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God is the curriculum Does this mean we only teach the Bible in a Christian school?

God is the curriculum Just a minute! We didn’t say: “The Bible is the curriculum.” God is.

To know God Isn’t the aim of the Christian life to know God? Is it possible to know the Bible without knowing God?

God is the curriculum Making the Bible the curriculum does not necessarily bring students to know God. But we can use the Bible to show what God is like. We must not only point students to God through the Bible, but point them to God as seen in the world around us. God has something to say on EVERYTHING!

Creation The whole of creation speaks to us about God. We can see God at work in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and EVERY area of study, and the whole of life. All knowledge is God’s.

To know God Relationship Friendship Trust Obedience Love Call Him our Father Communicate with Him

Results of knowing Him Eternal life Grace and peace Love Him and others Worship Him Become more like Him Be His witnesses

Start with God Make God, His character, his nature the FIRST focus of the Christian school. Then teach the Bible OUT of who God is. Make connections between: Who God is What the Bible says about who He is What we see in the world around us.

Example of a connection God is Wise – it is wise to obey Topic: Road safety Bible story: Jonah – didn’t obey Connection: Be wise when crossing the road. Obey the road rules.

A God-centred lesson How do I make my lesson to be like a well-blended milkshake and not a pizza?

The ABC principle Think of a 3-pronged fork A – attribute of God B – Bible C – character development Who is the handle? The teacher. The teacher explains to the students the connection between ABC.

More examples of connections Science topic: light A - God is Light B – Ps. 119 – Your word is a lamp unto my feet; Acts 9 – Saul changed to Paul through light. C – Choose righteousness and walk in the light

More examples of connections Science / social studies topic: Plant life A – God is Life B – The woman at the well learned about the living water C – God gives life to His creation. He gives life to me. The Holy Spirit can help me live as Jesus wants me to live. This is a different, but deeper approach to finding all the references to the plants in the Bible.

The Bible is not just for devotions We can use it and refer to it in our subject lessons.

Hearing God’s voice in knowing what to teach Clean heart Lay down our own “good ideas” Invite the Holy Spirit to guide us Ask the Holy Spirit to give us the ideas that HE wants Listen to God Write it down

Some more examples of connections God is Protector - “Shelter” God is Truth - “Fossils” God is a Loving Provider - “My Country” God is Pure and Holy - “Pollution” God is a Servant - “The Medical Profession”

How do we know if the students are getting the point? Ask them: What is the main thing we are learning about God in our class at the moment? How does our topic, (e.g. “the water cycle”) show us this? What have we learned from the Bible that shows us that God is…

Planning a unit of study God is…(attribute) and topic Scripture Outcomes: Knowledge; Skills; Values Questions Activities Other subjects

Verbs to describe your activities Read Draw Discuss Listen to Create Describe compare Demonstrate

Research Design Make Record Define Explain Measure

Whole school focus There is great blessing when the whole primary school works together on the same attribute. There is a deep understanding of the attribute across the school community.

Evaluation – Measuring what they have learned a short description of the day’s work on the topic a worksheet an oral summary / class presentation label a diagram a short quiz a single-word answer test (includes true/false) assessment of a project a journal entry class presentation Teacher’s observation