We've had 2 Sunday School days, and so far, so good. The changes still through us off a bit - like getting to the Roundabout by 10:35 for song time - but we haven't lost anyone yet.
There've been some behind the scenes meetings about the Stations we're putting into place starting in October, trying to figure out how it will all work. Originally, we were going to do the first Sunday of each month. Now we're entertaining thoughts of changing the dates, making it half a class time, not doing it every month... Teachers don't want to give up their class time, and I guess that's a good thing, yes? They care deeply about teaching each lesson. But, we need to try new things, and if we don't give it a good shot, we can't really evaluate it properly at the end of the year.
With that in mind, I think we will change some dates, and we won't have one in December, but we will have a station every month besides December, and we'll keep it for the whole class time. I think we can make this work, and that once it gets up and running, it will be a good thing. Good enough that everyone will wonder why we didn't do it years ago. The biggest hurdle is to tap into the talents within the church body, to make these stations fun and exciting.
Meanwhile, the 3rd graders may be using this blog soon as a forum for questions. Jessica and I, the 3rd grade teachers, have found the last several years' classes have had lots of good questions, which, given half a chance, can totally derail the lesson for the day. So, we will try a Question Box, and then I think we'll post our answers here. 3rd Grade Q&A? Are you as curious as a 3rd Grader? We'll need a good label -- something to ponder for a couple of days.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Just for Teachers
We are so excited for Sunday school to begin on the 13th. Thank you again teachers for dedicating yourselves to the Lord, our children, and the church. You are such a blessing. We want to share how wonderful you are with our parents and congregation. Please pick up a Who are You form in Fellowship Hall and drop it off in the box located there. This applies to ADULT class teachers all the way down to preschool. Other reminders:
ü Posters have been ordered for each class so you don’t have to share them.
ü Materials must be left outside of Rachel’s office. They are accessible by the Internet or you can arrange to have the secretaries run off a copy for your room. Some grades are sharing the same material. This is a 3 year cycle so all will be new for everyone next year.
ü Materials to be copied must be done by Friday of the week they are being used. Call the office and the secretaries will have them ready for you.
ü Take attendance weekly and if you have a new student, add it to the bottom of the list. The first collection of the papers in your outside mailbox is Sunday, Sept. 27 (Adult classes as well).
ü The Christian Education team will be holding you up in our prayers.
ü Johanna Harris is your go to girl for information or concerns. We will resolve all of them ASAP.
ü If you did not receive a scroll covenant poster, there is one located in Fellowship Hall.
Have a great first Sunday. We appreciate each and every one of you. Nancy Gainor
ü Posters have been ordered for each class so you don’t have to share them.
ü Materials must be left outside of Rachel’s office. They are accessible by the Internet or you can arrange to have the secretaries run off a copy for your room. Some grades are sharing the same material. This is a 3 year cycle so all will be new for everyone next year.
ü Materials to be copied must be done by Friday of the week they are being used. Call the office and the secretaries will have them ready for you.
ü Take attendance weekly and if you have a new student, add it to the bottom of the list. The first collection of the papers in your outside mailbox is Sunday, Sept. 27 (Adult classes as well).
ü The Christian Education team will be holding you up in our prayers.
ü Johanna Harris is your go to girl for information or concerns. We will resolve all of them ASAP.
ü If you did not receive a scroll covenant poster, there is one located in Fellowship Hall.
Have a great first Sunday. We appreciate each and every one of you. Nancy Gainor
Welcome to Sunday School!
Fall has begun, and so we have started Sunday School classes. We have several changes for the fall. First, we have started our new curriculum. Seasons of the Spirit is a curriculum for preschool through adult. All of our children will be learning from this curriculum, and Pastor Don is leading an adult class using it, too.
Missed the first week of class? It's not too late to start! You can start coming to Sunday School any time during the year. Preschool through 5th grade, check with the teacher for a registration form. These should be filled out and returned to the church office. 6th grade and up, check the SuperFly website for a medical/permission form, and turn that in to Rachael Warner or the office soon. We want all of our kids to be safe, and we need to know how to contact parents, and if there are any concerns teachers should be aware of. Help us out by turning in those forms!
Also new this year: we have changed around the morning a bit. We are all meeting in classrooms starting at 9:45. At 10:35, all classes (preschool through grade 5) come to the Roundabout Room for song time. Parents should come to pick their child up there. Please check in with your child's teacher if you child is 2nd grade or younger. We will tweak this program in these first few weeks, to make sure no child goes wandering off... stay tuned for updates.
Coming soon, we'll have our first Station Sunday. October 5th, the students preschool through grade 5 will be mixed up, and sent to other rooms for hands on learning activities. If you would like to share a skill or interest with a group of children once, or once a month, please contact Tracy Dungan.
Missed the first week of class? It's not too late to start! You can start coming to Sunday School any time during the year. Preschool through 5th grade, check with the teacher for a registration form. These should be filled out and returned to the church office. 6th grade and up, check the SuperFly website for a medical/permission form, and turn that in to Rachael Warner or the office soon. We want all of our kids to be safe, and we need to know how to contact parents, and if there are any concerns teachers should be aware of. Help us out by turning in those forms!
Also new this year: we have changed around the morning a bit. We are all meeting in classrooms starting at 9:45. At 10:35, all classes (preschool through grade 5) come to the Roundabout Room for song time. Parents should come to pick their child up there. Please check in with your child's teacher if you child is 2nd grade or younger. We will tweak this program in these first few weeks, to make sure no child goes wandering off... stay tuned for updates.
Coming soon, we'll have our first Station Sunday. October 5th, the students preschool through grade 5 will be mixed up, and sent to other rooms for hands on learning activities. If you would like to share a skill or interest with a group of children once, or once a month, please contact Tracy Dungan.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Curriculum Notes for S.S. Teachers
Here we go! Teachers, we are so thankful for your commitment and your work. Thank you for your patience as we work through the inevitable bumps in the navigation of a new curriculum that brings many new opportunities and adventures! I have a few notes for you that I hope will help:
1. MASTER COPIES BINDERS - please do not remove these binders from the shelf outside of Rachael's office. They are for everyone to use for reference, for master copies, etc. If you need personal copies, please make them in the office, contact the office staff during office hours for help, or print a copy from the online materials.
2. POSTERS - indeed, some of the posters referenced in your curriculum will be shared when multiple grades overlap one age-group resource. I have ordered 2 complete poster sets, and when they arrive, we should have plenty of posters for all. I will create a poster box to organize them by title so that you can retrieve the posters you need from the shelf outside of my office. Meanwhile, sharing is appreciated. Also, remember that you can pick and choose which activities to do each week or even supplement the provided material with your own ideas!
3. Please return the WHO ARE YOU form, located in your handbook from the training event, to the church office, to Johanna, or to Nancy Gainor as soon as possible. We want to celebrate YOU as a teacher!
Thanks for all you do.
Rachael
1. MASTER COPIES BINDERS - please do not remove these binders from the shelf outside of Rachael's office. They are for everyone to use for reference, for master copies, etc. If you need personal copies, please make them in the office, contact the office staff during office hours for help, or print a copy from the online materials.
2. POSTERS - indeed, some of the posters referenced in your curriculum will be shared when multiple grades overlap one age-group resource. I have ordered 2 complete poster sets, and when they arrive, we should have plenty of posters for all. I will create a poster box to organize them by title so that you can retrieve the posters you need from the shelf outside of my office. Meanwhile, sharing is appreciated. Also, remember that you can pick and choose which activities to do each week or even supplement the provided material with your own ideas!
3. Please return the WHO ARE YOU form, located in your handbook from the training event, to the church office, to Johanna, or to Nancy Gainor as soon as possible. We want to celebrate YOU as a teacher!
Thanks for all you do.
Rachael
Monday, September 7, 2009
Watch for New Library Resources
This fall we plan to add some new resources to the library, including a computer that will allow you to search for library materials using search parameters such as key words, author, category, or title. We will keep your informed as these resources come "on line" by way of this blog, and also by including in the Hylander information about the library and highlighting materials in the collection.
We would also like to hear from you about materials you would like to see added to our NHUMC library.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Website Under Construction
The new education website is almost all done and ready to be published. Nothing like trying to put everything down in writing to help you realize what you don't know yet. Tracking down names, classrooms, topics, details...
The good news is, it's all exciting stuff. We have a new curriculum for Sunday School, that will keep everyone preschool through grade 12 on the same general topic. We even have an adult class doing the same curriculum, so parents can keep up with their kids. There's a brand new Wednesday night program, with learning and fun all wrapped up in a nice 3 hour package. Drop off your kids, knowing they'll be kept busy. Find a class for yourself -- there's a topic to meet nearly any interest. Let's grow in God's grace together.
The good news is, it's all exciting stuff. We have a new curriculum for Sunday School, that will keep everyone preschool through grade 12 on the same general topic. We even have an adult class doing the same curriculum, so parents can keep up with their kids. There's a brand new Wednesday night program, with learning and fun all wrapped up in a nice 3 hour package. Drop off your kids, knowing they'll be kept busy. Find a class for yourself -- there's a topic to meet nearly any interest. Let's grow in God's grace together.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A New Year Begins
Teacher training happened last week, and the Sunday School teachers are now preparing their rooms for fall classes. Penny wants to know if we can place a waterfall somewhere in the Sunday School area. Sounds good to me -- who wouldn't want a waterfall? It's a stop gap measure until we get all the walls painted with scenes and verses from the Bible, anyway.
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