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Topic: Kidology Spotlight Resource: DiscipleLand

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Tannerman
Administrator

Steve Tanner - Kidology Web Director

Joined: 12 August 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 1420

Posted: 18 March 2008 at 5:10pm \| IP Logged

This thread is for discussion of the Kidology Spotlight Ministry Resource report on DiscipleLand curriculum. It's a resource we believe deserves a closer look by leaders in the children's ministry marketplace.

Click above to download this
Kidology Spotlight Ministry Resource report
What are your thoughts? Share them below!

ron hughey
Premium Member

Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 6

Posted: 19 March 2008 at 8:42am \| IP Logged

I've looked at this curriculum and agree that it looks pretty good. My church however has a really unusual attendance pattern. Only about 35% of the kids are there every week. This makes it hard to do curriculum like this (especially with student workbooks.)

Becky54
Premium Member

Joined: 10 September 2005
Posts: 345

Posted: 19 March 2008 at 3:40pm \| IP Logged

Do I understand it correctly, that this is a 1 year curriculum that you reuse year after year?? How does it grow with the kids? Love the concept of making disciples! Just would like some clarity on how you use it for 6 years.
Could someone fill me in?

Kidologist
Administrator

Karl Bastian

Joined: 20 October 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 3203

Posted: 21 March 2008 at 11:09am \| IP Logged

ron hughey wrote:

Only about 35% of the kids are there every week. This makes it hard to do curriculum like this (especially with student workbooks.)

One of the nice features of the student books, is that you DONT buy a "book" per student. The student books come apart into individual worksheets.

This was actually a change they did in response to feedback. My church had the same issue, and we were cutting the books apart already, but then you had 2 loose sheets. They redid the book so there is only one staple at the center and they reordered the pages so that you remove the staple and pull the book apart and the 2 pages are joined as one 11x17.

This means you do NOT have to buy one book per student, but you buy only your average attendance. If you have 35 kids in 1st grade, but only average 20 kids, you can buy 20 books (or 22, which is what I would do) and then you will have enough with no waste. Granted, the kids are missing some content, but you can't help that, and they would miss something no matter what you taught.

Hope this helps. I think DL addresses this reality very well and has adapted to accommodate it.

Kidologist
Administrator

Karl Bastian

Joined: 20 October 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 3203

Posted: 21 March 2008 at 11:18am \| IP Logged

Becky54 wrote:

Do I understand it correctly, that this is a 1 year curriculum that you reuse year after year?? How does it grow with the kids? Just would like some clarity on how you use it for 6 years.

Great question. It isn't a one year curriculum. It is a one year CYCLE. Let me explain the difference. Most curriculum have a two to three year cycle, which means if you are a first grade teacher you get new material every quarter for two or three years before you repeat a lesson. In DiscipleLand the first grade curriculum is the same every year, but that's OK, kids are only IN first grade for one year!

But ever grade has a one year curriculum, so there is one year of Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade. If you have combined classes, such as when I had 5-6th grade, then you use Level 5 one year and Level 6 the next, and then repeat Level 5 as you'll have all new kids. (this would be what a two year cycle is)

Honestly, the reason most curriculums are two to three years in cycle (and dated) is simply to produce more sales, as you will need to buy all new material ever year, and it would be rare for any church to be organized enough to save material from three years ago with the rotation of staff and teachers that is common to children's ministry. And even if they did (I did in an inner city church low on funds) you will have to manually cross out and rewrite the date on everything. (which we did)

DiscipeLand is not focused on sales, they are focused on created a smart curriculum that best fits what real ministry looks like.

Teachers will love teaching the same thing every year. I literally had teachers call me to thank me, write me notes telling me they loved that, and some even said the reason they were coming back for a second year was BECAUSE they could re-do what they had done last year, the hard work was over (learning the material) now they could just teach it!

I hope this helps clarify!

You can use it for SEVEN YEARS.

Note: the preschool IS a two year cycle because two's and three's are combined, and 4's and 5's are combined, as they are in most churches, but the student books are the same, pull apart, so buy your average attendance, not number of students.

Becky54
Premium Member

Joined: 10 September 2005
Posts: 345

Posted: 21 March 2008 at 6:51pm \| IP Logged

I love what I see but if 1st-6th graders are in one classroom all together how could we make it work? I could divide the kids up in 2 classes (6-8) and (9-12) but could that work and if so, what level would you use for those combined ages? Lot's of questions but I would really like to use DiscipleLand.

Kidjoni
CP Team
CP Team

Joni Lum, Kidology Champion

Joined: 11 February 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 1618

Posted: 23 March 2008 at 1:34am \| IP Logged

I've been contemplating for a while...but I'm going to have to move a little slower than I'd like. I saw their materials a few years back at CPC and really, really liked what I saw. I was especially impressed with their attention to multiethnic representation--i guess I'm a little sensitive to that being from an ethnic church of mostly asians.

I really like their 6th grade curriculum on how to study the Bible for yourself.

__________________
Connecting Kids to Jesus

dgerlitz
Premium Member

Joined: 07 July 2005
Posts: 11

Posted: 26 March 2008 at 12:17am \| IP Logged

Becky54 wrote:

Hi Becky, We've been using Discipleland in combined classrooms and it works well. There is so much material, it takes nothing for a good teacher to find and adapt ideas that will work with a combined class. When I order, I just order the next series or level...the teachers are good at tweaking. Don't be afraid to try it because of combined classes...it's wonderful. I think your teachers will love it!

And, if there is concern about the workpages, I actually had one teacher ask me not to order them this quarter. She said there is so much stuff between the teacher's guide and the suggestions on the website that she isn't using them at this point. I'm not worried about whether the kids are 'getting' the information because she's a good teacher.

Hope this helps...I'm a huge fan of the curriculum!! We have the bells and whistles during children's church. I feel like this is a great compliment to our children's church program.

Becky54
Premium Member

Joined: 10 September 2005
Posts: 345

Posted: 26 March 2008 at 9:18am \| IP Logged

Hi Denise,

Thank you for the input. May I ask if you use the "core" or "adventure"? If "core", what age level would you start at with combined ages of 6-12 or did you just start at Level one and work on through?

Thank you for the help. I really want to implement this in our CM. The more I look at the website, the more excited I am about starting!

Becky

dgerlitz
Premium Member

Joined: 07 July 2005
Posts: 11

Posted: 26 March 2008 at 1:24pm \| IP Logged

Hi Becky,

We use 'core' because I love the scope and sequence!! Our combined classes are pre/k...1/2...3/4/5. When we began using DL, I just chose the level where the majority of the kids were. For us that meant we began at the beginning of levels K, 1 and 3. Had I had more 5th graders, I would have chose level 5. Now that we're 'locked in', I'm just going to continue in order.

If you want to keep your group as one big group, I'd eliminate the workpages and just work off the teacher's guide. It'll be a little more time consuming, but doable. Or, of course, you could use the "Adventure" series...but you'd miss the scope and sequence that makes this program so special. (It sounds so funny to hear myself say that because I'm a home educating mom who threw 'scope and sequence" out the window a looooong time ago Wink .)

If your group is large enough to divide in half, then go for it and order the level that corresponds to where the majority of your kids are. Like I said, creative teachers will make it happen!!

Again, I hope this helps.

In His Service and Lovin' It, Denise

ron hughey
Premium Member

Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 6

Posted: 26 March 2008 at 2:24pm \| IP Logged

Kidologist wrote:

ron hughey wrote:

Only about 35% of the kids are there every week. This makes it hard to do curriculum like this (especially with student workbooks.)

Thanks for this info. I did not know. I will take a closer look at this material now!

By the way. I think I was stalking you at CPC (Orlando). I kept asking, "Has anyone seen Karl, I want one of those buttons."

Everyone kept saying, "He was just here, I don't know where is now!"

Thanks again

Becky54
Premium Member

Joined: 10 September 2005
Posts: 345

Posted: 26 March 2008 at 2:47pm \| IP Logged

Hi Denise,

Thank You. You answered exactly what I needed to know. Now I can go ahead and order more confidently! I also liked the "core" better and was hoping I could work with it. Thank you again.

Hopefully this will help others also!

Becky

Kidologist
Administrator

Karl Bastian

Joined: 20 October 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 3203

Posted: 17 April 2008 at 5:49pm \| IP Logged

DiscipleLand has just created a very helpful PowerPoint presentation that helps explain how DiscipleLand works, you can download it here:

http://www.discipleland.com/training

Kidologist
Administrator

Karl Bastian

Joined: 20 October 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 3203

Posted: 19 April 2008 at 5:57pm \| IP Logged

We have posted a FANTASTIC ARTICLE by DiscipleLand founder Mark Steiner titled, What Kids Need. Check it out! (and download the PDF version, as it was extra content)

Becky54
Premium Member

Joined: 10 September 2005
Posts: 345

Posted: 25 July 2008 at 8:22am \| IP Logged

Just an update. We ended up dividing our kids 6-9 and 10-12 and used DiscipleLand with the younger and it was amazing! The kids loved it, which is totally cool because it didn't have any "high techy" stuff, but kept their undivided attention. I loved that during our review this past Wed the kids retained most everything! This is 2 thumbs up! Thank you Karl for introducing us to this. I would not hesitate to tell anyone to give this a try. They will be hooked!

nateb
Premium Member

Joined: 24 March 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 133

Posted: 12 August 2008 at 11:08am \| IP Logged

We switched over to DiscipleLand starting this fall. The resources look great and it is so biblically solid. Quite refreshing, in fact. All the teachers are excited about this change.