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Last Login: 1/14/2008 1:50:25 PM
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| This is a trail from a church that started FaithWeaver in Fall 2006. Please know that our revisions are based on feedback we hear from you, so any specifics you can provide help us most. Here's the posting trail: Hello, I am from Bethany Lutheran Church in Iowa and this is our first time using Faith weaver and i just ordered the winter quarter. most of our teachers like the curriculum usually the ones that utilize the cd and everything in the teacher pack. one complaint that i have from the teachers is that they are not too impressed with the student workbook, but our 3rd/4th grade teachers say they do not like the program and our preschool teacher said the preschool program is way over their heads and we did not order a program for that age group this time. the classes that like this the best are 5th/6th and the kindergarten group but they are also the only teachers that utilize the teacher pack and cd's just wondering how other churches feel about this program and what their experience has been. Helen Finer, Co-Superintendent ------------------------ Hi, Helen! Your feedback is important to us! We'd love to know of any specifics from the teachers that are not impressed, as we strive to revise our resources based on feedback like yours. So any details about what is working and what is not greatly helps. If you could check in and let me know, I'd greatly appreciate it. And if I can be of service in any other way, please let me know. God bless you and your ministry!
Deb Bernard, Curriculum Senior Marketing Manager ----------------------- Hi Helen,
I've taught 2-3rd grade for about 10 years at our church (Vineyard Christian Fellowship outside Boston). Faithweaver is the 3rd curriculum we've used since I've been there and it is a keeper. We've used this for about 5 years.
I thought the fall curriculum for 3-4th (which is what we use for 2-3 - does that prove that all kids ARE above average?  ) was pretty good. Here are some things I learned through the years:
1. it can be very easy to do the activities and never bring it back to the key verse or the Bible point. I make a special practice of writing both on the board and referring to them after each activity.
2. I consider the curriculum to be a menu. Almost always I'll find 2 of the 4-5 activities I know my kids will like. As you know, when kids this age like something they want to camp out there and do it again and again - GREAT! It can reinforce the point! Once I tried to rush through so that we accomplished all the activities, and that was a BIG MISTAKE - there's too much there!
3. My kids MUST have movement - they simply cannot sit at a table for the entire lesson (45 minutes). My one complaint with Faithweaver is that they do not always have a movement activity in a lesson. Ususally they do, but not always. On those days I create movement by having one side of the room mean "agree" and the other mean "disagree" and have the answer questions from the lesson by running to one side of the room or the other.
4. If there is any way your church can use the Faithweaver KidsOwn Worship program (check it out at www.KidsOwnWorship.com), that made a HUGE difference for us. The kids have gotten (most) of their wiggles out there, they've had a time of singing and dancing, and they've already been primed for the lesson. It is the best running start you can give a teacher.
I suppose what I like best about FaithWeaver is that it works. The entire church is learning the same lesson, and it's really easy to prepare for once the teachers get the hang of it. I guess as you can tell, we're big believers.
God bless you!
Dick Cryan
Vineyard Christian Fellowship Metrowest ------------------------ When I used FaithWeaver, we found it was too advanced for the age groups they say. I used Prek-K for grades K-1, the 1-2 for grades 2-3, and the 3-4 for grades 4-6. I did get the 5-6 teacher's manual and the Preschool manual just to supplement. And then we also had the KidsOwn Worship to mix/match with. That's the beauty of FaithWeaver. I'd still be using it if I could get teachers, especially those willing to put in the prep time to help with the mixing and matching. I'm using Living Inside Out now, and find it easier to get the help. But I still think FaithWeaver is great! ----------------- So as you can see, there is a great ability with FaithWeaver to mix and match. If you find the activities too easy or too difficult as you heard above, just go up or down an age level (with perforated student pages, there is no grage level printed on your handouts). In addition, you can always use the free Teacher Tips from any age level for additional ideas for your lesson. Keep sharing your thoughts! And God bless you and your ministry!
Deb Bernard
Curriculum Senior Marketing Manager
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Forum Expert
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 1/14/2008 1:50:25 PM
Posts: 234,
Visits: 320
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| Here is feedback from another church new to FaithWeaver: Hello, We started using the Faithweaver curriculum this Fall in our Sunday morning service and the Fw Friends on Wed. nights. I love everything about the curriculum. It challenges the kids instead of boring them. It offers more than enough things for teachers to choose from based on their individual group. I love the way it goes through the Bible, not only teaching the strories, but putting them is an appropriate sequence. We have our classes broken up more than what the curriculum does, which is fine, except we have to try to share teacher packs, cd's, posters, etc. In that respect it makes for great difficulty for our teachers to prep during the week. Is there anything in the works for providing multi resource teacher packs or something equivalent to this? There really isn't any way that we could afford to purchase separate teacher packs for every teacher nor can we continue to use this curriculum when we add another service to our schedule. One other thing. I would love to see the same bible point being used in all the services. It gets confusing to the kids when they get one on Sunday and a different one during the same week on Wednesday. Thanks! ------------------- Thanks for your feedback, and welcome to the FaithWeaver family! We appreciate your ideas, so keep on sharing them. I'm not sure if I understand completely what you're looking for in terms of parts of the Teacher Pack. We did just make the CD, which is part of the Pack, available separately, as we have heard from others that the CD is something they'd like to be able to purchase for when they have more teachers for ease of prep. Let me know if that helps you out, or how else we could help! And about the Point -- good point! Of course we're exploring the same Bible story, but I can see how one Bible Point would help. I'll share this with our development team. I know it's not convenient, but I wonder if you could share the Bible Points from Sunday with your Wednesday crew (or vice versa) and have them use one ... But we'll take a look at it, too. I'd love to hear what others think about this. If we can be of service in any other way, let us know! God bless you and your ministry!
Deb Bernard
Curriculum Senior Marketing Manager
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