjamas are supposed to live. 5

6 Story... The stories have been carefully phrased so as to try to use the vocabulary of a pre-school child. Please simplify or explain any words or concepts that may be difficult for the children in your particular class. Please also understand that my simplification of passages will never be perfect. My aim is to be faithful to the Bible, meaningful to the children and prayerful in my task of simplifying a passage and communicating the main idea in a straightforward, concise way. I have often found simplification daunting, but I am convinced it is key to teaching this age group. The stories in Units 1-6 are the basic text that we want to communicate to the children in a particular lesson. It would be great if you could expand on this text, relating it to the children in your class, their lives and where they are at. I have not written extensive stories, since if you have a class of mainly younger children the stories may be plenty long enough. But older children could listen to more. If you have such older children, try to think of ways of extending the story, relating it to the world in which your children live. Units 7, 9 and 11 are based on Bible passages. The story is an attempt to be a direct simplification of those passages. Use of the Bible All the ideas and themes are from the Bible although Bible stories are not introduced until Unit 7 of the syllabus. Unit 3 is an introduction to the Bible, helping the children understand what the Bible is and how important it is. The whole of Introducing the Bible (next year s syllabus) is working through the Bible. At the beginning of stories it is helpful to show the Bible and mention the fact that what they are learning comes from the Bible. Vocabulary Every attempt has been made to keep vocabulary simple and within the child s understanding. I have tried to use words which would be known by most children. Please understand that it is impossible for me to know which words would be familiar to every child using this material. Always be on the lookout for words which your particular group of children might not know. If you see a word which you don t think your children will know, please either substitute another word or explain the meaning of the word. As adults we tend to forget how limited the experience of young children can be. For instance, if a child does not live near a beach, has never visited a beach, or has never looked at a book with a beach in it, they may not know what a beach is. Yes, it might have been on the television screen, but unless someone is sitting beside them saying that is a beach, they will be none the wiser. I m also aware that I may use some expressions which are at times colloquial and which may be used widely in my part of the world, but may be less used elsewhere. This came to my attention when I was trying to simplify the word immediately. Should I use straight away or right away or at once? I often use the expression straight away in 6

7 conversation, but if it is unfamiliar to a child, it will be meaningless. At times you might need to substitute a different word or expression for the one that I have used. In the Christmas lessons, I have tried to explain the meaning of words like shepherd in the Introduction to the story, or have simply used an expression like animals food box (to describe a manger) within the story. I spent a great deal of time trying to think of suitable words that would be more widely known, to describe God and Jesus. They include special, important and great. When describing God and his son, Jesus, we need to convey some idea of their uniqueness (without using words like unique!). Conclusion... The conclusion is a brief summary of the main point of the story. This aims to restate and reinforce the main message. It may sometimes be in the form of a question or interaction with a puppet. Pray... I have tried to write simple, brief prayers that could be either said by the teacher only or repeated by the children. It is intended that the printed prayers be prayed after the story. Therefore, the prayers focus on subjects raised in the story, and are trying to show the children how they can respond to God s word in prayer. I would also encourage you to pray straight after the story, or at another time in the lesson, for other prayer matters relevant to your class. Please make sure that when you pray with the children you are always modelling prayers that young children can pray themselves. If we pray using big words in long sentences, then young children may think that they can t pray because they will have to wait until they are a grown-up. But the wonderful thing about prayer, and our loving Father, is that God wants, and delights in, prayer from the youngest to the oldest. And for the young child, prayer is something that they can do. They can t read the Bible themselves, but they can pray. There are many things a young child can t do, but prayer is not one of them. Action rhymes Action rhymes appear in many lessons. The reason for action rhymes is that children remember far more if actions accompany words. An action rhyme is an enjoyable and age-appropriate way of helping young children learn precious truths about God. You might find that you can think of your own action rhymes that are appropriate to the world in which your children live. So if snow or banana plantations or beaches (to name a few) are a central part of the world in which you live, you might be able to think of a special rhyme that incorporates those elements and so is more relevant to the children in your group. So I d encourage you to think of your own from time to time. Just remember, action rhymes don t have to rhyme! 7

8 Activity suggestions... The activity part of a lesson has a few functions. It is an opportunity for the children to be reminded of what they have just heard. But it is also an opportunity to create something on which the main message can be taken home. For the children to learn, they need to understand and remember what we teach them. Taking the main message home on a craft activity helps with the remembering part. Whilst the children may not be able to read, their parents usually can; besides, you may be surprised at how a child may recall a message they have learnt just by looking at their activity. The activity part of the lesson is also fun and provides an opportunity for the children and teachers to interact and talk in an informal way. As there is a wide range of skills within the pre-school age group, there are a variety of activities for you to choose from in each lesson. Some will be more difficult than others; some will require finer motor skills than others; some will require more teacher preparation; some will take longer for the children to complete; others will be finished in an instant! It is not necessarily intended that you choose only one activity. I suggest a range of activity suggestions so that you can also choose to do two rather than just one. The main skills the activities use are: drawing; colouring-in; pasting; and using stickers. Here are some comments on these activities, and a few others Drawing and colouring-in There will be a wide variety of skills in the 3-5 year age bracket, and their drawing and colouring skills will vary enormously. Be prepared to accept a wide range of abilities and end products. For many just-turned-threes, drawing and colouring will all be scribbling. For those who are nearly five, they might be able to write their name and draw very recognizable pictures with some degree of detail. And then there will be others who are nearly five and who haven t much idea what to do with a crayon and paper. For those who are not able to do precise or artistic colouring or drawing, they nonetheless enjoy the activity of scribbling. Don t get upset if their attempt to colour something in results in a messy, unattractive (to you) outcome. You might need to adapt some activities to cater for your children. If you have a range of abilities within a class, you might be able to have different children completing a task in different ways giving the scribblers an opportunity to scribble and the drawers an opportunity to draw. The children s pride in their work will vary too, with some very keen to show it to mum and dad, while others won t be all that interested. Parents will be pleased with the end product regardless of what it looks like they like to see their children doing activities and don t want to see a beautiful work of art that has obviously been done by the teacher. 8

9 Just one word of warning: dark crayons, especially dark blue and black, are unhelpful because they have the habit of covering up important things, like text. Pasting You will need to assess for your class whether the teacher needs to use the glue, controlling where it is placed, or whether the children are capable of applying glue themselves. For many children in this age group, when pasting it is important that you offer the children only one colour of paper at a time if you are intending that they paste two different colours in two different places. For example, if the children are pasting green paper squares as leaves in a tree, and brown paper squares as bark, then only offer them green paper to begin with and only put glue on the branches. Then take the green paper away and only offer them brown paper and only put glue on the trunk. For older children, they might be able to follow instructions without such closely directed supervision. Glue sticks are a good form of glue if you can afford them. For younger pre-schoolers, I recommend that the teachers apply the glue, as that means that the glue will end up where you want it to be. A teacher can quickly apply glue to a large area using large glue sticks. But young children with a glue stick in their hand can leave a sticky mess on lots of things! Children often love glue sticks, so use them with close teacher direction. If it doesn t matter where things are placed, it might be a good opportunity for them to use the glue stick as a treat. Where it does matter, it s your turn. Help the children to realize from the first week of Sunday School that the glue sticks are yours and not theirs. If you let them use the glue sticks then it is a treat, and they are to be used how you want them to be used. We don t want weekly tantrums over glue sticks! Stickers You can buy quite cheap round stickers and star stickers from supermarkets and department stores. Alternatively, you can make stickers using computer address labels which you (or the children themselves) scribble on, colour, or draw patterns on, to add colour. Other equipment and materials I do not have the children using scissors in the activities. Where things need to be cut out, I regard this as part of the preparation for the teacher. I do not use traditional paints, as they require a fair amount of setting up, cleaning up and special equipment, and paint has a habit of going where it shouldn t. I try to use as many materials as possible that you can collect easily (e.g. cardboard rolls, egg cartons, etc.). I have tried to keep purchasing costs to a minimum. I know I mention some craft items that need to be purchased, for instance paper plates and patty cases. But these can be purchased cheaply from a supermarket, or you can simply cut out a 9

10 cardboard circle to replace paper plates and coloured circles to replace patty cases (paper cases for making cup cakes). Another thing to keep in mind is that most craft items mentioned in this syllabus can be purchased from an educational supplier. Recyclable junk I refer to a number of items which are things that would normally end up in the garbage bin. The advantage is that they are free and that they add variety. One problem with this is that the junk that I refer to in these lessons is to some extent specific to a time and place. What I mean is that some items will become obsolete in years to come and be replaced by something else. Other items might be used abundantly in my part of the world, and unheard of in your part of the world. So some flexibility and creativity is needed. I m also aware that some objects are given different names in different regions. To help overcome this you will find a file, Activity materials.pdf, on this CD-ROM with pictures of the objects and what I call them. So, my suggestions are: Make a habit of collecting recyclable junk that could be used in craft. Have a junk box or bag in which these items are placed. You might want to have a collection box at Sunday School where parents can contribute items as well. Junk items have been limited by what s available at the time and place of publishing this syllabus. Look around for new recyclable junk and adapt activities accordingly. Look ahead to lessons in the coming weeks and make the necessary preparation to collect items required (you might need to specifically ask parents to collect an item like softdrink bottles or egg cartons). If an item is unavailable, take spare moments in the day (waiting in queues or sitting on buses) to think creatively of alternatives. You might come up with a different method of doing a craft activity or think of using a different item. Playdough Some activities make use of playdough. If your children are likely to eat the playdough, or they don t yet have the fine motor skills to work it, then perhaps you should avoid using it. Use of envelopes In the activity suggestions, I sometimes mention placing items in an envelope for each child. Let me explain why. If you want every child to have one circle, one square and one triangle, you can t put a pile in front of them and ask them to take one each. One child might take ten circles, while another has none, and chaos will ensue. Instead, place the items required for each child in an envelope. By either giving the children the envelope, or emptying its contents beside them, the children will have what you want them to have. 10

11 Time Please keep in mind that when your class does an activity, it may take a short amount of time to complete. It can be discouraging with this age group that you may spend far longer preparing an activity before the lesson than it takes for the children to finish the activity in the lesson. Remember that your preparation time was worth it! There will be variations in the time activities will take to complete. Some will take longer than others. Some activities can be lengthened or shortened. I often give suggestions for extra options you can choose to add. Also, as you get to know your children, you will know how and when to lengthen or shorten an activity. Always do the activity in an orderly fashion. It s preferable if you have all the children doing one thing at a time with only those materials needed on the table. Then take those materials away before proceeding to the next step. Child s name Ensure each child s name is on the work they do (either write names on the activity soon after the children begin or have names on stickers which you can quickly stick onto their work). Some older children in your group may be able to write their own names if so, great! Encourage it. It doesn t matter if their name is written in reverse as long as it is recognizable as belonging to that particular child. Safety Always be mindful of safety during the activity time. Keep all scissors, staplers and split pins out of the children s reach. Whenever using split pins, stick masking tape over the top of the split pin to avoid injury, because the ends can be quite sharp. Place tape over staples, too we don t want exploring, little fingers to find sharp staples. Also, on the issue of safety, ensure that the class area is safe, that furniture is stable, and that there isn t a host of invitations for climbing and exploring and injury. Never leave children without a teacher present they must always be in your sight. Have someone responsible for taking children to the toilet if they need to go. While talking about child safety, you also need to be aware of and follow the child protection policies of your church and the laws in your state or country (especially if you are the Sunday School co-ordinator). Booklets Some simple, folded booklets have been included in the material. The purpose of these is actually not for the Sunday School lesson as such, but for the children to take home. The booklets are intended for the parents to read to their children at home, reinforcing what the children are learning at Sunday School. The booklets are intentionally small, as little children often like little books. The booklets are listed under the Activity Suggestions. You might want the children to colour their booklet during the lesson. However, the size of the booklets means that they 11

12 are not ideal for colouring-in. The booklets have been illustrated in such a way that they do not need colour they are intentionally small drawings for little people! Paper size If you look at the paper that many 3-5 years olds are drawing or painting on, it is usually at least twice the size of A4 paper. We are limited in this lesson format to A4 paper (which is 210mm wide by 297mm high). An advantage of this is that many Sunday School classes have smallish tables that would not cope with large pieces of paper anyway. However, you have the option of using larger paper, and at times this is suggested, and there is an extra caption provided to paste onto larger paper if you wish. For all those activities which are drawn on A4 paper and you would rather they were larger, you could enlarge the pages on a photocopier, or some could be enlarged by hand. When you print the lessons, ensure that you print them at full size. Adobe PDF has a page scaling option and if this is set to anything other than none then the pages will not be printed at full size. This can cause problems with some activities, particularly the booklets. Some countries do not use A4 as the standard paper size (i.e. United States and Canada). While A4 paper (210mm x 297mm, 11-3/4" x 8-1/4") is not often advertised, it is available from many office/stationery supply companies in those countries and will fit in almost all modern printers. If you have trouble finding it locally, you will be able to find it via an online store. I also often refer to A3 paper. This is twice the size of A4 (297mm x 420mm). This should also be readily available. Your class Just as every child is different, so is every class. As the teacher, you will come to know your group of children and understand their skills and limitations. Therefore, you might read some activities and think, How could she possibly think that my children could do that! You will need to make an assessment of what is likely to work in your situation with your group of children. Some of the more ambitious activities may only work if you have extra adults to help the children. As the year progresses, it would be helpful for you to keep a record of activities which are worth repeating (or not). Remember, too, that the children s skills will develop over the course of the year. Repetition of activities There is a choice in each lesson so that you can choose the most appropriate activity for your class. You might notice that some activities appear a few times throughout the year. This is intentional. You might choose the activity in one lesson and not another lesson. There is also some repetition because certain activities are popular for this age group. 12

13 A little about each unit Introduction to Unit 1 Our first unit is where the Bible begins God made the world. In order to make this as meaningful as possible to the pre-school child, we begin with them (God made me) and then move beyond them to significant people in their world namely, family and friends. Then we move further outwards to God made everyone. So we have moved from talking of specific people to making the general statement God made everyone. We then learn about different aspects of God s creation animals, trees, plants, and the sky and everything in it. We are helping the children to see that the world around them (which they know) is made by God. Again we move from the specific to the general, concluding with God made everything. We don t actually introduce the word world until the final lesson in the unit. The world is a fairly abstract concept to a young child, and so we introduce it after we have talked about the different components that make up the world. Introduction to Unit 2 We then move from God made to God loves. What a joy it is to be able to tell the children that the God who made them also loves them, and that the God who made everyone, also loves everyone. We begin with the children themselves (God loves me) and move from this specific to the general (God loves everyone). We don t want the children to think that the world revolves around them for them to do as they please. We want to introduce the children to the bigger picture, God made us to love other people. Yes, God made us for other reasons too, but for the age and stage of pre-school children it is appropriate to be helping them to understand a little of the relational aspect of being a person. God hasn t made us to treat other people however we want to. God wants us to live in a certain way. We will be learning more about this later in the year, and indeed for many years to come! But here s a start, to help the children understand the concept of loving others, and how that is worked out on a practical level for a pre-school child. Introduction to Unit 3 Unit 3 is an introduction to the Bible, helping the children understand what the Bible is and how important it is. We have waited until now to talk about the Bible, teaching the children something about God and his love for us, before introducing God s book to them. In the first lesson of this unit, we reflect on what we learnt last term, and relate this to the Bible: In the Bible, God says that he made us / In the Bible, God says that he loves us. It wasn t an easy task to settle on the final wording for these lessons. It s a challenge to speak about the Bible to young children who can t read, and whose idea of a book may be limited to those which are largely full of pictures with a small amount of text. They are not going to understand everything about what the Bible is at this stage indeed few 13

14 adults do! But we want to reinforce some basic truths about God s word. We use the action rhyme, captions and a booklet to reinforce these fundamental truths about the Bible. The second lesson in this unit is to help the children understand why they come to Sunday School, and how learning about God from the Bible is the fundamental basis for Sunday School. Introduction to Unit 4 We introduce the theme of God knows by talking about animals and plants. These are things which God has made, and because God made them, he knows all about them. We then move this concept to ourselves and help the children to see the implications. Having learnt that God made me and God loves me in term 1, we now learn that God knows me and that he knows all about us. Our God made us and loves us, but he also knows all about us. We try to begin with specifics in the world of a young child (e.g. God knows what we each like to play) and move to the comforting God knows when we are sad, and the more confronting God knows when we re kind and when we re naughty. It can be meaningless to a young child to make a statement like God knows us without relating this to their lives, and explaining the meaning and implications of this statement in the context of their lives. A young child tends to think that if I can t see you, you can t see me. They won t fully understand the fact that God, whom they can t see, can see them, but it s worth talking about it with them. It will also be talked about in Unit 6 Lesson 4, God is always with us. Introduction to Unit 5 In unit 5 we concentrate on prayer, which, for the young child, we call talking to God. What a precious truth to have the privilege of sharing with our pre-schoolers God likes us to talk to him. We try to help the children to understand some things about prayer that we, as adults, might take for granted we can talk to God anytime, anywhere and he can hear us. We, as adults, might think it strange that we have to say (in lesson 2) God hears us when we pray outside and when we pray inside. But think for a moment about a young child and their experiences it s quite logical for a young child to reach the conclusion that if they are inside God won t be able to hear them (through the walls) or that they can only pray at Sunday School, to name just two ideas. So we explain talking to God in positive terms, not relating to any and every specific situation, but making statements like God hears us when we pray outside and when we pray inside which covers most locations and God likes us to talk to him anytime in the day or night which covers 24 hours a day! It might seem a little simplistic to be summarizing talking to God as saying thank you, sorry and please help me, but these are terms that the young child can understand on a cognitive and practical level. The children will learn more about prayer in the Introducing the Bible syllabus. 14

15 Introduction to Unit 6 Unit 6 is further expanding the young child s understanding of God helping them to see the great God that he is. We re trying to help them know more of who God is and how loving he is. Please give thought to the lesson God is our loving Father in heaven if, within your group, there are children from single-parent families without a father at home, or with a father who is seen as not being kind. Give prayerful consideration to dealing with this sensitively, as we want to encourage these children to learn that God is our loving Father in heaven, and not give them a false idea of God based on flawed human fathers. Introduction to Unit 7 In this unit we introduce the children to Jesus. Having just talked about how great God is in unit 6, we now teach the children that Jesus, God s son, is more than just a man. He can do things that we can t do because he is God s son. We don t want to bring Jesus down to their level (Jesus was a boy just like you) but rather we want them to see that Jesus is far greater than us. This is just a glimpse of Jesus. This aspect of Jesus will be further talked about in Introducing the Bible, but for now we want the children to see that just as God is great, so is his son. Introduction to Unit 8 This is a unit with a single lesson. This is an outward looking lesson, where we think of others in the world, their needs and their greatest need of all to hear about Jesus. We want to encourage the children to see how they can give, so we are looking forward and planning how we can be making something to give at Christmas. This lesson is in both Learning about God and Introducing the Bible. The lessons have been written differently but there are some similarities: for instance, the main activity idea (surprise bag presents) is the same for both years. The reason for this is that it can become a Christmas tradition that the children remember having done the year before. There is a lengthy foreword to this lesson explaining it s purpose, so I won t say more here, except that this lesson requires thinking and planning well before the lesson, so don t leave it until the last minute. Introduction to Unit 9 This unit focuses on Jesus relationship with some people, as described in the book of Luke. We want the children to understand that Jesus wanted to be friends with children. He also had many grown-up friends, and we want the children to see that being Jesus friends had an impact on their lives. These lessons are in the form of a Bible story where I have based the story as closely as possible on the relevant Bible passage. Some simplifications have had to be made to help the children in understanding the passage. These simplifications have been made thoughtfully and prayerfully, but none of them will be perfect. I certainly don t want to be misrepresenting the Bible at any point. Please begin your preparation with the Bible passage and then read the simplified version. Make sure you agree that I am faithfully 15

16 translating the story into pre-schooler language. Also look out for words or phrases that your children may not understand. The conclusion to this unit is that we also can be Jesus friends. This isn t something that they will fully understand in one lesson, but it s a step forward in the children s understanding of a relationship with Jesus. Introduction to Unit 10 Unit 10 talks about how we are to live as Jesus friends. In John 13:34-35 Jesus says that his disciples are to love one another. There are many other references in the gospels to loving others. You may wonder why I have focused on loving family and friends, and not dealt with loving everyone, including enemies. The reason for this lies in the age and level of understanding of the children. For their age it is important to apply truths to their lives. Few pre-school children will have developed real enemies, though there may be some children that they don t like as much as others. The world of a pre-school child is essentially made up of family and friends, as well as adults known to them, such as teachers. So I have focused on family and friends, hoping that the children will be able to relate what they re learning to their own lives. In general terms loving everyone is not as meaningful to a young child as mentioning specific people to love. We need to get into a pre-schooler s shoes and think about what it means to love others. The expression loving can easily be taken to mean hugging and kissing for a young child since that is, after all, how they are often encouraged to express their love. So I have tried to broaden the concept of loving others with some other practical elements. I m particularly trying to encourage an attitude in the children of wanting to be kind, helpful and obedient. By saying that Jesus wants us to be kind, a young child can understand that it s about how we treat others, rather than necessarily just giving a hug or kiss. How can a child be encouraged to be kind? The nitty gritty often boils down to acts such as sharing, taking turns, saying sorry. It can be hard for pre-schoolers to be kind! It s so often easier to grab and push. Pre-schoolers are going from being toddlers (who are quite self-centred and tend to play alongside rather than with others) to being children who can interact socially. There is a lot for them to learn! Introduction to Unit 11 Unit 11 brings our year to a close with some lessons on Jesus birth. The positioning of these lessons in the syllabus has been based on our local school year which ends just before Christmas. If you re doing this syllabus on a different calendar then you may need to move Unit 11 to coincide with the lead-up to Christmas. One difficulty with the passages about Jesus birth is that they contain a number of words that may be unfamiliar to many young children. Some examples are: angel, inn, manger, shepherds, and wise men. So I have tried to either simplify or substitute these words, or explain them in the introduction. I haven t attempted to explain Mary s virginity or her relationship with Joseph, and I m sure you ll be glad that I think it is also unnecessary for you to do so as well. 16

17 For more help For more tips, safety hints, explanation of the ages and stages of children, and ideas for teaching young children, see my book, Their God is so BIG. Final thoughts One difficulty I have had in writing this syllabus is that I keep thinking of more things that could be included. But publishing deadlines have given me a helpful limit. I do not think I will ever consider this material finished. I hope you will provide feedback (through Matthias Media), so that I can continue to make improvements in the future. And I hope I have left room for you to think of your own ideas to complement those printed. I would really like to thank Kathy Manchester, Marianne Campbell and Maureen Seldon for providing the illustrations for this material. It is my prayer that this material can help you teach 3-5 years olds about our great and loving God. I pray that God will give you wisdom and help in the wonderful and precious ministry of teaching little ones. I also pray that God will help us learn more about our heavenly Father as we help little ones learn about him and his love for us. For you are great and do marvellous deeds; you alone are God. Ps 86:10 Stephanie Carmichael November