First Look - March

Hey Parents! I can't even believe that it is already March. I wanted to fill you in on what your children will be learning this month as we go through the month of March.

The Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever.

Key Question: Who will help you?

Bottom Line: Jesus will help me

Memory Verse: "He cares for you." 1 Peter 5.7

Preschoolers will be learning through their senses this month! We will be learning how Jesus healed the blind man (sight), Jesus healing the lame man who couldn't walk (touch and ability to walk), and then Jesus healing the deaf man (hearing).

(we won't be meeting on March 13th, due to Spring Break. There will be one family service at 11:05 that day)

Make sure you pick up your Small Talk cards at your child's classroom or at the main welcome desk, or they will be located on www.calvarytuscaloosa.org/ministries/preschool. This tool will help you take the stories, that your child is learning, home. You will also find some great activities to do with your child to help them begin to live out what they are learning. And it just might help you too.

Thank you for partnering with us!

First Look Bible Verses

One of the things that I love to see is preschoolers writing Scripture on their heart. Over the past two years, preschoolers have been learning ONE Bible verse each month. It an effort to help you, help your child learn these and write them on their heart (and hopefully yours too), I have gone back and given you the verses for the past several months.

I hope this is a great tool in the church partnering with you, as parents, to make an incredible spiritual impact on your child. I want you to IMAGINE THE END, because the only that will matter in the end, is your child's and your relationship with Christ.

Do what you can now to develop biblical truths and Scripture in your child, so that they will have a foundation that can't be moved.

Thanks for partnering with us, we are always looking for ways to partner with you. THINK ORANGE!

May 2010: "I am wonderfully made." - Psalm 139.14

June 2010: "Be kind and loving to each other." - Ephesians 4.32

July 2010: "Learn to do what is right." - Isaiah 1.17

August 2010: "God is with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1.9

September 2010: "Nothing can seperate us from God's love." -Romans 8.39

October 2010: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid." - Deuteronomy 31.6

November 2010: "My God will meet all your needs." - Philippians 4.19

December 2010: "God loved the world so much that He gave His only son." - John 3.16

January 2011: "Let the little children come to me." - Luke 18.16

Sneak Peak

February 2011: "Love each other as I have loved you." - John 15.12

I look forward to learning more and more verses with you and your child!

Coats For Kids

We teach our preschoolers that God made us, God loves us, and God will take care of us. One of the ways He takes care of us is by giving us people to care for us, people to help us. He can also use us to help others. That’s a hard concept for preschoolers, but we want them to begin to grasp it. We want them to learn that we can help others just like God helps us. We want to make a connection between how much God loves and helps us and how He wants us to help others.

Now, the danger in having young children participate in a giving initiative is that if we are not careful, parents will go and buy what is needed and just drop it off. The preschool child never really experiences the process of giving. So, we came up with an idea that we think will help make this connection personal.

We decided to focus on a physical need to which all young children can relate. You see, every child has been cold. And, most children have had the experience of putting on a nice, warm coat and getting toasty warm again. We thought that this would be an easy connection for young children and that they could feel empathy for another child who might not have a coat to keep them warm.

SO, during the month of November, we will be collecting New or Gently Used Coats for Kids. There will be orange tubs around the church where you can place your coats and help teach your preschooler how they can take care of someone, just as God has taken care of them.

Also, during the worship services, on November 21st, parents will have a chance to bring their coats to the front of the church. We will then display all the coats at the Thanksgiving Meal that Sunday night.

Bring your coats and we look forward to sharing the caring love of God with the community!!!

October Curriculum

Every kid wants to be a Superhero. If we're honest, most adults wouldn't mind being one either. We want to be able to do amazing things! We want to wear cool costumes! We want a cape!

The truth is we can all be Superheroes. We don't need a cape. We don't need to leap buildings. We don't need to see through walls. What we need to do is be strong and courageous and trust God to help us do what needs to be done.

People around us are Superheroes every day. There is the single parent who works all day, comes home to make dinner, and spends the rest of the evening just bonding with her children. There is the older woman next door who always has cookies, a listening ear and boundless wisdom ready to share with whomever stops by. There is the dad working two or three jobs so that his children can benefit from a stay-at-home mom. All of those people are Superheroes, and there isn't a cape in sight.

We want our preschoolers to know that they can be Superheroes too. They can be strong and courageous as they trust in God. They can help those around them and do things for others. They can be Superheroes even without the cape too.

But, capes are fun and so are Superheroes, so for the month of October, we're going to be Superheroes! We are wanting the preschoolers (and you too, if you want) to wear a cape each week during the month of October. They'll be more excited than ever to get dressed for church.

Here are a couple of links to some easy to make capes. Or be creative and come up with your own!

- http://floatingworld.typepad.com/superhero.pdf

- http://www.ehow.com/how_2331501_sew-cape.html

- http://www.inhabitots.com/2008/10/22/the-six-minute-superhero-cape/

I am looking forward to a great month and seeing so many Superheroes come to church each week! We will be teaching each month how preschoolers Can Always Count on God.

Check out our Facebook page for a vision video for the month of October. And remember to pick up a Small Talk sheet and help take what your preschooler is learning at church and bring it home!

First Look

This video will give you an idea into the curriculum that we are using both on Sundays and Wednesdays. Please check out other posts in the First Look tab for more information on this wonderful tool, that is helping teach basic foundational truths into preschoolers, so that they can get a closer look at Jesus.

I wanted to make you aware of the curriculum that we are using in the Treetop Ministries! It is called First Look! FL centers around giving preschoolers their First Look at their heavenly Father. There are three Basic Truths that the each child should know by the time that they leave the Treetop Ministries, and those are:

- God Loves Me

- God Made Me, and

- Jesus wants to be my friend forever!

Each month a Basic Truth is looked at and gives the direction for what is being taught that month! Each month also includes a Bottom Line (i.e. Jesus Loves Everyone (March's BL)), and a memory verse!

This curriculum really reaches to touch all of your child's senses and give them their First Look at Jesus!!!

BUT, we cannot do this alone! There are 8736 hours in each year! If you were to take the 104 hours (that's 2 hours a week) that you might be at church, and 2920 hours of sleep (average 8 a night), then you are left with just over 5700 hours that are yours.

What are you doing with those hours? Each month, the First Look curriculum, gives you what you need to re-emphasize what your child is learning at church! Each month you are given a take home sheet that gives you ideas on how to take what they are learning here, home!!

(many of you probably take that sheet and put it right in the trash!!!)

Through BathTime, PlayTime, DriveTime, and CuddleTime, you can spend the day teaching your child exactly what they are learning in the Treetop! Please take this sheet and put it somewhere that will remind you to live out Deuteronomy 6!

This is a huge partnership that everyone will benefit from! The church only has about 104 hours to make an impact on your child...you have over 5700 hours!

We want to partner with you to help give you the tools to make a spiritual impact on your child! These take home sheets are just a small way where you can help teach your child that God Loves Me, God Made Me, and Jesus wants to be my friend forever.