Road Trip is a high-energy program with participatory large group times and small group centers. Your children will travel to a different center each week where the same bible story is covered through different sensory media. One week, children might learn about the bible story in the computer lab, another week in games, a third week in art, and a fourth week in cooking or science. For a recent unit on the early church, we baked bread for an agape feast, made a pretend newspaper in computer lab called the Jerusalem Times, made a “What Happened Next” painting of Peter and John healing the man by the Beautiful Gate, and played jail break games in games with pool noodles. This program takes place in the church's multi-purpose building and begins promptly at 9:15 AM in the carpeted Road Trip large group area through the double glass doors.
 MERGE is a shared experience for parents and children. MERGE features music, games, skits, and fun for parents and children to share. Each MERGE is organized by a virtue of the month that is in turn reinforced at Road Trip. In the past, we’ve met characters such as Virtue Girl and Captain Old Testament, been blasted by a Toilet Paper blaster, gotten charged by a Van de Graaff generator, and tasted food people eat at Purim. MERGE takes place every other month on the first Sunday of the month in the Road Trip large group area in the multi-purpose building at 10:30 AM. Take-home resources centered on virtues are available for parents to purchase after MERGE.
At SERVE, parents and kids work together on a service project. SERVE was born out of a desire to teach children the values of generosity and compassion. At our last SERVE, we raised money to purchase goats for poor families through World Vision. SERVE alternates with MERGE on first Sundays. SERVE meets in the Road Trip large group area before the 10:00am service.
Research shows that children remember only 10% of what they hear but about 90% of what they do. We recognize that children learn the best by using all five of their senses, so we use an active approach to Christian education. Preschoolers may touch, smell, taste, see, move and hear throughout our time together. Each week children participate in a variety of fun and memorable learning experiences that help them understand the story of the month.
We offer both a preschool class for ages two and three and a pre-kindergarten for ages four and five. We use a bible and learner-centered curriculum that features opening activities, a tactile storyboard, music, art, an interactive bulletin board and a puppet. Preschool takes place in room 2 at the back of the church building. Pre-kindergarten takes place in the Pre-K room located on the far side of Café BayMarin in the multi-purpose building.
In our nursery, we value safety and security. We believe that creating an environment of trust and security at church begins building the foundation of a spiritual life in the context of community. We have purchased a new state-of-the-art, parent-paging system to provide peace of mind for parents and their children. Our teachers use finger plays, stories, and rhymes to engage babies and toddlers in their first learning experiences at church. We have a paid nursery coordinator who serves in the nursery every week in order to ensure consistency for our littlest ones. This program serves ages 0-2 and takes place in room 1, located at the back of the main church building.
Feel free to contact Dee Cobia if you would like any information about our children's program.
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