Alive! Plan for September 2

This is the second week of the BFF series in Grapple, and the topic is, Am I Only Supposed to be Friends with Christians? I'm sure the kids will have plenty to say about that one.

Click here for this week's lesson.

Remember: All kids must bring a Teacher Tag or be wearing a guest tag in order to enter the classroom. Children who aren't tagged should go check in electronically or come to Room 005 for a guest name tag. Thank you for helping us track attendance and keep our kids secure!

You all are doing a simply fantastic job. I'm so elated that you are leading our Alivers this year. Bless you!

Check-In for Alive!

Hello, leaders! I am curious to know how yesterday's lesson went - did you grapple? Let me know if you have feedback!

Looking at the Alive! roster from yesterday, I am so glad to see that you filled kids' names in even if they didn't have tags. That will be essential in case of a fire drill, etc.

However, 4th-5th graders must do Check-In before entering the classroom. If a child comes into your class without a nametag and teacher tag, please send them back out to the Check-In screen. We always prefer for parents to do Check-In for their kids, but that is just not always possible with this older, more independent group.

I'll send an e-mail to 4th-5th grade parents this week, reminding them that this group must be checked in before they go to Alive!. You can help by being the last defense! Just send kids to the Check-In screen, or walk them there yourself, to make sure everyone is checked in. Check-In is how we track attendance as well as maintain security.

Thank you!

Introducing... Kim Smith!

I am thrilled to introduce you all to Kim Smith, your Alive! representative on the Children’s Ministries Team. You may know her better as Charlie’s mom. J 

Kim is serving on the Children’s Ministry Team this year by meeting with me 3-4 times a month to discuss and design Sunday morning opportunities for 4^th-5^th graders. As a mom of a 5^th grader, she understands this age group and will help to be my eyes and sounding board for Alive!.

Kim is a great resource for you all as well. She may stop in from time to time to see how things are going and offer support. If you have any feedback about Alive!, questions about a certain issue or child, or if you want to pass along feedback to me in an easy and friendly way, please share those things with Kim. Since I am tied up with large group K-3^rd time at 10am, Kim can be a liaison for you.

So when you do see her, please thank her for taking this leadership role and share with her any ideas or feedback or experiences that will help us to design the best Sunday morning possible for our Alivers. 

August 26 - First Week of Grapple!

This week, Alive! begins your Grapple curriculum. Here is a link to this week's lesson, entitled Why do some people have more friends? This is the first in the Best Friends Forever series, which you will focus on for the next four weeks.

Online Access

At our training meeting, I told you that you would have online access to Grapple lessons. However, when I logged in online and looked at the lessons for this quarter, I quickly realized that the current content covers material that these kids have already heard at retreat and Wild last year!

So, for this semester, we are going old school. I have a leader book from another Grapple series, and my ministry coordinator, Valerie, is going to make copies of the leader book and scan them into PDFs. Once all the PDFs are created, I will post them here, so that you can see all the lessons for the quarter in one spot.

I do apologize for that speed bump, but it shouldn't stop us from having a fantastic first semester of Grapple. I love this Best Friends Forever series, and I hope you do too!

August 19 Alive! Plan

This Sunday, August 19, we will once again focus on getting to know one another and setting the groups' tone for the year.

Click here to look at this week's small group outline. Your morning will include discussion questions, games, setting class rules, and prayer.

Contact Sarah if you have any questions!

Promotion Sunday Outline

Are you ready for a fantastic Promotion Sunday! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Here is a link to the detailed small group outline for Promotion Sunday. Feel free to look over the plan prior to Sunday, but you are not required to do so! Copies of this outline will be available in the Scout Center when you arrive.

Please do remember to station one person in the main hallway to direct 4th-5th graders to the Scout Center. They are used to coming to Room 005 from the summer, so it may take some redirecting to get them to the right place! Thanks.

Call or text me with any questions (494-4729). See you Sunday!

Promotion Sunday - August 12

Promotion Sunday is August 12 at Christ Church! That means that all children from birth-high school will jump up to a new age group.

As a small group leader, you rotate Sundays with another team. That means that for half of you, August 12 is your first Sunday, and for the other half, August 19 will be your first Sunday with the kids.

Here's what you need to know: August 12 and 19 are introductory weeks. There will not be a set curriculum for these weeks, but rather an outline and get-to-know-you activities.

1. Arrive in Scout Center at 9:50am
1. Assign 1 leader to stand out in the hall to direct 4th-5th graders to the Scout Suite.
2. Greet at the door.
1. Put "Teacher Tags" in the binder.
2. Give the kids some interaction and fellowship time. 
3. At 10:10, begin the get-to-know you time
1. Do provided icebreaker activities together.
2. Ask about which schools they attend.
3. Set classroom expectations
4. Have everyone learn everyone's name.
5. Discuss the 4 Questions.
6. Take prayer requests and pray. 
4. At 11am, kids may be dismissed.
1. If their Teacher Tag says "Allow self-release", they are free to go.
2. If not, they must stay until a parent picks them up. 

4 Questions

1. Where have you seen God's love in your life this week?
2. How are you growing in God's love this week?
3. Who has God put in your path that needs to experience his love this week?
4. How have you shown God's love this week? 

The mission of Christ Church is becoming living proof of God's love, one person at a time. This mission is for all ages! Asking and answering these four questions will help children internalize and live out these questions.

Take at least 5 minutes each week to ask one or more of these questions in your class.