We extend a warm St. Jacob's WELCOME to all children ages pre-school through fifth grade!
Our elementary Sunday School program is so much fun for everyone -- teachers and students alike!! We use a rotational model which simply means that rather than being divided up by grade as you would in school, and staying in the same classroom with the same teacher every week, we group similar ages together regardless of school grade and rotate through different workshops (Storytelling, Video, Games, Computers, Cooking, Science, Music and Art) and different teachers. We have about eight topic stories throughout the Sunday school year and spend four weeks on each. The idea is that the kids get to spend four weeks going over the topic story, examining it from different angles, thinking about it in different ways, and really learning the story!
Each Sunday begins with all the kids together for "Gathering Time." We open with prayer and read and discuss the topic story from the Bible. The kids then split up into their age groups and go to a workshop where they hear the story again and participate in an activity that helps them really understand the story.
For example, for our "Jonah" unit we have the following workshops: Storytelling, Video, Art, and Games. During the week that the kids go to Storytelling, the older kids make use of our Storytelling Room with its extensive costume collection, stage set up and video recording to act out the story of Jonah. They discuss choices, consequences, forgiveness, and God's love and grace. The younger kids will make an animalito which will help them to remember the story of Jonah and re-tell it. They will pretend to be Jonah and, on stage, act out having to do something that they do not want to do. They will also talk about choices, consequences, forgiveness, and God's love and grace.
In the Video class, the younger kids will watch a Jonah and the Whale Veggie Tale movie in our theater room which is decorated to resemble a real movie theater. The older kids will watch and discuss clips of other movies like "The Lion King" which point to the importance of making Godly choices and following God's will for their lives. The Video workshop presents the story to the kids visually, and they all love the movies!
The children will also participate in Art and Games workshops where they will hear the story in yet another way that is very "hands-on." During other units, the children use our computer lab or cook in our kitchen to reinforce the story.
The goal of the rotational model that we use is that the kids really get into the Bible story and have a chance of learning and remembering even if they are unable to attend every single week.
Come join us Sundays from September to May!
If you have any questions about our Elementary Sunday School program, please contact Krista Smith at krsmith1888@sbcglobal.net or call the church office at 330-877-2676.
