Curricula Choices

Wood Lake Publishing offers a variety of curricula choices to meet the needs of your church – large or small. For more information call our friendly Customer Service Representatives toll-free at 1.800.663.2775.

 

Seasons of the Spirit

www.seasonsonline.ca

Seasons of the Spirit offers 3 Delivery Choices:
  • in Print
  • on Disk
  • on the Web

Seasons of the Spirit is an international, lectionary-based church school curriculum that builds strong faith communities by centring the ministries of Christian education, worship, and service around common scriptures each week. Beginning in September 2011, coordination of these ministries happens through the SeasonsFUSION resource.

Seasons resources invite your whole faith community to imaginatively engage scripture through activities, discussion, current events, and the arts, and sends them into the contemporary world to test, share, and live out their faith.

Praise for Seasons of the Spirit

“We have been using Seasons for seven years. One year we tried Gather 'Round, but returned to Seasons for many reasons: 1. Followed Common Lectionary; 2. Content is excellent; 3. Less consumable material/waste;  4. Price is very reasonable.

“I've been so happy with this curriculum, even more so now that I receive the lessons via the internet. It is so easy to email the plans to the teachers and print only what I need. The artwork is beautiful and the inclusive language of the lessons is welcome. It is not dogmatic in its message; it invites the teacher and the students on a journey to discover and nurture their relationship with God and come to Christ in their own way and time. Another thing I enjoy about the curriculum is that it gives us a chance to sit with our students and really share the stories of the Bible and relate them to our lives today.

“Our congregation leans toward a more progressive theology, but our delivery is pretty traditional. The lessons always have choices for an activity that the kids do that they take home. We have been really successful using this curriculum. Our families like it, our children like it, and our teachers like it! At a recent new-members class, one of the folks said that they really liked that at our church they didn't have to worry about what their kids were learning in Sunday school and they were glad to know that they didn't have to go home and re-teach anything.”

~ Santina Poor, Minister of Christian Education
Mission Hills United Church of Christ, San Diego, CA

 

"Seasons of the Spirit is the perfect addition to our children’s programming. The kids not only hear Bible stories geared toward their own developmental level, but they also have opportunities to explore the story and respond in creative ways. By usingSeasons of the Spirit, our children also become familiar with the liturgical year, liturgical colors, the meaning of worship, the ways we worship (singing, praying, listening to the Word, artistic response, giving, and even eating at the Lord’s Table). It is more than just curriculum; it is setting the foundation for each child’s life-long journey through Christian education. Parents are delighted with the knowledge their children are gaining each Sunday morning and our lay leaders look forward to seeing what the curriculum as to offer each and every week. As a children’s minister, I have found the perfect educational resource in Seasons of the Spirit for the smallest of God’s spiritual beings."

~Reverend Lea M. McCracken, Northway Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), Dallas, TX USA

 

The Best of Whole People of God Online

www.wholepeopleofgod.com

Back in a new way! Flexible, easy-to-use, reasonably priced, and now available online. Curriculum resources for smaller churches. The Best of Whole People of God Online nurtures children, youth, and adults through integrated worship and learning providing active and thoughtful engagement with the scriptures.

The Best of Whole People of God Online is lectionary-based and has material for each week for Nursery, Beginner, Primary, Junior, and Youth age groups. It also includes Intergenerational Services, Worship ideas, and At Home ideas for families, all of which can be downloaded from your computer – print only what you need. The cost is based on the average church attendance of your congregation (adults and children combined).

 

 

 

Experience! Faith Formation Curriculum for Adults

These curriculum modules have been created in response to Marcus Borg's call for "adult theological re-education." As Marcus Borg explains, "Christian theological re-education needs to be about the big topics: God, Jesus, the Bible, faith, and practice. Common understandings of all of these have become problematic for many thoughtful Christians."

 

www.thethoughtfulchristian.com

thethoughtfulchristian.com is recommended by Wood Lake Publishing as a Youth and Adult curriculum resource.

 

 

 

 

PowerXpress

Ideal for churches using a rotation format where children alternate between learning stations each week. Engage children in Bible stories and characters by using your volunteers' skills as artists, cooks, musicians, technicians, or fun-loving teachers.

Designed for children in kindergarten through grade six, this curriculum provides complete lesson plans, scripts, and activities as needed.

UNITS: Each unit typically lasts 3-5 weeks. PowerXPress is reproducible, so you only need to order one copy of each unit. Each unit comes with a music CD.

Each PowerXpress unit includes eight stations: Art, Computer*, Cooking, Games, Music, Science, Storytelling, and Video*.

*NOTE: if you are interested in Computer, Video, or Storytelling stations, you will need to purchase additional materials listed in the resource.

 

Come Join the Circle

Come Join the Circle welcomes learners and leaders into the heart of the Bible’s great stories. These rotation-style learning materials help create the kind of learning environment where the Bible is at the centre, and fun and creativity abound. Can be used for VBS, multi-age, or traditional age-graded classes for ages 3 to 12.

Each unit of Come Join the Circle is complete and self-contained with enough material and activities for learners age 3 to12 to explore a Bible story for 3–6 sessions. No extra resources, CDs, or music to purchase. Each unit includes:

  • biblical background
  • learning center information
  • materials list
  • music CD
  • printed music
  • full-colour teaching pictures
  • congregational connections

Come Join the Circle Planning Guide: Offers an introduction to the resource; its approach, theological assumptions, the role of multiple intelligences, and unit material. It offers leadership training, outlines, staff and facility needs. Includes sample schedules, a bibliography for further reading, plus a commissioning service.

What to Order

  • Posters, unit news­letter, print music, and music CD are included with each unit. Come Join the Circle is reproducible, so you only need to order one copy of each unit.
  • Congregations new to rotation-style learning may also wish to purchase the Planning Guide.

Come Join the Circle and PowerXpress employ the theory of “Multiple Intelligences” in the learning centers. Howard Gardner, research professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education asserts that each person possesses at least nine “intelligences” and uses them in learning:

  • Linguistic
  • Musical
  • Logical/Mathematical
  • Spatial
  • Kinesthetic
  • Intrapersonal
  • Naturalist
  • Existentialist