Table Kids: New Resources & Curriculum
Elizabeth Gillespie is our new Teacher and Curriculum Coordinator, and has some fun news and developments to share with everyone as we kick off the Fall ministry season. Keep reading for new curriculum, resources, and opportunities to extend what's happening on Sunday mornings into the rest of the week!
The Table’s mission is to Know God, Love People, and Cultivate Beauty. In Table Kids, this happens through building relationships around crafts, books, skits, and a relentless focus on the love of Jesus. The work being done with our kids is truly impressive, and one of the most beautiful things I get to see every week.
Over the last few months, we’ve realized we need to reinvest our attention in a couple areas. First, teachers have had a tough time adapting our current curriculum (both theologically and practically). Second, we’ve also wanted to better support parents in incorporating that content Monday-Saturday at home (more coming on this!). After lots of research, feedback, and conversation, we’re switching to the Gospel Story Curriculum by Marty Machowski (you can read a description here).
You might be familiar with the Gospel Story Bible by the same author. It, along with a matching family devotional that pairs with the Bible, will be available for purchase at the book table on Sunday mornings by the time you read this!
We really like this curriculum for a few reasons…
It tells a cohesive story about Jesus, teaching through the Old and New Testaments, with plenty of emphasis on His person and work. In other words, it’s theologically solid.
It allows for all kids from preschool through fifth grade to study the same story each week. This will be the first time we’ve been able to do this across the board!
We found it highly accessible for both teachers, and kids at their respective developmental level. This is the sweet spot that enables teachers to have lots of room to adapt the activities for the specific needs and culture of their classroom.
To make that simple and easy to follow along with at home, we put together a schedule (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD) of what your kids will be learning each week - including the story being studied, and the corresponding page numbers in BOTH the Gospel Story Bible AND the family devotional! As you can see from the schedule, we are starting in the New Testament On Sunday September 9th, and we’ll be starting a few weeks into the New Testament curriculum in order to catch up with the 3-5th graders.
Note: Your 3-5th grader(s) will miss some of the stories since your child’s class only meets the first three Sundays of each month. While we’re working hard to make it possible to go through the story every week and across every “class” level, this is the perfect opportunity to read the story with your kiddos on weeks that they stay in the service and won’t be studying the story in their Sunday class.
Lastly, and maybe most important of all: Remember those teachers I mentioned earlier? There aren’t enough of them! While all our current teachers genuinely love the opportunity to minister to our kids every week, some of them are teaching 2 or 3 times per month! That teacher exhaustion means that our kids don’t get the full energy and attention that they need to build solid, impactful relationships. You don’t have to be skilled or experienced, you just need to have a heart for our children and a willingness to learn along with them. We will help with the rest! You might even be surprised how much you’ll love being part of this amazing and vital part of our church!
To find out more about being a Teacher or Assistant, just shoot me an email.
