Why Your Lessons Must Be Strategic

What you are teaching the children God has entrusted in your care is crucial.

The Bible is full of things we can teach. From Genesis to Revelation, there is so much you can share with kids (okay...maybe Revelation is the exception).

This leads many children's ministries to jump around and teach whatever catches their eye at the time. Or to blindly follow whatever curriculum they have chosen with out taking the time to research what the curriculum is focused on.

I believe we must be strategic with what we are teaching. Think about this - we only have a few short years to impact kids. A narrow window of time that we can pour into their lives. And we must understand that what we are pouring into their lives during that time matters...immensely.

What you teach should be laser focused. What should the focus be? What you teach should line up with what you want kids to walk away with when they leave your children's ministry.

Our goal must also be for what we teach to get locked into kids' long-term memory. When this happens, we are equipping children to live out what they have been taught both now and in the years ahead.

So what should our focus be? What should we laser in on?

I asked that question many years ago and it led the team I was leading at the time to sit down and spend weeks on narrowing down what the "must knows" are.

Out of this time spent, I developed a curriculum called...

Connect12 connects kids to 12 essential truths they need to know to continue to grow and thrive for the rest of their life.

The pathway I created takes kids from salvation to spiritual leadership. Over 12 months, kids learnt that...

Month 1 - The Bible is clear to say...Jesus is the only way. (salvation)

Month 2 - God made me and loves me totally. (identity in Christ)

Month 3 - This is my story...worshiping God and declaring His glory. (worship)

Month 4 - Jesus is my friend...on Him I can depend. (spiritual growth)

Month 5 - I will obey and follow God's way. (obedience)

Month 6 - The Bible is true...I can trust it through and through. (Bible & apologetics)

Month 7 - I know and can see...God has a special plan for me. (purpose)

Month 8 - My friendships will grow...when love and respect I show (relationships)

Month 9 - I will live to give. (stewardship)

Month 10 - Listening to God's voice helps me make the right choice. (wisdom)

Month 11 - I will go and share...my faith everywhere (outreach)

Month 12 - God can use me to make a difference for eternity. (leadership)

I believe if we embed these truths into kids' lives, it will enable them to stick with their faith for a lifetime.

There is something that each of these truths have in common. Do you know what it is? It's this - these key truths all rhyme. Why does this matter? Because stats show that when something rhymes, it moves the truth into kids' long-term memory.

To help make sure the curriculum was effective, I created a grid that each lesson had to pass through before being ready. It had to hit as many learning styles as possible. It had to use repetition (which is a key to long-term memory). It had to connect with the needs kids have. It had to relate to something that kids already know and love. And the extensive list could go on and on.

And since today's kids hear with their eyes, we placed lots of cutting-edge video and graphics in the mix.

See, I believe if kids walk out of our ministry knowing these 12 truths, they will have a balanced faith that will help them serve Jesus for a lifetime.

If this resonates with you, then take time to look more closely at this truth pathway. You can see full descriptions, sample lessons / videos and test out samples for each series at this link.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at dale@buildingchildrensministry.com.