Producing Biblically-centered, Culturally-relevant Children’s Curriculum

Jeanette Windle is an award-winning novelist, author of 16 fiction titles, missions journalist, editor and collaborative writer. She grew up in South America, has lived in 6 countries and traveled in more than 30. Jeanette represents BCM International, whose core Genesis-to-Revelation children’s curriculum, Footsteps of Faith, and children’s ministry leadership training curriculum, In Step with the Master Teacher, has been reproduced in dozens of languages.  

Producing biblically-centered, culturally-relevant curriculum is neither as difficult nor as costly as you think. Click to watch this 5 minute video.

The purpose of a children’s curriculum is to help children know love and obey God.
Here are the core values that any curriculum for children needs to include:

1. Bible centered. Curriculum is only as effective as it gives children the opportunity to engage with God’s Word. This is even more so for kids who are not from a Christian background. Center on a chronological presentation of God’s Word.
2. We teach for response and application. It needs to be a living story for today’s children, interactive and relevant to their lives.
3. Holy-spirit dependent. Remember the Holy Spirit is the Person who changes lives and impacts hearts. We can’t use curriculum to pressure or push children to make decisions.
4. Culturally relevant. Even when writing for children within one country, remember that children may be from non-Christian homes, be at risk and dealing daily with great tragedies.
5. Financially and physically practical. Most effective curriculum is not dependent on space, personnel or resources. Remember that your Bible content centers around the Bible story. Create a Bible toolbox to augment the basic story according to the group size and resources.

In summary, you can make your curriculum easily affordable and widely used among a variety of children.

How do you write a children’s curriculum?
One lesson at a time. Every lesson has five parts:

1. One Bible truth and one way for a child to respond to each lesson
2. An intro to pull children into the lesson, whether drama, questions, role play or…
3. Bible content based on careful study of Scripture
4. Summary/application that takes the Bible content and applies it to where the child is today
5. The response activity—what the child can take away and apply immediately to their lives

This video was shot by Team David Films at MAI’s international publishing conference, LittWorld 2015, in Singapore.