It’s been awhile but I’m about to be inspired…

I know, I know…to my few blog readers, I am sorry it has been so long since I last wrote. Life is happening. You know? Family, kids, sickness, church, preschool, etc… I promise I will try to do better!

 That being said, I am sure within the next two months I will find inspiration in two conferences I will be attending. Next week a group from our church will be going to Newspring for Unleash 2008. We went in 2007 and it was the catalyst for MUCH change over the course of the next year. I’m excited about what Perry and the Newspring team will be bringing us, a chance to worship, and seeing the reactions to those we’re bringing. Dare say some will be shocked and not know what to think!

Then in April I will be going to Orange! I am psyched about North Point’s Family Ministry conference. Hmm…one day I wold love to present or teach at these things! But, right now I am excited about being the student, learning from some of the masters in the field of youth and children’s ministry. Hopefully I will be inspired, challenged, and stretched as I am there. I wold love to learn some practical application things too to apply to what we’re already doing with 252 Basics and First Look.

Between those two upcoming events, I should be able to find plenty to blog about, now I just need to find the time! 🙂

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loving the new curriculum!

We’ve been using our new First Look and 252Basics curriculum for about a month now and I can say that I love it! It is great to use – I love the digital format for it. I am able to open the files and modify the material to fit the format of how we’re using it. They both give plenty of variety and activities that we’re having enough material for both small group hour and large group time with another smaller group break out for 252basics. I have gotten good feedback from my volunteers on how First Look repeats the same simple point each week. The kids are remembering it! That’s the best! You can tell they are truly learning what we’re teaching. With 252Basics, we switched from KIDMO and the kids are responding well to “live” teaching vs. DVD-based.

If you have any suggestions on getting the kids to use their God Time books and Refrigerator Notes, I’d appreciate it! I am looking forward to going to Orange Conference to talk to others who use it and to learn more. I am loving the model of Family Ministry and know that the “church” needs to move more in that direction. I’ll post more about that later!

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New curriculum is here!

Our new curriculum for 252 Basics and First Look is here. (Well, it is downloadable!) I spent a few hours tonight meeting with my preschool directors and determining our new preschool program for the Fall. It will involve new curriculum, new flow and schedule, and a new rotation of teachers. Not to mention new age breakdown to our classes.

I love the First Look curriculum by North Point. (ReThink Group) Here’s what I love so far:

• It’s downloadable and you can edit it to fit your needs!
• The scope of what it covers — it’s application of Bible stories.
• The hands-on, age appropriateness of the material.
• The ease of aquiring the materials it asks for – nothing too hard or expensive to get
• It gives a lot of activities – enough for 2 1/2 hours for us.

I think we are going to be really happy with it. We’ve taken it and structured it to fit into our format of Sunday mornings and I think it will work beautifully. I can’t wait to see what the kids learn from it!

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preschool curriculum part II

I am still on the fence about which one to use in the Fall. I am between First Look and Lil’K still.

First Look – I love the options offered in the materials. I could use them for both church hours and not run out of material. I am thinking the 1 and 2 year old material may be a little advanced and have pretty high expectations for that age. I like the range of what it covers — God made me, God loves me, Jesus wants to be my friend forever. I love that! I also like tha downloadable format. BTW – love their new website!

Lil’ K – The media for this is out of this world – engaging and done well. My biggest qualm with this material is just the fact of subjecting preschoolers to their main format of teaching on a television. I am a parent of a preschooler and a toddler and I know how I limit their tv watching – for elementary I think KIDMO – done partly on screen is great, with the the little ones I think it is almost unneeded. I am a huge proponent of learning through play. Lil’K does offer hands-on activities to go along with the video portion, I am just questioning whether the video portion is even needed. They also do not offer material for 1 and 2’s.

Ah. choices to make. We had a program in place for a year called Wiggle Worship. It was awesome – incorporated drama, music, puppets, and dance into the show. The kids loved it, talked about it, and looked forward to it. Unfortunately it was a program that was a volunteers vision and when they stepped down there was no one to fill that void. Unless it is done with excellence and passion then it isn’t worth doing here, so we’re re-evaluating. I know our preschool program is weak and I want awesome things for it. I am just praying that God raises up the right leaders for the job!

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preschool curriculum

I am making a BIG change in the fall with our preschool program and I am struggling over which curriculum choice to make. My contenders are:

*Lil’ K

*First Look – 252 basics

*PromiseLand – Willow Creek

I need to check into each of them tomorrow and start comparing them and the additional resources needed as well as structure — if you have any thoughts, please post them!

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