This post is Part 4 of Ministry Basics: Selecting Curriculum.
You can read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.
Our Preteen Ministry, Route 45, is very special to me. We launched it from the ground up in Sept 2012 and designed it to be a safe place where 4th & 5th Graders can ask hard questions and begin to own their faith.
What we use, the selection process and why this was our choice
Our team selected curriculum from preteenministry.net. I blogged about our selection process here.
How the curriculum looks at our church
This is what our current format looks like:
- Arrival Activities (20 minutes): After checking themselves in, preteens are able to hang out until our Large Group worship begins. (They are able to enjoy basketball, air hockey and board games.)
- Large Group Worship (15 minutes): Our preteens worship with our 1st-3rd Graders.
- Large Group Teaching (20 minutes): After worship, our preteens head back to their area for a teaching time. Sometimes our teaching time includes a game or object lesson that relates to the Bible story.
- Small Groups (30 minutes): During this time, preteens split up into 2 groups: 4th & 5th Grade Girls and 4th & 5th Grade Boys. Each group has one adult or high school leader who facilitates discussion, application activities and prayer.
What I like
- The selection of available lesson series is great.
- The artwork is great, too. (I use each series’ banner picture as our Facebook page cover photo.)
- The lessons are engaging and do not look the same each week. Some weeks, there might be a video clip; some weeks the preteens act out the story. Other weeks, there might be an object lesson or group art project.
- The games are fun and tailored specifically to preteens.
- We hardly ever have to supplement the material.
- There is flexibility to choose our own lesson schedule, which allows us to customize for our needs.
- The cost is very affordable, as each series is digital.
What I don’t like
- I’d like to see take-home resources provided for each lesson.
- It would also be great to have scripts for social media (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) that accompany each lesson/series. Right now, I write my own.
Preteenministry.net is a great resource for ministry leaders. In addition to curriculum for elementary, preteen and junior high ministry, it also provides training materials, games, and other great stuff. Check it out! You can click the image above for a direct link to website.
Do you use preteenministry.net for your preteen ministry? What has your experience been?
If you don’t use preteenministry.net, what do you use? How’s it working for you?