Last week at Conspire, I spoke in the breakout session, "The Grade 4/5 Experiment." I shared briefly on a method we taught our kids for how to study a passage in the Bible. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember what all the letters meant (it was so frustrating!). So for all of you who were wondering, and those who know are intrigued, here you go:
Sin to Avoid
Promise to Claim
Example to Follow
Command to obey
Stumbling Block to Avoid
We showed our kids that just about every verse in the Bible (except those in the genealogies) will have at least one of these in it. They learned that the first step in understanding what the Bible is saying is to look for these. I heard from one mom that her daughter wrote these on a bookmark and uses it when she reads her Bible.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Unit 4: Who I am in Christ
We purposefully didn't write Unit 4 back when we were creating the others because we wanted to see what worked with our kids first. A couple of weeks ago, Jared (Elementary Director), Caleb (Intern) and I met to plan out Unit 4. We realized that almost everything needed to change. Our original plan for Unit 4 was:
Unit 4—Who I am in Christ
Weeks 1-3: Testimony—hearing that of others and developing your own.
Weeks 4-6: The Church—how each of us fits within the church.
Weeks 7-9: Gifts and Service—the roles we each play in the church.
Our kids are developing quickly, however, they may not be ready to develop their testimonies yet. When I was in high school I struggled with not having a "good enough" testimony. I didn't have a dramatic conversion moment. I'd grown up in the church and asked Jesus in my heart at the age of 3. While I did have periods of more growth than others, I felt inferior to those who were able to present drastic before and after stories. Because of that, I want to see kids realize that there is a rich heritage that comes with growing up in a Christian home. To see that God has still worked greatly in their lives, despite a lack of obvious deliverance from a life of darkness.
We realized, though, that while this is an important lesson for Christian kids to learn, our 4th and 5th graders aren't ready for the depth we wanted to reach. Before we can expect them to write their testimony, we need them to recognize that God is and has been present in their lives. Now, section 1 of unit 4 is about helping them to see that God has been with them. To ask about time where they've moved, been lonely, scared, hurt, anxious, lost, afraid... and to see that God brought them through it. They can't develop a testimony unless they're able to first recognize God's presence in their lives.
The next section will look at their need for other Christians. We'll talk about what kind of situations they might face as they enter 5th grade or middle school--sexuality in their peers, their family breaking apart, changes in technology, violence (either in real life or media), people who don't know God and don't want to. We'll look at what the Bible says about these things and how God wants us to live. And finally, we'll talk about how important it is to have the support of fellow believers as we face these things. To have a small group that holds you accountable. To have leaders that you can honestly share with about what's happening in your life and get good feedback from. I'm excited to think of how this section will help guide our kids into their middle school small groups.
Finally, the third section will talk about how we fit into the church. That God gives us spiritual gifts and we are meant to use them. The students will take a tour of the church and see many of the ways people do use their spiritual gifts. In this section we'll also talk about unity as believers. What a great opportunity to address the rudeness our boys tend to show one another and the mean girls syndrome common among our girls.
I'm really excited about what a great conclusion to the year this will be!
Unit 4—Who I am in Christ
Weeks 1-3: Testimony—hearing that of others and developing your own.
Weeks 4-6: The Church—how each of us fits within the church.
Weeks 7-9: Gifts and Service—the roles we each play in the church.
Our kids are developing quickly, however, they may not be ready to develop their testimonies yet. When I was in high school I struggled with not having a "good enough" testimony. I didn't have a dramatic conversion moment. I'd grown up in the church and asked Jesus in my heart at the age of 3. While I did have periods of more growth than others, I felt inferior to those who were able to present drastic before and after stories. Because of that, I want to see kids realize that there is a rich heritage that comes with growing up in a Christian home. To see that God has still worked greatly in their lives, despite a lack of obvious deliverance from a life of darkness.
We realized, though, that while this is an important lesson for Christian kids to learn, our 4th and 5th graders aren't ready for the depth we wanted to reach. Before we can expect them to write their testimony, we need them to recognize that God is and has been present in their lives. Now, section 1 of unit 4 is about helping them to see that God has been with them. To ask about time where they've moved, been lonely, scared, hurt, anxious, lost, afraid... and to see that God brought them through it. They can't develop a testimony unless they're able to first recognize God's presence in their lives.
The next section will look at their need for other Christians. We'll talk about what kind of situations they might face as they enter 5th grade or middle school--sexuality in their peers, their family breaking apart, changes in technology, violence (either in real life or media), people who don't know God and don't want to. We'll look at what the Bible says about these things and how God wants us to live. And finally, we'll talk about how important it is to have the support of fellow believers as we face these things. To have a small group that holds you accountable. To have leaders that you can honestly share with about what's happening in your life and get good feedback from. I'm excited to think of how this section will help guide our kids into their middle school small groups.
Finally, the third section will talk about how we fit into the church. That God gives us spiritual gifts and we are meant to use them. The students will take a tour of the church and see many of the ways people do use their spiritual gifts. In this section we'll also talk about unity as believers. What a great opportunity to address the rudeness our boys tend to show one another and the mean girls syndrome common among our girls.
I'm really excited about what a great conclusion to the year this will be!
So Much to Say
I keep thinking of things I need to blog about on here, and then when I go to actually write, it all escapes me. I can't believe we're just three weeks away from starting Unit 4. That means we're almost done with our first year of Bridge 45! We've learned so much. I'm going to have to set aside time this summer to go back and make revisions to what we wrote.
So what are some of the changes I'd make?
-While our kids LOVED making videos of themselves (which we did in Unit 1), they might not be ready for the responsibility of it at the beginning of the school year. It was hard to get them to focus and actually present a worthwhile message. Unless you have a leader who's willing to strongly guide their group, the final product may not be what you expect. The end of the school year would be better.
-Small group based weeks have been the favorites of boys and girls alike. However, the leaders are finding it's helpful to have simple things to occupy the kids' hands while they talk. Some girl leaders have had their girls work on beading projects during their discussions. For Unit 4 (which we just planned), we gave suggestions for girl groups, and suggestions for boy groups. For example, the week the kids talk about how they fit into the church, the boy groups will be given a project to build out of K'nex. While they may not even realize it, they'll all play a part in the construction project as they talk about the role they play in the church.
-We need to write in fun. The students have a lot of fun during activity station time. And while we hoped that fun would naturally flow through the rest of the service, it can easily be forgotten. We now will write icebreakers into the curriculum, so the division leader doesn't have to come up with something on the spot.
-Our original plan for Unit 3 was to have the groups do service projects at our local Women & Children's shelter. After watching our kids, we realized that they weren't ready for this task. We had to change the activity before starting the unit. As much as we'd like to see our kids grow faster, that is one thing that can be saved for the middle school years. That's not to say they can't do other service projects, just not the one we originally thought of.
-When we looked at our scope and sequence, we realized that our plan for Unit 4 was also beyond our kids. Our original plan was to look at "Who I am in Christ," by helping them realize the value in growing up the church and understand that their testimony is still great even if they don't have a dramatic conversion moment. Since working with our 4th & 5th graders apart from the younger grades, we found that this topic was also too "middle school." Instead, we're taking the approach of being able to look back on situations in their lives and realize that God was with them. Then, to look forward to what kind of situations they'll face as they enter middle school and be prepared to take a stand for Christ. I'll have to blog more about this!
So those are my thoughts about where we've been and what I'd change. I am very pleased with how this year has gone. I'm excited to see how this program keeps growing, and the outreach that can be done through it.
So what are some of the changes I'd make?
-While our kids LOVED making videos of themselves (which we did in Unit 1), they might not be ready for the responsibility of it at the beginning of the school year. It was hard to get them to focus and actually present a worthwhile message. Unless you have a leader who's willing to strongly guide their group, the final product may not be what you expect. The end of the school year would be better.
-Small group based weeks have been the favorites of boys and girls alike. However, the leaders are finding it's helpful to have simple things to occupy the kids' hands while they talk. Some girl leaders have had their girls work on beading projects during their discussions. For Unit 4 (which we just planned), we gave suggestions for girl groups, and suggestions for boy groups. For example, the week the kids talk about how they fit into the church, the boy groups will be given a project to build out of K'nex. While they may not even realize it, they'll all play a part in the construction project as they talk about the role they play in the church.
-We need to write in fun. The students have a lot of fun during activity station time. And while we hoped that fun would naturally flow through the rest of the service, it can easily be forgotten. We now will write icebreakers into the curriculum, so the division leader doesn't have to come up with something on the spot.
-Our original plan for Unit 3 was to have the groups do service projects at our local Women & Children's shelter. After watching our kids, we realized that they weren't ready for this task. We had to change the activity before starting the unit. As much as we'd like to see our kids grow faster, that is one thing that can be saved for the middle school years. That's not to say they can't do other service projects, just not the one we originally thought of.
-When we looked at our scope and sequence, we realized that our plan for Unit 4 was also beyond our kids. Our original plan was to look at "Who I am in Christ," by helping them realize the value in growing up the church and understand that their testimony is still great even if they don't have a dramatic conversion moment. Since working with our 4th & 5th graders apart from the younger grades, we found that this topic was also too "middle school." Instead, we're taking the approach of being able to look back on situations in their lives and realize that God was with them. Then, to look forward to what kind of situations they'll face as they enter middle school and be prepared to take a stand for Christ. I'll have to blog more about this!
So those are my thoughts about where we've been and what I'd change. I am very pleased with how this year has gone. I'm excited to see how this program keeps growing, and the outreach that can be done through it.
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