10 lessons · Beginners
These lessons span Jesus' temptation in the wilderness to parables and events in Jesus' ministry.
Dear Parents and Teachers,
A passage from a psalm haunted me over the days when we were putting the finishing touches on our first book. “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, from my youth,” said David. “Upon you I have leaned from my birth” (Psalm 71:5, 6 NRSV). What David is saying is that he could not remember a time when he had not trusted and leaned on God.
If only all of our children would grow up with the same faith—that they would not be able to remember a time when they did not pray, have faith in God, follow His teachings as best they knew and love Jesus Christ as their friend.
After these words in the psalm comes this beautiful affirmation: “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come” (vv. 17, 18).
As we continue this project, we hope and pray that God Himself will teach our children. It is our task to present His message to the children with love, clarity, persuasion and even passion. For if we do not teach as people who love God, how can we hope to pass on that love to the children?
You hold in your hands the second revised book in the “Life of Christ” series designed for use by Beginners, parents and Sabbath School instructors in teaching your children the ways of God. As far as we know, no one in our tradition has ever done anything quite like this—a fact that is astonishing all in itself.
There are those who say that if you give them a child until he is six years old, the child will remain in their faith for life. There is a lot of truth in that statement. The reason is that children are more open to faith at that age than they ever will be again. Children also tend to fulfill our expectations. If we do not expect them to know God at that age, then they may well fall into a habit of assuming that God may be important to the church or their parents, but that He need not be important to them.
Realizing that children are as much in need of ministry as adults, CEM formed an arm called Youth Educational Adventures (YEA) to underwrite and expedite the teaching and nurturing of the children and youth of God’s people.
One of the first goals of YEA is the biblical literacy of the children, but that is not nearly enough. Which of you parents does not hope for your children to be baptized? If you can hope for it, then it is only right that you work for it and YEA stands ready to help you. We want your children to not only know about God, but to know Him. We want them not only to know about Jesus, but to believe in Him and to commit their lives to Him.
These lessons are more than isolated stories about biblical characters. Into each lesson is woven a strong life application. With all of this in mind, we have developed an ongoing curriculum so that when a child passes age seven, age 11, or age 18, he will know the things he should know at that age and will have come as far as maturity will allow.
Parents are encouraged to read the lessons to their children prior to Sabbath School. This will help them reach their comfort level more quickly in class. It will enable them to participate in class discussions and benefit more from the lesson. This age group enjoys sharing what they have learned. If you follow through after class with a discussion about what they have learned, they will feel good about sharing it with you. Show that you are interested by asking questions and making comments. Giving a lot of positive reinforcement will help them to love Sabbath School and enjoy learning about God’s word.
It would be good for the parents to join their children in reading the devotionals on the back of their book each day and to kneel with them and pray. Doing this habitually can build a foundation of biblical knowledge that will last throughout all eternity.
These lessons were designed to take about 45 to 50 minutes. Ideally, Sabbath Schools could be taught at the same time as an adult Bible Study. Every section of the lesson should be completed. If there is not enough time allotted for Sabbath School, the teachers should work with the parents to encourage the children to complete the activities at home. The activities are designed not only to add pleasure to the learning experience, but to reinforce the lesson as well and to complete the learning process.
We regret being unable to include the music for the suggested songs. For your convenience, Christian Educational Ministries stocks the Kids Classics Collection, Volume 1. To order, either write to P. O. Box 560, Whitehouse, TX 75791, or for credit card orders telephone 1-888-BIBLE-44.
May God bless the little children, and may He do it through you.
Ronald L. Dart
J. Objectives:
Our vision is to create Christian educational opportunities for all our children so that they will build a lasting relationship with God and experience the joys of salvation and the rewards of God’s Kingdom.
The purpose of this series of lessons is to introduce each child to Jesus. We hope to instill a love for Jesus, an awareness of Him as a friend, a guide, a help in time of need, and to lay the groundwork for coming to know Him as Savior. We also want to develop in the children a love for learning about God which will bring them again and again to church and to Sabbath School.
We hope to encourage daily contact with God through prayer and devotional Bible readings. In the process, we hope to create in each child an expectation of fully participating as a baptized member in God’s church. We also pray that the lessons in this book will translate into knowledge and behavior becoming of a child of God.
S. Pattern Page
W. REACH:
Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it. . . And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou riseth up” (Deuteronomy 6:1, 7).
The purpose or objective of this daily outline for Beginners is:
• To provide short activities which capitalize on young children’s limited attention span.
• To use a phonics-based approach as an aid to comprehension and retention of the YEA lessons.
• To make the current YEA curriculum more easily adaptable to the unique needs of:
1. Homeschooling parents who need a daily lesson/activity.
2. Parents who wish to extend or enrich the lesson on a daily basis.
3. Sabbath School Teachers who would benefit from a supplementary activity.
Suggested Outline for Daily Activities:
Day One: Read the lesson in the YEA book. Introduce the memory verse to the child. Have the child repeat the memory verse two times. Then read the Daily Devotional from a youth or modern translation of the Bible.
Day Two: Review the memory verse by saying it and having the child repeat it. Do this a couple of times. Then show the child the letter for the lesson. Example: Say: This is a B. It says buh, B, B, baby. B, B, born, B, B, Bethlehem. Go through all of the B words having the child repeat after you. Then read the Daily Devotional.
Day Three: Review the letter and the words, having the child repeat them after you. Review the memory verse. Do the activity in the YEA Students’ book. Read the Daily Devotional.
Day Four: Have the child color the bubble letter for the lesson (see pages 8-17 for letters). Review the memory verse. Read the Daily Devotional.
Day Five: Review the memory verse. Then read the sentence to the child. Help the child find and circle the letter of the lesson in the sentence. Read the Daily Devotional.
Day Six: Review the memory verse. Sing the song from the lesson in the Kids Classics Collection. Read the Daily Devotional.
Phonics note: Add other words to the list as you think of them, but be careful to add words that truly begin with the sound. For example, when doing the letter G, the words will be good, God, going, garden. These all have the G sound. Do not add words that start with G but make the J sound such as giant. Likewise, when doing the letter C, the words will be come, color, catch, coat. These all have the K sound. Do not add words that start with C, but make the S sound. Most phonics curriculums introduce this idea a little later. Mixing these beginning sounds can confuse a little one and sabotage the phonics work you are doing.
Sentence note: The sentence for the beginner’s activity on Day 5 is to be read to the child. Many children this age are non-readers. But they are beginning to acquire the ability to identify letters. The teacher or parent should read the sentence and help the child find the letter in the sentence. The goal is letter discrimination, not actual reading of the sentence.