I will officially start my new position as Valley Kids Director in June and the first thing I have asked myself is, “Where are we headed?”
Just to give a little background, I am directionally challenged. I get lost often. When we moved to Pennsylvania I went to the grocery store and couldn’t find my way home. After driving back and forth on the same road with ice cream melting in the back seat, I called a neighbor I had just met and asked them to guide me home.
Last year as we opened Providence Christian Preschool the very first thing I tasked myself to do was to create a road map to guide us ahead in our school year. It was very simple; students came in with X knowledge and they needed to leave with Z. It was something that was clear, specific, and measurable. Naturally I desire to do the same with our children’s ministry as well.
I now find myself on a road less traveled. As I have researched scope and sequencing maps, I am finding that the road is not only less traveled, but seems to not even be paved. Many boxed curriculums have independent goals and outlines to their programs, but if I wanted to have a baby in our church, send them through our preschool program, and into elementary, I would not have a clear vision of what they would learn when they left us.
I think we owe our children more than that, we owe our parents more than that, we owe God more than that. I need to know that I have done a sufficient job of planting the seeds God has tasked me to plant. If that means writing our own curriculum, supplementing bits and pieces with others, whatever it takes; we need to get it done. We can’t do it though until we know where we are headed.
I’ll let you know how the paving goes.
Just to give a little background, I am directionally challenged. I get lost often. When we moved to Pennsylvania I went to the grocery store and couldn’t find my way home. After driving back and forth on the same road with ice cream melting in the back seat, I called a neighbor I had just met and asked them to guide me home.
Last year as we opened Providence Christian Preschool the very first thing I tasked myself to do was to create a road map to guide us ahead in our school year. It was very simple; students came in with X knowledge and they needed to leave with Z. It was something that was clear, specific, and measurable. Naturally I desire to do the same with our children’s ministry as well.
I now find myself on a road less traveled. As I have researched scope and sequencing maps, I am finding that the road is not only less traveled, but seems to not even be paved. Many boxed curriculums have independent goals and outlines to their programs, but if I wanted to have a baby in our church, send them through our preschool program, and into elementary, I would not have a clear vision of what they would learn when they left us.
I think we owe our children more than that, we owe our parents more than that, we owe God more than that. I need to know that I have done a sufficient job of planting the seeds God has tasked me to plant. If that means writing our own curriculum, supplementing bits and pieces with others, whatever it takes; we need to get it done. We can’t do it though until we know where we are headed.
I’ll let you know how the paving goes.
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