Foundationstones Resources came out of my own search for curriculum to use in my church setting, there were a few things I wanted from a curriculum and whilst there are some fantastic materials out there, none of them met all four of my criteria....
Bible-based
There are some really fun materials out there which explore themes or are inspired by popular movies or tv shows, but if they don’t link back to the word of God we’re missing something! If we really believe that the Bible is powerful and can speak to us today, we need to be equipping our children to know and explore it for themselves.
I’m not always going to read a story direct from the Bible, sometimes we’ll act it out, other times we might watch a video or use a story book version... but the children will always be told by me where in the Bible this message comes from, which Testament it appears in, which period of Bible history and what type of writing it is.
I wanted a curriculum committed to developing Bible Literacy and unafraid of covering some of the more challenging Bible passages.
Spirit-filled
We want our children to have heart connection, not just head knowledge. Whatever story or passage we’re exploring I want to seek out how that helps us grow in our own relationship with God. I want to see children encountering God, chatting to Him, seeking spiritual gifts and applying the messages at the heart of the story practically into their own lives.
I wanted a curriculum designed to facilitate encounter and help develop a genuine relationship with God.
Applicable
There are some great stories in the Bible but I don’t just want to teach children facts about them, there is no point teaching that David picked up 5 stones to kill Goliath but not helping children recognise that with God by our side we can face giants and challenges in our every day too. We can learn from the examples in the Bible, the good and the bad, and choose to live right for God, sharing His love with others.
I wanted a curriculum that had a relevant and applicable teaching point for the children I was leading.
Concise but flexible
I want my team to be confident in teaching and to be well prepared, I also recognise that they have jobs and families and hobbies and that wading through a booklet of information to prepare a session is not always practical. A clearly laid out lesson plan with space to rearrange and be creative, means activities that can be done in any order and adapted to suit the children using them.
I wanted a curriculum that wouldn’t overwhelm my team, but would spark and equip them to be creative.
Foundationstones Resources is all this...and more!
With all our materials colour-coded to match our Bible Timeline, even the least confident leaders can build Bible Literacy skills into their teaching times. Spiritual Training Activities designed to make space for encounter can be found in every lesson plan along with a simple and applicable teaching point. Each lesson as far as possible appears on a single page, with a range of different activities all of which link back to the story or passage. A handy guide gives ideas on how to use the materials flexibly to best suit your group.
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