Curriculum and Resources

See Spirit Grow…

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Curriculum and Resources For Christian Education Programs from See Spirit Grow

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Making It Real and Relevant:
Curriculum for Middle and High School Youth

What is Making it Real and Relevant?
This curriculum, sold quarterly in packages of 8 - 10 weeks, engages youth in examining a passage of the Bible. Each lesson makes use of small and/or large group discussion, activities, and popular music and/or video clips that encourage the participants to discover that God, Christ, the Bible and one's faith and values are all real and relevant to their lives.

Making It Real and Relevant comes in two formats: the Lectionary-Based (RC, BCP or RCL) and the Topic-Based. The Lectionary- based format builds on one of the lectionary readings to be heard in the Sunday service that day (usually the New Testament or Gospel reading) while the topic-based uses Bible passages that support a topic youth explore for 3 to 4 weeks. Both curriculums have specially focused classes during the 5 sundays before Easter (Lent) and the 4 Sundays before Christmas (Advent). During these classes, students have the option of developing and carrying out a special service project of their choosing while they explore themes that are specific to the season of the church year.

Both formats can be used with either middle school or high school youth; The lectionary-based curriculum was originally designed for high school youth, simply because the lectionary readings require a more abstract thought process that older youth are more developmentally able to deal with. The topic-based curriculum was designed for middle school youth because it is based in concrete thought processes. However, because the curriculums are open- ended enough for the class to control the direction of discussion, Sunday school programs are finding that these curriculums work with either age group and the lesson format allows youth, whether middle or high school, to address issues from where they are in their lives, mentally and emotionally.

Click here to download a free sample of the lectionary-based Making It Real and Relevant
or click here to download a free sample of the topic-based Making It Real and Relevant

Just for Lent: Making It Real and Relevant Lenten Lessons
If you are interested in trying something a little different for the 5 weeks leading to Easter this year, how about the Making It Real and Relevant Lenten series, entitled "Living in Faith or Living in Doubt." this series invites youth to examine their level of faith and whether they have doubts, and how faith and doubt can impact one's life. The lessons are based on readings from the Gospel of John (and one reading from Matthew), and incorporates clips from movies like the recently released Evan Almighty, Superman Returns, and songs from the groups Anointed and Skillet to supplement the small and large group discussions and activities outlined in the lessons. A simple Lenten outreach project is also suggested as part of the 5 week series. Simply email hhawks@seespiritgrow.com to get more details or to order copies, or use the order form to mail an order!

What's Being Said About
Making It Real And Relevant?

"This Sunday my senior high students made their parents come in their class after Sunday school was over to listen to the song (by Acapella, "Everybody Said But Nobody Did") we played to go along with this Sunday's Bible passage..."
St. Alban's, VA

"We have a small group (4-7), but some of these are kids who NEVER, EVER came to Sunday School before. So, that's HUGE! Thank you so much!"
Marcy McKay, TX

"We got a late start this year (using the lessons for Advent) and only have 4-6 kids, but when we did the lesson last week they begged to do the Advent wreaths (from the lesson we missed). Later at church, when the Gospel matched with the lesson we had done, we were getting the thumbs-up signs from two pews in front of us as they realized that we had just studied that part of Luke. How cool is that, begging and paying attention too! Thank you so much for the curriculum, we love it!"
Eve Lansing, NY

"I have been meaning to write you to tell you how much our teachers and students are enjoying Making it Real and Relevant (Lectionary Based). We are using it with the 7th, 8th and high school classes. The 7th grade teachers adapt quite a bit, but the kids are psyched to be doing what the older kids next door are doing. I have told many of my colleagues about it."
Jamie Martin Currie, TX

"Yesterday was the opening day for Sunday school. Well, (are you ready for this?) one of the middle schoolers left the Sunday school class (Topic based) and called his mom from his cell phone and told her "Mom, I loved it!!!" She stopped me in church to tell me...I thought you would like to hear that!
I've also gotten some really good responses from teachers..."
Duana Cisney, NC

Lectionary-Based Curriculum
Lectionary-Based curriculum is available for the following Sunday School years:
Year C-A (September through May)
Year A-B (September through May)
Year B-C (September through May)
The current Sunday school year (9/2007 - 5/2008) follows the C-A cycle.

Lectionary-Based curriculum comes in the following formats:

Making It Real and Relevant: A Multi-Media Enhanced Lectionary-Based (Revised Common Lectionary) Bible Study for Youth
OR
Making It Real and Relevant: A Multi-Media Enhanced, Lectionary-Based (Book of Common Prayer) Bible Study for Youth
OR
Making It Real and Relevant: A Multi-Media
Enhanced, Lectionary-Based (Roman Catholic) Bible Study for Youth

Topic-Based Curriculum
Topic-based curriculum is intended to cover a four year cycle of topics. The first two years' topics are complete, and the third year topics will be available in the summer of 2008.

The first year topics include:
At the Ground Level: Creating, Reforming, Transforming the World
Who Am I?
All Saint's Day (Special Days Lesson)
Who Is God?
Advent: A Season of Preparation (Includes opportunity for outreach project)
Family-Does it Matter?
Why Can't We Be Friends?
Lent.: Temptation
Who Does the World Say I Am?
Can I Make a Difference?

Second year topics include
The Great Commandments (Loving God, Loving Self, Loving Neighbor)
What is Faith?
Caretakers and Stewards
Advent
(Available January 2008)
Christ Revealed (& What It Means To Be Christian)
Lent: Having Faith or Having Doubt
Sin, Repenting, and Forgiveness
Making Decisions and Sticking with Them

Quarterly packages are $15 a copy plus shipping. See order form for details and shipping costs.

Curriculum for Adults

The Parents' Tool Chest: Building A Family Upon The Plans Of The Master Architect
Available as 12-week curriculum, is also available in workshop and conference format. See Workshops and Other Events page for details.

Email hhawks@seespiritgrow.com for more information about these programs.

The Path Less Traveled: Who We Are, Why We're Here, and Where We're Going as Individuals and as a Church
Available as a 5-6 session curriculum.

To purchase curriculum or to find out about availablilty and cost of seminars or workshops, please contact Heidi Hawks at hhawks@seespiritgrow.com. All emails will be responded to within 24 hours.
Thank you!

NEW!  Workshop curriculums!
Creating the workshop is done for you- all you have to do is present it!

Tools for Teaching: A Volunteer Teachers' Orientation and Training Workshop
Comes with leader's guide, handouts section and PowerPoint CD.
See order form for purchase details.

The Parents' Tool Chest: Building a Family Upon the Plans Of The Master Architect is a 12 week class for families who want to learn ways to build strong foundations, create safe havens and house unconditional love, all of which are based upon blueprints drawn by the Master Architect, God. The course offers a more in-depth approach to the topics outlined in the conference/workshop series (see the Workshops and Other Events page for details on offering The Parents' Tool Chest as a conference or workshop). In the course, participants will:

Learn what children are capable of understanding and doing at different stages of life and discover how to encourage their moral, faith, spiritual, psychosocial and cognitive development.
Understand how and why parents and children all think, learn, and communicate in different ways and apply this information to improve communication and trust while decreasing stress and frustration at home. Parents will apply this information to practical issues that ar
Discover how to encourage and promote both parents’ and children’s spiritual development, by creating teachable moments about faith and beliefs and by creating a family life that naturally encourages God to be recognized and included.
Learn how to practically apply this knowledge to real-life situations (such as why one person always seems to move in his or her own time zone, how to respond to the "I want a pet" request, resolving disagreements between siblings - or children and parents-, and understanding how disagreements over "silly" things occur) through small and large group discussion and activities built into each session.

Applying these practical tools to family life offers parents, no matter how young or old their children, the opportunity to develop a family that understands, trusts, and shares with one another and God.

The Parents' Tool Chest course includes a leader's guide with lesson plans, leader's notes, reproducible handouts and a PowerPoint CD. See order form for purchase details.

The Path Less Traveled: Who We Are, Why We're Here, and Where We're Going as Individuals and as a Church is a five to six-week program designed to lead both individuals and the church to which these individuals belong on a journey of spiritual and self-discovery and understanding. Week 1 examines why we were born, why our church was born. Week 2 examines who I am as an individual, and who we are as a church (this week is easily expandible to two sessions). Week 3 explores where we are going as individuals and as a church and discusses the concept of success. Week 4 discusses how we will get where we want to go, and Week 5 examines the individuals' and the church's status of spiritual development. Sessions make use of small group and/or large group discussion, music and movie clips and Bible study. The Path Less Traveled course includes a leader's guide with leader's note and reproducible handouts. See order form for purchase details.