In public school, there is a lot of talk about “Core Curriculum” and “Standards”. I’m not here to discuss the pros and cons of what goes on in public school curriculum, but I would like to give some thoughts and suggestions about “Core Curriculum” & “Standards” in Bible class.
Several years ago with the approval of the elders, my friend Nancy and I decided that we needed to do some serious revision to the educational program for the children in our congregation. At that time there was no memory work being incorporated in Bible classes. There were no Bible verses and no “drills & skills”. These are basic lists to memorize such as books of the Bible, names of the apostles, days of creations, etc. We made up a list of core information that we thought children should know and divided that into age/grade levels. While there are certainly more things that can be added, this was our starting place.
4 & 5 Year Olds
- Number of Books in the Bible
- Number of Books in the Old Testament
- Number of Books in the New Testament
- Two Major Divisions in the Bible
- Seven Days of Creation
- Twelve Apostles
- Name the books of the Old Testament
- Name the books of the New Testament
1st & 2nd Grade
- Review all previous information
- Divisions of the Old Testament Books
- Divisions of the New Testament Books
- Three Dispensations of Time in the Bible
- Twelve Patriarchs
- Plan of Salvation with Verses
- Acts of Worship with Verses
3rd & 4th Grade
- Review all previous information
- Number of Old Testament, New Testament, & total Bible writers
- Names of all New Testament writers
- Ten Commandments
- Ten Plagues
- Fifteen Judges of Israel
- The Chronology framework-I will have to do an entire post explaining this one!
5th & 6th Grade
- Review all previous information
- Chronology application (see above)
- Major Themes of Old Testament Books
- Major Themes of New Testament Books
To some of you, this may seem like way too much for young children after implementing this now in two different congregations over approximately 5-6 years, you can rest assured that they absolutely can learn this information plus much more and be really excited about doing so! It just takes enthusiastic & consistent teaching! I might also add that to these basic facts, we implemented a large number of key memory verses. By key, I mean those verses that every Christian should know to teach others and to encourage ourselves.
You should also be mindful of children who move in or start attending Bible classes who may not be up to speed with the work. We always included reviews of previous work and of course, NEVER single out or embarrass a child who doesn’t know the information whether because they are new or because of a disability.
In an upcoming post, I will explain the chronology and how that can give structure and order to the entire Bible for children.
What else can you think of to add to my list? Let me know! I LOVE to get comments & feedback!
Stumbled into this site by chance but I’m sure glad I clicked on that link. You actually answered all of the questions I’ve been dying to answer for some time now. Will genuinely occur back for far more of this. Thank you so much
Thanks so much! I haven’t posted much over the last several months, but will plan to add a lot more once this school year is over. Check back for new materials then!
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