Testimonies

Testimonies, Tips and Tidbits Curriculum Challenges Limited Coverage

by Robin Ulbredtch
05/08/17
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Limited Coverage

Some curriculum companies plan for only a small repetitive cycle of Bible lessons—say one or two years worth---in their curriculum packages. After completing this cycle, the teacher returns to the beginning lesson and students from a different year go through the same cycle of lessons.

One curriculum I used repeated its program every two years. My class was made up of Primary Students, grades 1-3. Unfortunately, this didn’t work with the limited coverage of the two-year lesson cycle. This became apparent when a few of the older students in my class recognized the lesson materials as they had gone through them before. I had no idea these students had encountered the lesson materials before, and there was not enough time to order in new materials. I found myself in an awkward situation.

To solve this challenge, I used the same Bible stories and scripture verses but tried to find new angles and facts to teach the students from those scriptures. I also added new songs, discussion questions, and craft activities to bring some freshness into the material for those students who had heard it before. We managed to get through the year without too many problems.

But why do we limit our teaching materials to short cycles when there is an unlimited supply of topics in God’s word? What about classes that have several grades of students together in one class? We should encourage our students to learn more from God’s word instead of sticking them in a short, repetitive cycle of lessons and giving them limited coverage.