Special Curriculum Features

Spiritual Journals:

Spiritual journals are the intrapersonal component of the workshop rotation model. Writing in journals is a way for children to reflect on what they have experienced. As children journal, they can make valuable learning connections that improve their faith development. Journaling is an integral part of the workshop rotation model. Research has discovered that children who journal in school daily in all areas of the curriculum increase learning connections and relevancy. If we do not have children reflect on their faith, it may become the one area in their lives that has little or no relevancy. Separate Spiritual Journal booklets are included for Primary and Intermediate children in the Appendix of each unit.

Celebration Sunday:

Celebration Sunday is set aside for celebrating completing the unit with all grade levels. It is held on the Sunday following the completion of the unit. It is a flexible Sunday that can be added if time allows in the year's schedule. The purpose of Celebration Sunday is to review and synthesize the story and the concepts taught in the unit. It is also a time for children to show their finished products from the workshops, perform a workshop drama for the whole group, or enjoy cooking that was created in a workshop. Ideas for Celebration Sundays are included in the overview of the unit when suitable.

Celebration Sunday also provides an alternative time for children to write in their spiritual journals. Although spiritual journal time is provided at the end of each workshop, we understand that when lessons run over there is usually not enough time for journalizing. On Celebration Sunday 15-20 minutes could be set aside for reflective journal writing on a writing prompt that you choose from the Spiritual Journal booklets included in the Appendix of each unit.

Mission:

We are committed that children KNOW, GROW, and GO in their faith. We want children to connect their faith learning experiences to reaching out to others. We include many mission activities in the units either as a workshop that children will rotate to or as an overarching focus of a unit. We invite you to enhance or create your own mission activities for your children using our ideas as a springboard.

Unit Themes:

Many of our units are themed providing children with exciting and inviting enhancements. Enhancements are optional for churches with limited resources yet provide exciting possibilities for other churches. For example our unit titled This Train Is Bound for Glory includes refrigerator magnet train cars complete with Bible memory verses that children collect in each workshop, model trains set up in workshop areas, and bandanas and train whistles for the teachers. In Reaction to the Promise, Jesus' Birth, children collect character trading cards in each workshop while in the Jonah unit they collect a "catch of the day" fish. These are just a few ideas of the many you will find provided in our curriculum.

Intergenerational Activities:

Intergenerational activities provide a threefold purpose. First, intergenerational activities help involve the whole church, making the Sunday school's mission and children's learning visible to adults. Second, like Celebration Sundays, intergenerational activities provide a way for children to celebrate completing a unit. Activities often showcase children's learning and finished products from the workshops. Third, involving adults to interact with workshop learning and activities is another dimension of intergenerational activities.

Intergenerational activities can be done at any time that is feasible for your church, for example, at coffee time, or during adult education. If devoting an entire Sunday per unit for a Celebration Sunday is not feasible, an intergenerational activity is a way of accomplishing much of the same. However, make sure that you synthesize and review the unit with the children on the last Sunday of the unit during an opening time or closing time. Be flexible with your scheduling and include some Celebration Sundays and intergenerational activities throughout the year.