But in Fact Christ Has Been Raised From the Dead!

Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday! The most important day in all history! Just look at I Corinthians 15:1-28, 51-58 - "Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand.  I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures, he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures. He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me.

Curriculum Review - Large Group/Small Group PreTeen - Grapple!

Welcome to the end of the first week of my Large Group/Small Group curriculum reviews. Today I'm reviewing curriculum from Group Publishing. I reviewed the three curriculum lines I'm including in my Large Group/Small Group reviews from Group Publishing three years ago for an article I wrote for Christianity Today's Your Church Magazine and was able to look through an entire quarter's material. Sadly, Group has a marketing policy where they will no longer make their curriculum available for review beyond the one lesson they have on their website. It can be extremely difficult to get an accurate view of a curriculum when you are only able to see one lesson . . . the one lesson could be the best one of the entire quarter and other lessons may need a lot of "tweeking" to make them work well. Likewise, the one lesson could be highly representative of the entire quarter, but when I can only see one lesson, there is no way for me to know this, making it difficult for me to recommend a curriculum. However, for this review, I'm basing my review on what I saw three years ago. I sincerely hope Group will re-think their review policy as reviews from unbiased reviewers are an excellent resource for those in children's ministry. Having said this, allow me to share with you some information about Group's Grapple Preteen Curriculum!

• Publisher - Group Publishing
• Website - http://grapple.group.com/preteen 
• Price - $94.99 per quarter for 10 students - goes up from there based on the number of students in your ministry.
• Type - Large Group/Small Group
• Scope - Topical two year plan.
• Available for Preteens

Resurrection Eggs - Make Your Own!

I am looking forward to using the Resurrection Eggs with my grandsons this Sunday, but if you would rather make your own set which you could use with your own family or with the children in your ministry, I found a blog with all the info you need to make your own set! Check motherhood your way and not only will you find complete directions, but you'll also find a link for printing out a set of Easter story cards which you can use with the eggs so children are able to have their own set to remind them of why we celebrate Resurrection Sunday!  

Resurrection Eggs

 I recently had the opportunity to review Resurrection Eggs, so with Resurrection Sunday just a couple days away, I thought I'd tell you all about them! Resurrection Eggs are a resource from Family Life; they say, "Resurrection Eggs is a set of 12 plastic eggs which help you tell the story of the resurrection to children in a way which captures their attention and imagination."

Curriculum Review - Large Group/Small Group - TruWonder & TruStory from Cook!

David C. Cook has long been known as a publisher of curriculum. They have two new resources which I will be including in my review - today we will be looking at tru. I'm happy to say David C Cook gave me full access to their tru curriculum which allowed me the opportunity to fully review tru! I really like tru and believe it will prove to be a great "fit" for many churches! Allow me to share with you some information about David C Cook's tru wonder and tru story curricula!

• Publisher - David C Cook   
• Website - http://tru.davidccook.com/
• Price - from $80 per month . . . the price goes up from there based on the package you select
• Type - Large Group/Small Group
• Scope - Chronological through the Bible
• Available for Preschool/Kindergarten and for Elementary age children

Please Check Kidmin1124 for the Final Post in my Top 5 Essentials for Your Volunteers!

As I said on Kidmin1124, "I’ve been writing about the Top 5 Essentials for our Volunteers . . . #5 – provide resources, #4 – provide training, #3 – thank and encourage your volunteers and #2 – a listening ear. Last week I said, “A listening ear is one of the most precious things you can give your volunteers . . . it communicates better than words, you really do care!”  Today I’m going to look at #1 – give your volunteers prayer!" In this post you'll find three ways to show real prayer and a personalized Scripture prayer you can use with the volunteers in your ministry! As I said, "All five of my Essential Things to Give your Volunteers are, in my mind, essential, but if you are only able to do one of these, make it the #1 thing – give them prayer!"

Curriculum Review - Large Group/Small Group - reThink Group!

My curriculum review continues today with first look and 2*52 BASICS from the re Think Group. These curriculum resources have become very popular and reThink Group makes several of these lessons available for review - I prefer to see an entire quarter, but appreciate I was able to see more than one lesson for the elementary age level. It is difficult to get a full view of a curriculum without being able to see an entire quarter, but the lessons I saw, I really liked. Allow me to share with you some information about reThink Group's first look and 252 BASICS curricula!

• Publisher - reThink Group 
• Website - whatisorange.org
• Price - $589 per year per age level for 0 to 25 students . . . the price goes up from there based on the number of children in your ministry
• Type - Large Group/Small Group
• Scope - Topical
• Available for Preschool/Early Elementary and for Elementary age children

Curriculum Review - Large Group/Small Group - DiscipleTown!

I thought I'd share an extra review with you today . . . You may or may not be familiar with DiscipleTown, but it is written by Karl Bastian - the Kidologist! I particularly enjoyed reviewing DiscipleTown and while an entire quarter wasn't available for review, they do allow you to download one sample lesson from each four week series - this allows you the opportunity to get a really good "feel" for this curriculum! It is presented as a "Children's Church curriculum" and while it would certainly be an excellent resource for children's church, I think it is well worth taking a look at it as a Large Group/Small Group curriculum for Sunday School. Allow me to share with you some information about DiscipleTown curriculum!

• Publisher - DiscipleLand 
• Website - www.discipleland.com/elementary-curriculum/discipletown-overview.html
• Price - $100 for 12 lessons
• Type - Large Group/Small Group
• Scope - Topical
• Available for Elementary age children

Curriculum Review - Large Group/Small Group - KidTrek Sunday Plus!

I'm delighted to tell you about a new curriculum, written by Wanda Parker. Allow me to share with you some information about KidTrek - Sunday Plus!

• Publisher - KidTrek 
• Website - http://www.kidtrek-sundayplus.org/curriculum/ 
• Price - churches pay as led
• Type - Large Group/Small Group 
• Scope - Through the Bible Four Year Scope
• Available for Preschool through Elementary age children

Put Feet to Their Faith - blood:water mission

I just recently learned of the blood:water mission and am delighted for the opportunity to share it with you this month as my "Put Feet to Their Faith" ministry focus for the month of April! So, first for some information about who they are in case you are like me, and have not heard of them before . . . 

"Founded by the multi-platinum, GRAMMY Award-winning band, Jars of Clay, Blood:Water Mission began as a call to personalize the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. The members of the band were committed to share the often-untold stories: those of creative, compassionate, hard-working Africans bringing health, hope and healing into their respective communities. Blood:Water Mission first stepped into funding a late stage AIDS hospice and discovered the vital link between living with HIV/AIDS and the need for clean water. As a result, Blood:Water Mission launched the 1000 Wells Project in 2005 as a nation-wide effort to raise enough money to provide clean water and sanitation to 1000 communities in sub-Saharan Africa based on the equation that $1 provides one African with clean water for an entire year.

Curriculum Review . . . Large Group/Small Group - kidz Connection!

Today is the first day of my 2012 Curriculum Reviews! All this week we will be taking a look at Large Group/Small Group curriculum resources and then on Friday April 13th I'll release my Large Group/Small Group Curriculum Side-by-Side Comparison Chart.  

So, let's begin with the Large Group/Small Group Curriculum Reviews! The first curriculum I'm reviewing is kidz Connection - It's All About the GROWTH. First thing I need to say about this curriculum is, I write it. Since I write it, while I certainly want to be un-biased in my review, it really isn't highly likely this will be the most un-biased review you will ever read! Having said this . . . please allow me to share with you some information about kidz Connection curriculum!

Some Info on My Sunday School Curriculum Reviews - What it will NOT and WILL Do!

All this month I'll be talking about Sunday School curriculum, this week and next week I'll be looking at Large Group/Small Group curriculum and will feature one review each day. On Friday April 13th I'll release my Large Group/Small Group Side-by-Side curriculum comparison chart.  I'm not rating the curriculum as my "top pick" or even rating them as to which one I think is "better" as I do not believe there is one curriculum which is the "best" curriculum for every church. There are no "Cookie-Cutter Children's Ministries" so the curriculum which is the "best fit" for my church may not necessarily be the "best fit" for your church. My reviews will provide some basic information on each curriculum as well as the things I liked the most and the things I would have liked to see in each one. In addition, I will include a few words from each publisher about their curriculum and of course the side-by-side comparison charts will help you be able to see at a glance which features each curriculum has. From there, each church needs to know their vision and purpose as well as the goals for their children's ministry to be able to find their "best fit"! I hope my reviews and comparison chart will be helpful tools to help you find your "best fit" when it comes to curriculum!

Why Make a Change?

Tomorrow my 2012 curriculum reviews begin and for two weeks I'll be reviewing Large Group/Small Group, Non-Traditional, Bridge and Traditional curriculum. I'll also be releasing two Side-by-Side Comparison Charts to help you as you evaluate curriculum looking for your best curriculum "fit". So, as we move closer to the start of my reviews I want to take a moment to consider some reasons you would NOT want to make a curriculum change as well as some reasons you WOULD want to make a change . . .

One Day Until My Curriculum Reviews Release - Think About the "Tools"!

My 2012 Curriculum Reviews and Side-by-Side Comparison Charts begin to release tomorrow, but today we will talk about the "tools" you'll find in your curriculum; scope and sequence, intentionally engaging children in the teaching of the Bible lessons, how to get even shy children talking about the Bible lessons, a unified scope and sequence, "live-it" activities and "Put Feet to Their Faith" service projects!

Curriculum Reviews Are Almost Here - What "Type" of Curriculum is Your Best "Fit"?

Once you have a vision/purpose, you are ready to select your best curriculum “fit”. Keep in mind, the Bible is what you are teaching. Not a particular curriculum. Curriculum is only a “tool” to help you engage children so they experience, remember, understand and live God’s Word for truly changed lives. If it is Biblically sound, any curriculum can be made effective – some curriculum just provide better, more effective tools than others. We select curriculum because it is the best “tool” for our volunteers to utilize so our children will be truly engaged and know how to live God’s Word; not because it has fun gadgets, DVD’s, or colorful artwork! Make sure the curriculum you select provides tools to not only teach the Bible facts – which are important and we do want our children to learn – but also engages children so they understand what these “facts” mean for their everyday lives!

When finding your best curriculum “fit”, keep in mind the different types of curriculum as they each utilize specific teaching styles and tools. Think about what will best help you accomplish your vision/purpose for children’s ministry.