- Set your "Rally Day" or "Christian Education Sunday." Plan with your pastor to emphasize Sunday School, recognize and commission teachers for their service, and (if you have not already done so) advance students to the next grade. Resources for Rally Day can be found at cph.org/sundayschool under "Sunday School Tools."
- Choose your curriculum (Cross Explorations or Growing in Christ, check them out at cph.org/sundayschool) and verify your order. The fall material is available on July 1.
- Choose your "path." New CPH customers can choose either a "Recommended Path" (Old Testament in the fall, followed by two New Testament units in the winter and spring) or a "Chronological Path" (starts in the fall with Old Testament 1 and continues straight through the Bible). Continuing customers should be aware that the Old Testament 2 unit was recently offering in fall 2016; if you choose the chronological path, these lessons may be overly familiar to your students.
- Enlist teachers for the fall. Work to have two adults in each classroom; it's easier than you think.
- Contact every eligible family by phone, mail, or email to encourage enrollment in Sunday School.
- Tour your Sunday School classrooms and list physical improvements: painting walls, new flooring, cleaning the windows, repair/repaint/replace tables and chairs, remove faded/torn posters, etc.
Showing posts with label promoting to the next grade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label promoting to the next grade. Show all posts
Friday, June 17, 2016
Fall Preparation Checklist
It's the middle of June. It's time to be thinking about "rallying" your Sunday School troops. Here are some points to consider.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Advancing Grades in Summer Sunday School
Two questions:
1. Do you continue Sunday School through the summer? I think you should; you can find out why here and here.
2. Do you promote students to their next grade at the beginning of the summer or at the end?
If you don't have Sunday School during the summer, there's only one advantage to promoting early: that's if the students get the opportunity to meet their next year's teacher before the summer break. But then, when the excitement is at a high, you send them home for the summer to let the new interest die away? That doesn't make sense.
If you do have Sunday School during the summer, I think it makes sense to promote at the beginning of the summer quarter.
(What's that you say? "Tom, why didn't you mention this a few weeks ago?" My bad. So do it on the first or second weekend of July. You can still give Sunday School a little boost this summer.)
God bless you as you teach God's children His Word this summer!
1. Do you continue Sunday School through the summer? I think you should; you can find out why here and here.
2. Do you promote students to their next grade at the beginning of the summer or at the end?
If you don't have Sunday School during the summer, there's only one advantage to promoting early: that's if the students get the opportunity to meet their next year's teacher before the summer break. But then, when the excitement is at a high, you send them home for the summer to let the new interest die away? That doesn't make sense.
If you do have Sunday School during the summer, I think it makes sense to promote at the beginning of the summer quarter.
- Students have just been promoted in their day school or public school, some (like kindergartners, sixth graders, and eighth graders) may have actually graduated! It's a big deal! "I'm not in second grade anymore, I'm in third grade. Why does the church make be go to second grade all summer?"
- You'll have a Rally Day or Christian Education Sunday at the end of the summer. (You will right?) That's another opportunity to give your Sunday School a boost, attempt to corral those non-attending families and get them back into the Sunday School habit. If you promote at the beginning of the summer, you'll get two opportunities to make Sunday School a big deal.
(What's that you say? "Tom, why didn't you mention this a few weeks ago?" My bad. So do it on the first or second weekend of July. You can still give Sunday School a little boost this summer.)
God bless you as you teach God's children His Word this summer!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Rally Day
Does anyone even call it that any more? Christian education Sunday, maybe? A Sunday, usually near the end of August or the beginning of September, when the congregation focuses on Sunday School. Here are some objectives you might consider for your Rally Day.
State the Obvious!
We all need God's Word! Rally Day is an opportunity to remind the entire congregation that hearing God's Word and studying God's powerful message is at the heart of the Christian life. It is the way that God has chosen to be with His people in our time. Children, young people, parents, and all other members of the congregation benefit from being reminded.
Give Visibility!
Rally is an opportunity to give your Sunday School program prime face time with the worshiping congregation. Let the children sing, act out the Scripture lessons, and help the ushers. Recognize those who have agreed to teach and serve in other Sunday School roles though a rite of induction or commissioning.
Contact Students Personally!
At least once a year, every student eligible for Sunday School in your congregation should be contacted personally by his or her potential teacher or another volunteer with an friendly invitation to attend Sunday School regularly. The week before Rally Day is a great time to do this. Since your Sunday School operates during the summer (it does, doesn't it? If you wonder why check out this earlier post), you might legitimately focus on those who are not attending regularly or at all. But you cannot assume that notes in the weekly bulletin or church newsletter, or even a well-written e-mail, will have anything like the impact of a personal phone call or home visit.
Refresh the Premises!
Rally Day is a great excuse for major house-cleaning. Clean the cobwebs, light fixtures, walls, doors, windows, and floors. Take down dated, faded, or tattered posters and decorations. Paint rooms that need it. Scrub the furniture. Clean any classroom toys (now, but more than once a year). Examine the building with the eyes of a stranger, and post improved signs as needed.
Promote Students to Their New Classes!
Okay, I'm of mixed mind on this one. Rally Day is a great time to do this. It is an exciting step for almost every child, one they look forward to since it conveys a positive message of growth. It can be scary for some children, though. And, for many students, the entire summer is confusing, since they "graduated" from their last grade in May, but the church didn't seem to get the message. Promotion in June is a logical and appropriate alternative.
Rally Day, Christian Education Sunday, should not be the only time you give visibility to this crucial ministry in your congregation, but it is one you should not miss!
When do you promote your students?
What date do you prefer for Christian Education Sunday?
What other objectives do you have for your Rally Day?
God's blessings as you teach His children His Word!
State the Obvious!
We all need God's Word! Rally Day is an opportunity to remind the entire congregation that hearing God's Word and studying God's powerful message is at the heart of the Christian life. It is the way that God has chosen to be with His people in our time. Children, young people, parents, and all other members of the congregation benefit from being reminded.
Give Visibility!
Rally is an opportunity to give your Sunday School program prime face time with the worshiping congregation. Let the children sing, act out the Scripture lessons, and help the ushers. Recognize those who have agreed to teach and serve in other Sunday School roles though a rite of induction or commissioning.
Contact Students Personally!
At least once a year, every student eligible for Sunday School in your congregation should be contacted personally by his or her potential teacher or another volunteer with an friendly invitation to attend Sunday School regularly. The week before Rally Day is a great time to do this. Since your Sunday School operates during the summer (it does, doesn't it? If you wonder why check out this earlier post), you might legitimately focus on those who are not attending regularly or at all. But you cannot assume that notes in the weekly bulletin or church newsletter, or even a well-written e-mail, will have anything like the impact of a personal phone call or home visit.
Refresh the Premises!
Rally Day is a great excuse for major house-cleaning. Clean the cobwebs, light fixtures, walls, doors, windows, and floors. Take down dated, faded, or tattered posters and decorations. Paint rooms that need it. Scrub the furniture. Clean any classroom toys (now, but more than once a year). Examine the building with the eyes of a stranger, and post improved signs as needed.
Promote Students to Their New Classes!
Okay, I'm of mixed mind on this one. Rally Day is a great time to do this. It is an exciting step for almost every child, one they look forward to since it conveys a positive message of growth. It can be scary for some children, though. And, for many students, the entire summer is confusing, since they "graduated" from their last grade in May, but the church didn't seem to get the message. Promotion in June is a logical and appropriate alternative.
Rally Day, Christian Education Sunday, should not be the only time you give visibility to this crucial ministry in your congregation, but it is one you should not miss!
When do you promote your students?
What date do you prefer for Christian Education Sunday?
What other objectives do you have for your Rally Day?
God's blessings as you teach His children His Word!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
When Do You Promote?
I've helped out a lot this summer for my church's Sunday School program. The "School Year" teachers get to take the summer off, and volunteers were scarce.
An issue that cropped up for me is one that you might find familiar. As the kids signed in each week, they were to mark their grade level; we used last year's grade, or as I started calling it later in the summer, "the grade you've graduated from." (That has a nice positive ring to it, don't you think?)
Then in mid-August the kids went back to school, so the DCE (my wife) changed the sign-in sheets to request "the grade you are now attending." That's great!
It strikes me, though, that a case could be made for promoting students at the beginning of the summer, just after they have completed their year of school. If your students meet in standard graded classrooms through the summer, they might meet their new teacher and use the next grades material. It might be a bit more work in the spring, but less work to start in the fall. The students might have a slight, positive boost in attitude. And you could still have a Rally Day or Christian Education Festival in the fall even though the students have already been promoted.
What do you think?
When do you promote your Sunday School students to the next grade? Why?
What are the pros and cons of promoting the first week of June? The first week of September?
Thanks for all you do to teach God's children His Word!
An issue that cropped up for me is one that you might find familiar. As the kids signed in each week, they were to mark their grade level; we used last year's grade, or as I started calling it later in the summer, "the grade you've graduated from." (That has a nice positive ring to it, don't you think?)
Then in mid-August the kids went back to school, so the DCE (my wife) changed the sign-in sheets to request "the grade you are now attending." That's great!
It strikes me, though, that a case could be made for promoting students at the beginning of the summer, just after they have completed their year of school. If your students meet in standard graded classrooms through the summer, they might meet their new teacher and use the next grades material. It might be a bit more work in the spring, but less work to start in the fall. The students might have a slight, positive boost in attitude. And you could still have a Rally Day or Christian Education Festival in the fall even though the students have already been promoted.
What do you think?
When do you promote your Sunday School students to the next grade? Why?
What are the pros and cons of promoting the first week of June? The first week of September?
Thanks for all you do to teach God's children His Word!
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