Our curriculum provides, on purpose, more content than you could ever squeeze into a lesson. The key is to pick and choose the elements that will work best for your class age and demographics. In other words, curriculum is not a replacement for preparation. Check out some tips to make the curriculum work for you.
Curriculum in the context of Sunday School is not merely an academic endeavor - there are no tests, no passing grades, no moment where you "graduate" one class and move on to the next. There is no right "speed" in which a student should learn the material. We are not talking about head knowledge, but helping teens build a relationship and love for God in their life journey. Our approach to curriculum at BtO is to make Biblical and Orthodox faith themes real and relevant to our youth- so that their faith becomes personal by the time they reach adulthood. What is working for you and what is not? BtO is here to help!
This past Sunday I was teaching the lesson and all of a sudden one of my teen students blurted out, "wait a minute - this lesson... it sorta ties in to the game we were playing in the beginning of class - did you do that on purpose?!" Yep! BtO does not insert games for the sake of games... they all tie in to the message of the day. Thanks for noticing haha.
But that really does tie in to an important point worth highlighting - you have a finite time with your students, so make your curriculum work and whatever you do - do it on purpose.
