Preschool: Moses in the Reeds

This coming sunday, we'll begin hearing the story of Moses and the Hebrew people...

Welcome to Worship
-We are in a special place because God is here
-This is our special place to be with God, we can talk to God, we can listen to God, we can hear stories of God

The Lord Be With You (and Also With You)

Songs of Praise:
Halle-lu
Come into his presence singing alleluia

Story Box: props- river, hebrew people, basket with baby, pharaoh, daughter

Joseph's family stayed in Egypt and had children, and they had children, and they had children.  

They were called the Hebrew people.

The Pharaoh who loved Joseph died and a new Pharaoh was king of Egypt.

He was afraid of the Hebrew people, so he made them slaves.  He sent soldiers to harm the people.

The Hebrew people cried out to God to be rescued.

A Hebrew mother had a baby boy.  She wanted to protect him from Pharaoh's soldiers who were coming to their house.

She hid him in a basket the reeds near the river and his sister watched over him.

Also in the river that day was Pharaoh's daughter, the princess.  She found the baby and took care of him and named him Moses.  

His sister, Miriam, told the princess about a woman who could help take care of the baby-- it was his mother.

So Moses was raised by the Princess, protected from the soldiers, also by his own mother.

This baby, Moses, was going to be part of God's rescue plan for the Hebrew people.

I wonder questions (trying to get at the rescue)

-I wonder how the Hebrew people felt when Pharaoh made them slaves?

-I wonder what it's like to be afraid of the king and his soldiers

-I wonder what the princess thought when she found a baby 

-I wonder how God could use a Hebrew who grew up as a prince to rescue his people

Let's have our Thanksgiving Feast (at the table)

Everyone gets snack (bring some healthy stuff from home and water cups)
-This is our time of thanksgiving: our feast and our thanks
-What are we thankful to God for this week?

Read (a part) of the story once more from the Bible (Not in the Jesus storybook bible, maybe another one)

Response time: Everyone can pick a way to tell the story
-Art supplies: collage with water, basket, reeds
-Dress up: baby dolls & baskets
-Tactile: water table and floating objects
-Books: on egypt

Preschool: Joseph and his brothers, part two

Trying to put the preschool lesson plan for this Sunday up ahead of time in case any parents want to take a look!

Joseph and his Brothers, Part Two

Welcome to Worship

Songs of Praise:

-My God is so Big  (adorable video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyOdDrVnORc)

-Praise Him, Praise him, all you little children (not as adorable video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVzaMHrVZBc)

-Come into his presence signing Alleluia (hymn number 122: http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/TWC/122)

Intro to story:
-We are in a special place because God is here
-This is our special place to be with God, we can talk to God, we can listen to God, we can hear stories of God
-“The Lord Be With You (and Also With You)”

Story:

-This is Joseph

-He lived in Canaan with his father and brothers

-God had a Great Rescue plan for Joseph’s family and God told Joseph about it in his dreams

-His brother’s sent him with strangers to Egypt because they were jealous of Joseph’s special treatment

-When Joseph was in Egypt, he understood the Pharaoh’s dreams, telling him start saving food for a famine was coming

-He was chosen by the Pharaoh to be a Prince

-Now, back in Canaan, Joseph’s family had no food.  The children became very hungry. They cried in the night and their parents heard them.

-They knew they needed to find food, so Joseph’s brothers crossed the desert to Egypt

-They came face to face with Joseph, the prince, to ask him to ask for food for their children, but they did not recognize him!

-Joseph’s heart was full of love, because he knew this was part of God’s rescue plan, so he forgave his brothers

-What you meant for harm, God used for good

-Joseph’s family stayed with him in Egypt

I wonder questions:

-I wonder what it feels like to be hungry and not have any food?

-I wonder how Joseph’s family felt as they prepared to go to Egypt?

-I wonder what they thought the prince would say when they asked for food?

-I wonder how they felt when Joseph said—it’s me, Joseph?

-I wonder how they felt when Joseph said—I forgive you?

-I wonder what else meant for harm, God uses for good?

Let's have our Thanksgiving Feast (at the table)

Everyone gets snack (bring some healthy stuff from home and water cups)
-This is our time of thanksgiving: our feast and our thanks
-What are we thankful to God for this week?

Read (a part) of the Jesus Storybook Bible story

Response time: Everyone can pick a way to tell the story
-Art supplies: for famine/feast craft
-Playdough: for food making
-Tactile: Playfood for feast

Building the Tabernacle

Can you remember the last time you read a chapter or heard a sermon that focused on a time the Israeltes "pleased God?" It seems like every time you look back, it's another example of them straying, disobeying God's commands, and experiencing his wrath and judgement. Well our lesson this past Sunday morning told the story of how the Israelites built the tabernacle, a holy place of worship, with a willing spirit and loving heart.

The students had an opportunity to share examples of times they've shared willingly and times they've shared only because of obligation, which was a lot of fun to hear - let me tell you :) In fact, the Israelites gave SO generously that Moses had to tell them to stop bringing all their precious valuables.

To further the point, our "Missionary Focus" moment told of a young boy who was captured and made a slave, but was escaped 6 years later. Upon returning home, his faith had deepened and the Lord softened his heart towards his captors. Eventually, he went on to preach the gospel there and started over 300 churches as a result. Each week we'll study a missionary and mark their location on our globe that lives at the Church offices.

 Memory Verse for the Day - Psalm 119:11

 "I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."

Sunday School: Solomon's Wish

Today we began our next session into exploring the Bible - specifically why we have it.  Our story begins with Solomon, who decided to ask God for wisdom instead of all the other attributes or possessions he could have.   We spent some time memorizing Colossians 3:2 as well, which instructs us to set our thoughts on things above, not on earthly things.  The students came up with images to draw underneath each phrase to help them remember the verse. 

Then as part of our activity, each person had to answer the question "what would you ask God for if he told you he would give you one thing you dreamed of?". The answers were entertaining to say the least :)    Following, we dove into the story of Solomon and how he asked God for wisdom rather than all of the glory and praise his father David received during his kingship.  This led to a conversation about how WE obtain wisdom (through scripture, Godly family and friends, and by asking for it in prayer like Solomon).

Lola asked a great question at this point too - why do these things only happen in the Bible and not anymore?  Just when you think it's going to be a breeze of a day, out comes one of those tough questions!  I told her that it was a great question and that we would talk about it more when we had more time....and I've thought about it some more :)

 From there, we rehearsed our memory verse, shared a story about a missionary to China (we'll be learning about one missionary each week for this whole quarter), and completed our fin activity packs.  All in all a good first week with many more to come!

Preschool: Joseph & his brothers

Trying something new this time-- posting lesson plans prior to Sunday so that parents can review the ideas with their kids! Thanks!  Laura

Joseph and his brothers

Welcome to Worship

-We are in a special place because God is here

-This is our special time to be with God, we can talk to God, we can listen to God, we can hear stories of God

Teach them: The Lord Be With You (and Also With You)

Songs of Praise:

1) Halle-lu

2) Come into his presence singing Alleluia

Tell the story simply and with motions:

-This is Joseph

-He lived in Canaan with his father and 12 brothers

-Joseph's father knew God had a Great Rescue plan for his family and he knew Joseph would be a part of it because God talked to Joseph in his dreams

-His father gave him a special coat and special treatment

-His brothers decided to take Joseph away from his father

-They put him in a pit and were going to leave him there but God rescued Joseph 

-God caused his brother Judah to worry about Joseph, so he pulled him out

-Judah couldn't bring Joseph back home since his brothers were angry

-To keep him alive, Judah sent him away with strangers

-The strangers took Joseph to Egypt as a slave

I wonder questions (trying to get at the rescue)

-I wonder how the brothers felt about Joseph’s special gift?

-I wonder if you have ever been given a special gift?

-I wonder what it was like to be trapped in the pit?

-I wonder if you have ever been trapped like this and someone freed you?

-I wonder how Joseph felt leaving his home? 

-I wonder what God was doing when Joseph was going to Egypt?

Thanksgiving Feast: 

-What are we thankful to God for this week?

-This is our time of thanksgiving: our feast and our thanks 

Read a part of the Joseph story in the Jesus Storybook Bible

Response time: Everyone can pick a way to tell the story

-Art supplies for coats –Playdough -Dress up –Tactile

Changes for Fall

Hey Parents,

I wanted to give you a vision of the fall Sunday School program (or what we will attempt to do with the program) starting this Sunday.  Read below also for the ways you might be able to help...

First, thank you so much to Lydia and Heather (and Matt) who were amazing teachers this summer completing units on Psalm 23 and the Creation Story.  I really appreciated the creativity you put into your lessons and I know those will be special stories for Anna (and the other kids) for many years.

Second, the toddlers (the 2 year olds and and nearly such) will be staying in the service for the music time and being dismissed with the older kids for sunday school.  In the beginning, if parents can help by bringing their toddler over to the office along with the rest of us on the rope, it will help us get used to the number of kids we're escorting to the office.  There are a few teachers (Ashley, Alyssa, Janet, I believe) who will be leading the toddlers on a regular basis along with an assistant.  They'll be reading a bible story, listening to music, snacks, and doing some age appropriate craftiness, as well as playing with toys.  This leaves the nursery open for the infants who will soon be joining in the fun.

Joey will be leading the older kids in the fall.  I know he has great things planned, but I'll let him expound on that.

Finally, in preschool, instead of covering the entire old testament, our 3-5 years olds will be hearing the story of the Exodus.  From Joseph to Joshua, the will be learning the story of God's great rescue plan for his people Israel.  They'll get to know the individuals God rescued so they could lead his people to their home.  This story will take us all the way to Advent where we'll hear the story of God's rescue plan for all people.

We'll be using a portion of the Godly Play/Children in Worship structure, but not the program in its entirety.  The main change from your perspective might be what your kids take home.  The Children in Worship structure allows the kids to choose their method of response to the story.  It might be art, but it could be playdough, sidewalk chalk, dress up, or books. We'll have some similar crafts to the previous lessons for the kids to choose, but they might not choose it every week.

Here is the structure with which we are starting and I'll change it as we go based on what is working and what isn't:

Come into the office, have kids put coats and shoes outside room

Come into room and have each child sit on a carpet square

Welcome to Worship (to each child as they sit down)

-We are in a special place because God is here
-This is our special place to be with God, we can talk to God, we can listen to God, we can hear stories of God

Teach them: The Lord Be With You (and Also With You)

Songs of Praise:
1-2 songs
Be still and know that I am God

Go get the story box for story

Tell the story simply and with motions

I wonder questions (trying to get at the rescue idea)

Let's have our Thanksgiving Feast (at the table)

Everyone gets snack (bring some healthy stuff from home and water cups)
-This is our time of thanksgiving: our feast and our thanks 
-What are we thankful to God for this week?

Read (a part) of the story once more from the Bible

Response time: Everyone can pick a way to tell the story
-Art supplies
-Playdough
-Dress up
-Tactile
-Books

Parents, if you are able to bring a healthy snack (apple slices, cheese sticks, etc) on a Sunday morning, would you text or email me by Saturday evening?

Looking forward to a fun fall with the kids!

Laura