“We sure tore the roof off,
didn’t we, Dad.”
Kathy was teaching about the four men who tore through the roof of a house. They lowered down a lame man right in front of Jesus. During the lesson, one child in the class had a personal connection - his father and he had spent time praying for a family member who was going through a difficult illness.
As weeks passed, the family member recovered. The four-year-old turned to his father and said, "We sure tore the roof off, didn't we, Dad?"
The child learned the Bible story in class.
He learned the Bible Truth: Jesus cares about sick people. He loves to help them.
He learned the memory work: Get up and walk!
No one in the class had explicitly connected the Bible story to prayer. Most likely, even if they had, the child would not have been able to make the connection. Yet something profound had happened. It was the Holy Spirit who showed that little boy that prayer was like taking a friend to Jesus and persevering with hope.
Truly that little boy saw who Jesus is, abided in Him, and enjoyed the results of abiding in Him.
In a class of three and four year olds,
Built with Qualities That Lead to Real Learning
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In the Five Year Olds through Sixth Grade, we use songs and rhythms to teach memory verses. We find this to be an essential element. When words are taught in this manner, the retention level rises considerably. When children reach fourth and fifth grades, they begin to look down on this practice. It only takes a week or two of using this method to convince the children to participate because they find it really works.
”I was teaching fourth and fifth graders and had taught them verses using songs and rhythms. After being out of the classroom for 2 months, when I returned, one of the children said he didn’t need to sing the verses. We did a review and the children who had learned the verses in song or rhythm remembered them all. He was convinced.” -
Children, until about 6th grade, are mostly concrete thinkers. Bible Truths are usually applied in very practical ways. Because of this, the curricula uses Bible readings with pictures, retelling that use pictures, acting out, dollhouse people (for the younger grades), and many other activities that review what has been read. We strive to use all three main learning styles so that no child is left out.
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Up through 2nd grade, we spend two weeks on each Bible lesson, and three weeks for 3s and 4s. Though each lesson uses different retells and activities, the content, Bible truth, and memory verse are being reinforced.
In the Twos, Threes, and Four Year Olds curriculums, the memory work is reinforced with a hand motion and plenty of repetition.
In grades 3-6, subjects or persons are taught, with each lesson having a review of the previous lesson or lessons. In this way, children become familiar with the Bible and are encouraged to reread the Scriptures for themselves.
Volunteer teachers
get invested in this!
The curricula have been written with the intent of each individual teacher preparing his/her own lessons: the pieces to be used, the craft materials to be gathered, the copies to be made, etc. This helps the teacher to be well-prepared to teach effectively.
Many children’s ministry volunteers who begin working as teachers become invested in the material. As they put effort into preparations and then do the lessons in class, they begin to see how well the children receive the info and can actually remember these stories from the Bible. This gives the volunteers ownership and blesses them to be a part of it!
The first year a curriculum is used, there may be flannel pictures to be cut out, cards to be made, etc. After the first year, these items are ready to be used again. In each book, there are helpful suggestions as to how to organize your supply room, how to supply each individual room, what supplies are necessary, and how they are supplied. This makes the preparation much easier.
“As a high school chemistry teacher for a little over 20 years and a Sunday School teacher for almost 30 years, I have used quite a variety of different curricula. And of all the Sunday School curricula that I have taught, I have been most impressed with Lessons From The Vine.
Even though I’m an experienced teacher, the lessons are written so that anyone could teach them. They are Bible-based, contain clear directions that follow a logical progression, are fun for the children, and most importantly, are ‘meaty’ and focused.” -A Lessons From The Vine® Teacher
FAQs
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While the first year will be more work, as you are cutting out all the pieces for each curriculum, once the first year is completed, you are set up to use these curriculums without having to do as much. Many of the tasks are now finished. Since these curriculums are designed to be used year after year, it is very helpful to have a system to store previously made game pieces, cut-out flannel pictures, extra copies, supplementary books, etc. Suggestions for organizing these materials are highlighted in the back of every curriculum book.
One of the beautiful things about this curriculum is that those who love to do crafts, but don’t have an outlet in the church, can be enlisted to help prepare flannel pictures and craft materials. -
As children grow, not only do they develop physically, but the way they process information also develops. The games a four-year-old plays are much too easy, and even silly, for a third-grader. The questions a fourth grader can consider require a different level of thinking than a five-year-old can manage. While there is overlap, the activities, games, type of question, Bible used, etc., are chosen according to the physical, mental, and spiritual abilities of each age group.
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The curriculum is meant to be used progressively from year to year. Depending on the size of your church, you may repeat a curriculum every 2-3 years, or every year. If you have two age groups together, such as first and second graders, a child entering the class would spend one year in the first-grade curriculum and one year in the second-grade curriculum. After two years, that child would now be a third grader and move to the next age grouping. First Graders who joined the class after that first year would have begun with the second-grade curriculum and now, as Second Graders, would be taught the first-grade curriculum.
If you have three or four age groups together, the time before a curriculum is repeated is just a year or two longer. If you have only one age group per class, you can use the curriculum each year for each new set of children.
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Lessons From The Vine® main goal is to teach children the Bible. The Retell portion is one of the most important elements of each lesson in reaching this goal. During the retelling, children are physically involved in the lesson, which greatly aids them in remembering it. The more children are actively involved, the more they will learn and remember the lesson, and the more they will see the Bible as their most important book.
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We study the lives of past and present saints to give children examples of how the Word of God works in the lives of everyday people, and how the Bible Truths are true for us, as well as for those we read about in the Bible.
In her early Christian walk, Kathy was inspired by the lives of people like Brother Andrew and Harriet Tubman. They helped her look past her fears to the greater power of God. -
The goal of memorizing Scripture is that it might be used in our everyday lives. Some Bibles are easier to understand than others. Without compromising the Scriptures, Kathy chose the wording that children would most easily comprehend.
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Some children start school at age five, while others don’t start until they are six years old. When the latter happens, children have already completed the five-year-old curriculum but are not yet in first grade. The kindergarten curriculum was written to provide for these children. If the kindergarten and five-year-old curriculums are used alternatively, some children may participate in only one of them, but you will never have a child who says, “I already did these lessons!”
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This children’s Bible is impressive in that in a few short sentences, the author has accurately conveyed a whole Bible story on a level that children 3-8 years of age can easily understand. All the important facts are included, while the information that is too difficult or cumbersome for children is omitted.
Kathy prayed long and hard about whether to use it in first grade, and now more than ever, she strongly believes it is the best choice. Children at this level experience a bit of promotion. They move from looking at the pictures as the teacher holds the book and reads, to holding their own Bibles and reading, at least somewhat, along with the teacher. It is a Bible that does not overwhelm and does a wonderful job of providing accompanying pictures, which are vital for the children. -
When Kathy began writing for second grade, almost all of the stories in The Beginner’s Bible® had been taught during the first five years. She originally used The Bible for Children, Simplified Living Text, which has now gone out of print. Since the first and second-grade curriculums may both be used for either first or second-graders, it seemed wise to continue with a Bible written in the style of The Beginner's Bible®. Since Kathy couldn’t find one, she took the Bible stories that are taught in the second grade and wrote them similar to The Beginner’s Bible®. These are also fully illustrated and written for 6-8 year olds.
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This is a Bible written on a third-grade level. The goal of the curriculum is to teach the Bible, so that the Holy Spirit may bring it to mind to direct children in their everyday lives. The wording of this Bible makes it simpler for children to understand what is being said. The effort then lies in learning the Word as opposed to trying to figure out what words mean.