Little Kids, Big Lessons

Volume 14 Issue 2, 2007

New curriculum can help young children thrive in their faith journey.

I can still picture four-year-old Gracie entering Promiseland. She gave her mom and dad a quick kiss on the cheek and then darted towards the activities in the room. Her favorite thing to do was to become a pretend princess in a castle. But one day was different.

We had taught a unit on the Christmas story, so during activity time Gracie pretended to be Mary. She carefully picked out a robe, put on scarf, and knelt down next to the manger that held baby Jesus. Then she prayed to God, “Thank you for loving me and giving me Baby Jesus.” It was a beautiful moment. Gracie knew that God loved her so much, and that He gave Jesus as a gift to her.

Today, Gracie has graduated from preschool into first grade. Her mom told me that she comes home from school everyday with a progress report. It typically has big smiley face stickers for her good choices made throughout the day. There was one day in particular that Gracie got off the bus from school and it hadn’t been good day. The bus driver stopped her mom and said, “Gracie didn’t have a good day today,” as Gracie gave her mom the progress report. Then the bus driver proceeded to tell her mother some amazing news. “Gracie told me it was OK because God and my mom will love me anyway! They love me no matter what!”

To this day, tears come to my eyes when I think about how Gracie understands God’s amazing love for her. Spiritual truths were taught to her when she was just a little girl, and not only does she remember what she learned, but she’s applying that learning to her everyday life. So when she’s ready to understand what it means to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus, she will already have the beginnings of a spiritual foundation to help her make that life-changing decision.

Are the preschool kids in your ministry deliberately being taught spiritual truths that build upon one another to prepare them for entering into a personal relationship with Christ?

Research shows that the years from birth to age 5 are the most impressionable time of a person’s life. It is during these young years that values, beliefs, and behaviors are formed which will often stick with a person for the rest of his or her life. That being said, the preschool years are crucial for developing a child’s spiritual foundation. This is when kids are most open to learning new things and have an unbelievable amount of trust in the principles taught to them. The conclusion: preschool years are the most important developmental years, so they deserve high priority.

Promiseland’s newest curriculum, In the Beginning … Growing into a Life of Faith, is deliberate in teaching preschool kids and helping them along a path toward becoming fully-devoted followers of Christ. It teaches key scriptural truths and lays the spiritual foundation a young person needs in order to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus. Concepts, stories, vocabulary, and music were all chosen carefully to be concrete and easy for preschoolers to comprehend.

For the past four years, Promiseland has used this curriculum with their preschoolers. Life-change has happened in thousands of kids. Story after story comes in each weekend of little lives growing closer to Jesus.

Three-year-old, Eric, asks his mom and dad, “Why did Jesus die for my time outs?”

Four-year-old, Hannah, runs into her Promiseland room every week and can’t help but dance and twirl to worship Jesus.

Kai, a three-year-old, was so excited at Easter that he told everyone at the grocery store “Jesus is alive!”

In the Beginning curriculum recognizes that the preschool years are a time when children learn who Jesus is, what He’s done, and begin to experience His love. The goal of all the lessons is to help build this strong spiritual foundation. In the Beginning can help you bring the children in your preschool ministry along on their faith journeys.

Don’t let their littleness fool you. Preschool kids can learn and will learn when you are intentional in teaching them, as seen in children who have participated in this curriculum.

In fact, just ask Gracie — she’ll tell you.

With In the Beginning … Growing into a Life of Faith, young children learn easy-to-remember biblical truths through creative teaching, singing, and motions that prepare them for a lifetime of devotion to Christ.

Organized in Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer packs (six discs per quarter), the curriculum features Activity Stations, Kid Connection, Large Group Lessons, and Small Group Time. Everything you need for a whole year of ministry is included, and reproducible pages allow you to use it again and again with no student books to buy. The curriculum ships March 2007.

The complete curriculum kit on CD-ROM includes:

• Two separate 52-week sets of Bible lessons:
  - Promiseland Large Group/Small Group model
  - Traditional Sunday school (one teacher/one helper model)
• All materials on CD-ROM, which can be downloaded, reproduced, and e-mailed to your team
• Director’s Notebook with leader’s tools, staffing guidelines, Activity Station suggestions, and job descriptions for each volunteer
• Administrator’s Guide with checklists to help prepare for Activity Stations, Large Group Lessons, and Small Group Time
• Large Group Lessons with visual aids to support the Bible story, application activity, and suggestions for music and worship
• Small Group Lessons with activities, discussions, and reproducible pages for children (including a take-home coloring sheet and family activity)
• Special features: audio CDs with sound effects for each quarter and a special-bonus, early-childhood Christmas music CD.

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