A Unified Curriculum

A couple of week ago, I wrote about the hallmarks of a good Sunday School curriculum (specifically, Growing in Christ published by Concordia Publishing House). Among the benficial characteristics I mentioned was that the curriculum is unified.

A unified curriculum is designed to teach the same topics to all students in a given lesson. In Growing in Christ, the same Bible text is presented in all levels of the curriculum each Sunday. Not all curricula are unified. Even CPH Sunday School material has not always been unified, at least not on all levels. (Mission: Life is probably the most obvious example; published in the 1970s, this curriculum provided topical units that were completely different for each level of the curriculum. The Life in Christ and New Life in Christ curricula, which followed Mission: Life, were largely unified, but had a few weeks when especially the younger grades did not tackle the same texts as the upper grades.)

What are the pros and cons of a unified curriculum?

The chief benefit, the one that convinced the Growing in Christ team to prepare a completely unified curriculum, is that the entire family can, if the congregation chooses, study the exact same Bible text each week, children of all ages, junior high and high school students, and even adults. This provide the natural opportunity for the family to continue the discussion and learning in the home. The normal question, asked by so many parents each week, "What did you study in Sunday School today?" becomes a springboard, as each family member can enter such a conversation informed, armed with an understanding of the text appropriate to his or her age level.

This can also benefit the family's participation in worship during the seasons (generally December through May) when the Growing in Christ curriculum often mirrors the Gospel lesson read and perhaps preached on in the worship service.

There is some small potential that a few Bible accounts may stretch the developmental ability of a family's youngest children. I can honestly say, though, that our editors at the early childhood and lower grades levels of Growing in Christ have done a masterful job of addressing even difficult biblical subjects in ways that young children can comprehend.

Given that God's love for us, shown best in the gift of His Son as a sacrifice for our sin, is at the heart of every Sunday School lesson we create, it is not surprising that even the youngest of children can come away having gotten the main point.

Is the curriculum you use unified?

What do you see as the challenges and benefits of this approach?

What advice do you have for CPH as we prepare new and revised curriculum for Fall 2012 and beyond?