One thought we have been batting around is plugging in our new Boz curriculum for this wonderful age level. We would love to hear your thoughts. Please join our discussions!

The format of our classes drastically changes from the 2's to the 3's. The 3's have special issues of their own. It seems the 3 yr old year is one of those 'light bulb' years when learning God's Word. Our 3 yr old 'guru teacher' strongly prefers to have them without other ages, even if the group is small. She gives them as much individual attention as possible, making the classroom their very own room. With their rapidly growing language skills, she gives them longer memory work. Sometimes the students memorize an entire verse. 

We have found when we had the 5's not yet in Kindergarten and the K together, the combination was not a good mix. Kindergarten students were exploding with newly developed skills, and 5's were in observation mode. After 3 quarters into the year, many of the kindergarten students were readers. 

Thanks for your input Lanae! This is exactly the kind of information we need as we move forward in our development. So you see the need for a separate 3-year-old curriculum, a preschool curriculum, and a kindergarten one?

This was part of a discussion we had recently. Kids these ages are progressing so rapidly that the development even over the course of just a few months can mean monumental differences in capabilities.

In regard to combining three's and four's, I have some hesitation. I do agree that three's are more advanced than two-year-olds. However, there are some significant developmental differences between three's and four's that need some evaluation. We have separate three-year-old classes in our church and are fortunate enough to have the numbers and volunteers to do that. I was an early childhood/children's ministry professor for the past ten years and visited several smaller churches that combined early childhood ages in a variety of ways. There are many mixed opinions about where to place a three-year-old. I have done a lot of research in graduate school and beyond in the area of early childhood development. I also owned a moderate-sized preschool before becoming a professor. Developmentally, theorists such as Piaget, Erikson, and Fowler would place two's and three's together and four's and five's together in cognitive, social-emotional, and spiritual development. Practically speaking, there are differences in the way these guys play. Three's are in tranisition between parallel play and interactive play. Some play well together and some don't. Four's and five's are focused on friendships. They can work on projects together such as building towers and puzzles and dramatic play scenarios. Three's have a harder time doing that or can't at all. Small motor skills are often significantly different for three's and four's especially for boys. Three-year-old boys often struggle with cutting skills and coloring skills. These types of differences will affect the writing of activities in your curriculum. I have found BIL does well with the activities for four's and five's. Given more options that are geared toward a three-year-old, you could include them with the preschoolers. However, I woud suggest that you provide more advanced activities with your Toddler curriculum and make it a 2's and 3's curriculum. I really think that three's are being left out as the curriculum exists. And--in my wildest imagination, I'd love to see BIL offer a Babies curriculum on a one-year scope and sequence that incorporates Gospel Light concepts and Palma Smiley. The pass-it material with guided conversation, the music, etc. is wonderful for babies.

Wow, Sherry!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Some of the dilemmas you brought up are things we keep kicking around here at Cook as well. The development of children this age can change dramatically from 36 months to even 40 months. We are certainly considering some of the ideas you posted here. We so appreciate your input!

Kerry

Sherry, you nailed it. We also use Palma Smily for cradle roll and two's.

Straying from the subject, I have a story from this last Sunday. We had a sub for the three yr. old class. This college-age sub was one of the actors in our vbs skits last summer. Her character was a frustrated, unsure, sickly character who wanted to make correct choices, but always seemed to find herself listening to wrong ideas. A normally quiet three yr old boy in Sunday's class called her by her vbs character name throughout the whole classtime (Mind you this was November, five months after vbs). She tried to tell him her real name, but to no avail. He first asked, "Are you sick now?" Then proceeded to ask question after question, "you like my sweater?" "you like this...you like this"...asking if she liked virtually everything he was wearing. He sat next to her in class, wanted her to do the puzzles with him, and then at the end of class, still calling her by her stage name, he smiled, flashed his big brown eyes at her and asked her to go to church with him, ie, sit with him in worship. How precious! What do you think, three going on sixteen!

Maybe it's not such a random story. We all want engaged students retaining concepts from class to class, even when they are very young. 

EDITED by user on 2008-11-06 04:44:42

Lanae's comment about the use of drama as a connecting point with this 3 year old is an important point. Kids connect so well and almost best with drama. It's all over our VBS programs. We write these ourselves--both opening program drama and Bible dramas. I also use a lot of drama and single role plays in my own teaching and did so in the preschool I owned. The overwhelming remark from parents in the use of drama has been, "My kids are telling me things about the Bible I didn't even know."

Thanks for sharing Lanae and Sherry!

We are intentionally trying to build in appropriate drama at each age level because of the power inherent with the medium. Your thoughts only serve to confirm our direction. How exciting it is to see how God is leading this revision forward. Please continue to uplift this project in prayer!

Blessings on your work for the kingdom!

Kerry