Orthodox Sunday School for children - resources?

[~Anastasia~]

Hello all,

I've been given the position of teaching 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School in Church. We have a curriculum from the archdiocese but it is about 30 years old and doesn't engage the children as productively as I'd like. Our time is limited and too much time is spent on busy-work worksheet-type stuff, and I think it could be better integrated on topics.

I've been given freedom to do whatever I think is best. If I can't find other guidelines for "what they should learn by this age) I'm planning to use the scope and sequence provided by the archdiocese, but maybe develop my own lessons. We don't have a big budget, but I could order a book or two, and we have a supply of classroom and craft materials.

I guess I'm wondering about any help at all? I'm used to curriculum-building, so I can do it from the ground up, but being this is a completely new area to me, I'd rather have at least some starters, idea sites, something. Anyone know of good resources, books, websites?

Thanks!

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Google for sites maybe.
Orthodox Christian Children - Home
Children's Books

 

[GoingByzantine]

Just a thought for an activity that kids might enjoy, while also being spiritually stimulating:

How to Paint Glass Icons

Sorry, I do not know much about Sunday School, so I doubt I can offer much help.

 

[ArmyMatt]

for ideas, Fr Noah Bushelli on AFR used to have a podcast on sermons he would give to kids, if it's still up there.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Google for sites maybe.
Orthodox Christian Children - Home
Children's Books

Thank you! I'm also on charge of the parish library and one of my main wishes is to get a good selection of children's books.

 

[~Anastasia~]

for ideas, Fr Noah Bushelli on AFR used to have a podcast on sermons he would give to kids, if it's still up there.

Thanks I'll check that!

 

[~Anastasia~]

Just a thought for an activity that kids might enjoy, while also being spiritually stimulating:

How to Paint Glass Icons

Sorry, I do not know much about Sunday School, so I doubt I can offer much help.

Hmmmmm.

They are a little young for that but I wonder if it can be adapted to acetate and markers? If not, I think I will pass this on to the lady who teaches older children. I think that's a very cool idea! Thank you!

 

[Bessie]

Gigi Shadid has some great music out there for kids - my son did this song at church school and came home obsessed with it. She has several children's albums on spotify, including one specifically about celebrating the feasts. This song is about the Elevation of the Cross, for instance.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Gigi Shadid has some great music out there for kids - my son did this song at church school and came home obsessed with it. She has several children's albums on spotify, including one specifically about celebrating the feasts. This song is about the Elevation of the Cross, for instance.

Thank you ...

This is all pretty exciting!

 

[~Anastasia~]

for ideas, Fr Noah Bushelli on AFR used to have a podcast on sermons he would give to kids, if it's still up there.

I found them. I LOVE how he builds education on the icons. It gives me some great ideas for Nativity, and I happen to have a nice big laminated paper icon that will be perfect, given to me by a former TAW member several years ago.

I only wish he had done more. But it's got me thinking that if that was the original purpose for icons, why aren't we using them that way now? I think this is going to feature strongly into many of our lessons.

 

[Bessie]

Thank you ...

This is all pretty exciting!

My son has definitely benefited from this music. Mom can only tolerate so much of it, but he adores it.

 

[~Anastasia~]

My son has definitely benefited from this music. Mom can only tolerate so much of it, but he adores it.

Well we will see. Things I hear get into my head so ... I very much prefer the music of our Church.

I'm willing if it helps the children though. But I do think using other music I'd have to clear with Father first.

I know he doesn't object to other music. But he may or may not find it appropriate for Sunday School at Church.

We will see.

 

[Bessie]

Well we will see. Things I hear get into my head so ... I very much prefer the music of our Church.

Mine too... But it still warms my heart to hear him ask, "Will you play the one about Mary the Mother of God?" Etc

 

[~Anastasia~]

Mine too... But it still warms my heart to hear him ask, "Will you play the one about Mary the Mother of God?" Etc

Awwww. Enthusiasm for God in our children has a special pull on us, doesn't it? God bless you both.

 

[Courtney Kirk]

I am the Kindergarten through fifth grade coordinator at my church. My favorite age to teach is the 2nd and 3rd grade class! I took over this position about 3 years ago and felt our curriculum was a bit blah but had good information. I researched how kids learn best and retain so they’d have the lessons when the really need them. What I learned was to play! And amazingly, it really truly works. I am amazed every week by these kids.

Ok. So what to do. I invested in play-doh, kinetic sand, white boards and play floam. You don’t need all of these but it keeps it from being too repetitive. Take the Bible story, read from a children’s bible and pause between a few verses. Have the kids create something from the verses so they are paying close attention. Sometimes it is as simple as making the first letter of the main persons name or a happy face because God was pleased. Ask questions while they create to reinforce the verses you just read. It’s the Bible story, straight from the Bible and they eat it up! More importantly, they want to come back, bring friends and they retain so much more this way.

I have written about this on my blog at Play Through the Bible - Raise Kids for Christ. It is my passion to share this people. I want our kids to know our God is far from boring!

 

[Lukaris]

Would this link be helpful? I do not know the details of these publications?

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/xcn_ed_order_form_2017.pdf


Publications | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese

 

[~Anastasia~]

I am the Kindergarten through fifth grade coordinator at my church. My favorite age to teach is the 2nd and 3rd grade class! I took over this position about 3 years ago and felt our curriculum was a bit blah but had good information. I researched how kids learn best and retain so they’d have the lessons when the really need them. What I learned was to play! And amazingly, it really truly works. I am amazed every week by these kids.

Ok. So what to do. I invested in play-doh, kinetic sand, white boards and play floam. You don’t need all of these but it keeps it from being too repetitive. Take the Bible story, read from a children’s bible and pause between a few verses. Have the kids create something from the verses so they are paying close attention. Sometimes it is as simple as making the first letter of the main persons name or a happy face because God was pleased. Ask questions while they create to reinforce the verses you just read. It’s the Bible story, straight from the Bible and they eat it up! More importantly, they want to come back, bring friends and they retain so much more this way.

I have written about this on my blog at Play Through the Bible - Raise Kids for Christ. It is my passion to share this people. I want our kids to know our God is far from boring!

Hello Courtney Kirk, and welcome to CF and to TAW!

How kind of you to share this. Thank you! I'll take a look at your blog too.

I have to agree with your ideas. The curriculum we had was basically read then fill out worksheets for vocabulary terms and answering questions. It would have been possible to have good dialogue around the questions, but the kids see blanks and they immediately want to get to work filling them in. I couldn't keep them all on the same line. Some needed a lot of help spelling while others zipped ahead. I used it for a couple of weeks but really felt it fell short.

We have a major feast day this week (besides Thansgiving lol) so I built the lesson around that. It went much as you said, though I only had time to get a coloring activity, but it was a detailed one and parts of it require certain colors, etc, so it was more interactive than just a coloring sheet. I did find that by explaining along the way, asking questions, keeping it more interactive, it went well. By the end of the lesson they remembered and knew what they'd been taught, when usually they forget all but one or two key points. I treated this one more like a story. I think I'm going to continue to do it this way.

They've already had a lot of the "Bible Stories" as ours are taught those in the younger classes. My charge is to bring them into understanding about Church, our liturgical cycles, and most importantly how to live out our faith, loving God and others.

I'm really cherishing the opportunity to work on this though.

Thank you again, so much, and I will definitely be checking out your blog!


Oh, and if you have any questions about the forums or need any help, please feel free to ask. We are glad to have you join us, and again, welcome to CF!

 

[~Anastasia~]

Would this link be helpful? I do not know the details of these publications?

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/xcn_ed_order_form_2017.pdf


Publications | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese

Thanks. I'm actually not sure. It's much more recent than what we have, but otherwise I can't really tell anything about them. There is an Antiochian parish nearby. I could see what they are using if I can get a chance to talk to anyone there. Responsibilities usually keep me where I am.

Our diocese may well have more recent stuff too. And I could probably have a small budget to work with. I just want to be sure before I ask the parish to spend any money.

 

[Courtney Kirk]

Hello Courtney Kirk, and welcome to CF and to TAW!

How kind of you to share this. Thank you! I'll take a look at your blog too.

I have to agree with your ideas. The curriculum we had was basically read then fill out worksheets for vocabulary terms and answering questions. It would have been possible to have good dialogue around the questions, but the kids see blanks and they immediately want to get to work filling them in. I couldn't keep them all on the same line. Some needed a lot of help spelling while others zipped ahead. I used it for a couple of weeks but really felt it fell short.

We have a major feast day this week (besides Thansgiving lol) so I built the lesson around that. It went much as you said, though I only had time to get a coloring activity, but it was a detailed one and parts of it require certain colors, etc, so it was more interactive than just a coloring sheet. I did find that by explaining along the way, asking questions, keeping it more interactive, it went well. By the end of the lesson they remembered and knew what they'd been taught, when usually they forget all but one or two key points. I treated this one more like a story. I think I'm going to continue to do it this way.

They've already had a lot of the "Bible Stories" as ours are taught those in the younger classes. My charge is to bring them into understanding about Church, our liturgical cycles, and most importantly how to live out our faith, loving God and others.

I'm really cherishing the opportunity to work on this though.

Thank you again, so much, and I will definitely be checking out your blog!


Oh, and if you have any questions about the forums or need any help, please feel free to ask. We are glad to have you join us, and again, welcome to CF!

Thank you! I am trying to figure out the forums so I may be contacting you again

 

[~Anastasia~]

Thank you! I am trying to figure out the forums so I may be contacting you again

Sure, no problem.

You won't be able to contact via pm until you have at last 20 posts and 5 likes (I'll give you a couple right now) but feel free to ask in this thread if you need help. Or if you post in the Introduction section (Introduce Yourself) there is usually someone along who can point you to an answer. But I'm happy to help anytime I can.