Fall 2013 - Changes for 5th Grade Lessons

We are now starting the Heartshaper - Preteen lessons - on 9/1/2013.

By George Nielsen

Beginning this month, we are now using the Heartshaper - Preteen curriculum, published by Standard Publishing.   This replaces the Bible-in-Life/Bible Adventures curriculum we had used previously.

For the Students, they will notice that there are some changes:

• There is usually going to be a hands-on activity every week, instead of just occasionally, but fewer videos of contemporary news reports used as illustrations, and fewer Christian music videos/movie clips.  
• One major change is that they will be looking up the Scripture passages we study, in their copy of the Holy Bible, much more often than in the past when the Scripture was preprinted in the Bible Adventures leaflet.    All students will look-up and read passages from the Holy Bible every week.
• The students have been told that there is now going to be one memory verse for the entire month, BUT the verse(s) in Heartshaper are longer and more difficult.   We generally will break-up the verse into parts, and work on only part of the verse at the beginning of the month.   Also I am awarding a greater number of Achievement Points for the Memory Verses and giving partial-credit to students who are trying and get part of the Verse recited correctly.

  

Also, in this Back-to-school season, I have taken the opportunity to remind the students that they are fifth graders -- they're not "little kids" any more!   I expect them to behave in class and to do the work assigned in class.

These things have not changed:  

1. Our Class Motto remains:  "We SERVE Jesus"
2. Our Spiritual Growth goal continues to be that the students commit themselves to be "Young Disciples of Jesus", and apply themselves, studying the materials presented in class.  
3. We also want to continue to encourage all students to read the Holy Bible on their own, following the reading program we have in fifth grade, where the assigned books are Luke, Acts of the Apostles, and Psalms 51, 23, and 24.  Writing notes about what they have read is also an optional part of the reading program, and students who do that receive extra Achievement Points and their notes become their own personal Commentary on the the Bible books they have read.  

For Parents and other readers of this 5th Grade Class Blog: 

• Our weekly Blog Post will be the "Faith and Family" devotional reading.  Faith and Family has a section called "Power Source" which lists the month's Memory Verse. Parents are encouraged to help the students with their Scripture Memory work.
• Our Blog Post covering a summary of the Lessons will be published for each Lesson Unit, which generally is one month of lessons.  
• We continue publishing "LORD, Bless My Child" prayer and devotional thoughts, monthly.  

PARENTS should also please note that in every class, we have two times of Prayer - at about 9:30 AM and at the close of the lesson.

Prayer is a very important part of our lesson each week.   We take Prayer REQUESTS from students at the close of the lesson and pray for each of the requests, individually.   We finish the prayer by saying a Blessing over the students. 

So, parents should be aware that we usually go past our scheduled dismissal time, since the students' prayers  (usually 6 to 10 requests) involve some very intense, serious needs that are prayed for specifically, with faith-filled, expectant prayer.   We don't intend to rush through the prayer-time, just to dismiss the class sooner.  (And we don't take away from lesson time, to start the prayers earlier.)