Tag Archives: curriculum

Curriculum Updates: Closure of Wood Lake Books and Parasource Distributors

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Are you using Whole People of God or Seasons of the Spirit from Wood Lake Books, or any of the Sparkhouse family of curricula (Spark, Whirl, Holy Moly, Connect, Re:form, Echo the Story, Colaborate, or T.B.D.) distributed by Parasource?

You may have recently received news that both Wood Lake Books and Parasource are closing and that this will affect your ability to order curriculum through either of these bodies. In light of this you may have questions about what to do for the fall season of Sunday school – and this may be causing a bit of panic for you and your church. I want to answer a few of those questions now and promise to keep you updated as I learn more along the way.

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Announcing Two Zoom Workshops for Educational Ministry

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Thank you to Mike Fox and unsplash.com for this image

Hooray!!!!!

Our churches have reopened and are now beginning to consider their educational ministry options for the fall.

In light of this good news I’ve been getting lots of phone calls and emails asking for help in two specific areas in particular.

The first has to do with Sunday school curriculum.

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Planning for Online Sunday School for This Fall – Curriculum Updates

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What will we teach this fall?

For many of our churches thinking creatively about how and what our Sunday schools will be teaching this fall as we go online, over Zoom, and/or become parent-led is a huge and overwhelming concern.

As each of us begins to look at the curriculum we’re already using, or perhaps wonders if there is another one we ought to consider, everyone can be assured that all of the mainline, Protestant and Reformed curricula that many of our churches use now have got our backs. Each publishing house has been working hard to develop resources specific to help you adapt their existing lesson plans for new delivery platforms and circumstances. Some have even developed new curriculum resources specific for these days that are shortened and easy for parents to use at home with little preparation and materials needed.

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FAMILIES @ HOME DURING COVID-19

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The Storm, by Leopold, age 6, Melville Presbyterian Church
used with permission

These are unprecedented times. Our churches have been instructed by the Ontario Government and the Ministry of Health to cease holding worship services and all other religious gatherings and meetings for the foreseeable future. Our participation in social distancing offers us all an opportunity to actively help flatten the curve and prevent the needless transmission of this virus to anyone we might meet and interact with. It is imperative that our churches follow the instructions of our government and health care leaders.

Now that we’ve had a day or two to check-in with our congregations’ members and church leaders, many are beginning to turn their attention to finding creative ways of supporting and staying connected throughout this pandemic.

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Finding the ‘Perfect’ Vacation Bible School Curriculum

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It’s that time of year again and, if your email inbox is anything like mine, you’ve got lots of colourful reminders that it’s time to pick a VBS curriculum for your church. It is both a delightful and trying exercise. How do you determine which of the many options will be the best fit for your congregation? Should you get the one with the cute chipmunk, or the one that teaches us about water conservation? Which will excite the kids the most? Which will best teach the great stories of scripture and invite participants to find themselves in the story? It is quite a challenge. So, let’s try and unpack it by looking at a few key criteria you should be including in your decision-making process.

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