Five models for Christian Curriculum

1. Separate Bible curriculum
   This approach places Bible instruction in separate compartments, such as a daily or weekly chapel service or set periods for Bible study which are slotted into the timetable, and treated as a separate subject. Memory verses are related to the Bible program and not connected to subject areas. The content of subjects like English, Science, Social Sciences, resembles that of secular schools, and has no reference to God within the subject. The separatist approach is an outworking of our society’s Greek thinking. The Greeks compartmentalized areas of education, and religion was places in its own separate compartment, never to be integrated with other areas of learning. This is directly opposed to Biblical Hebrew thinking, where God was at the centre of all learning, and integrated into all areas of education.
   
2. The Christian life approach
   This approach relies on the input of a teacher who is led by the Holy Spirit and competent in hearing the voice of God. There is interweaving of God or the Bible in the written curriculum. There may be an introductory statement to reinforce a Biblical World View, but English, Science, Social Sciences for example, do not contain Biblical subject matter in their contents. It is left to the teacher to impart Biblical teaching as the Holy Spirit leads. But the disadvantage here is that we may not be able to rely on every teacher, every day, to be in tune with what God is saying, and if God does speak into a particular subject, it is just for a temporary moment. If God had been allowed to speak at the curriculum development stage, God’s perspective on that topic could have been used again and again.
   
3. The ‘Bible insertion’ approach
   An example of this approach is the use of single Bible or memory verses that are tacked-on to the end of a lesson. The Bible verse would have some relationship to the content of the lesson. For example, a lesson on the solar system could be concluded with the Bible verse: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God’. A study of trees could be linked up with ‘Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree.’ A Bible story may also be pulled out because its subject matter has something to do with the class topic. A study of sea creatures for example could be linked with ‘Jonah and the whale’. This approach can have varying degrees of depth or shallowness, and the danger lies in selecting verses just because they include a related noun or verb, and not really giving God’s perspective or insight into a topic and not really teaching us about God Himself.
   
4. Symbolism
   Symbolism is the key tool of object lessons. It takes Biblical symbols and applies them to every day life. For example, a Science experiment where a jar is placed over a lighted candle shows that fire will be extinguished when there is lack of oxygen. This can be related to a Christian needing the Holy Spirit as the source of life, every moment of every day. This approach has the advantage of helping the students to see and understand Biblical concepts in a visual way, and has a memorable impact. The only problem is that if this is the only way we integrate Biblical truth, the number of truths taught will be restricted to the number of symbols we can come up with.
   
5. Integrated God-centred curriculum
   Many schools believe that their curriculum is God-centred, or Christ-centred because they use one or more of the above four approaches. However, an integrated God-centred curriculum is far closer to the Biblical Hebrew approach. And why should we desire to use a Biblical Hebrew approach?
   
   Deut 11:18-19
   Fix these words of mine on your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
   
   The Hebrew approach is like a chocolate milk shake. Broken into its compartments we have cocoa powder, sugar, milk, and possibly ice-cream. The Greek approach would keep the four ingredients separated. The Hebrews would blend them all together, so that we can’t even detect the separate ingredients. An integrated Christian curriculum would blend the person of God, and the words of God, into subject areas in such a way that we don’t even notice the barrier between learning about God and learning about our world.
   

How can this be done?

1. Pray for God’s perspective on curriculum.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the person of God.
3. Ask for revelation on what God is saying about the topic or subject area. What does this topic or subject area teach us about Himself? What does God want to teach us about Christian living and our relationship with Him?
   

The character and nature of God
The Bible teaches us about the person of God – His nature, His character. While all Bible stories teach us about principles for living, they also teach us about the person of God.
‘The loaves and the fishes’ teaches us that God is a provider.
‘Jesus calmed the storm’ teaches us that God is all-powerful.
‘The escape from Egypt’ teaches us that God is a deliverer, God is a protector.
‘Zacchaeus’ teaches us that God is loving, compassionate and merciful.
‘The prodigal son’ teaches us that God is a forgiving father.
‘The Great Flood’ teaches us that God is a judge, He is pure and holy..

The character and nature of God can be explored in depth through the Bible. We can integrate the character and nature of God into subject areas by asking, ‘What does this topic teach us about God?’ Here are some examples:

As we find God’s perspective on the topic, we then find Bible stories and passages that teach us about the same attribute of God. So the story of the Exodus may surprisingly be used at the same time as teaching about the body, because both teach us about God’s protection. The story of the prodigal son may be used at the same time as teaching about culture conflict, because the lesson in both is that God is forgiving.

Topic related directly to a spiritual theme (God is…), can become the overwhelming influence in a classroom for the duration of that topic. It is helpful to decorate the classroom accordingly, with banners stating who God is, with Scripture verses, and for younger children, illustrated Bible stories. These all appear alongside posters and student work on the current topic.

Connections with God should never be forced. However, connections should be made wherever possible, and these connections should be stated explicitly in the written curriculum. The aim of an integrated God-centred curriculum is to give tools for creating an environment or framework that reflects particular aspects of God. The classroom setting becomes the cholcolate milkshake, where God’s principles are blended into the whole. The setting becomes the memory aid, the reminder, the flavour, the spiritual core of the unit of study.

A curriculum only becomes ‘Christian’ at the grass roots level. Unless the teacher can impart to the students God’s perspective in the topic of study, then the goal has not been achieved. Students must be regularly reminded throughout the day, of who God is, and His relationship with us. He should not be confined to ‘Bible’ lessons.

Integration – When can I teach about the character and nature of God?

1. Devotional periods
   What does it mean to us personally?
   •    Which Bible passages speak about the spiritual theme? Stories? Memory verses?
   •    Are there any personal Christian testimonies, which prove God to be true in this way?
   •    How does the theme relate to Christian living?
   
2. Science/ sociology/history/geography
   •    Make the link between God’s creation and the Creator, the provider, the all-powerful true and only God.
   •    Relate Bible story/stories that remind us of this aspect of God.
   •    Provide opportunity for research, using a variety of media.
   
3. Music
   •    Choose songs that teach about the spiritual theme.
   •    Use music to memorize scripture verses
   
4. Art
   •    No need to run a separate art program.
   •    Make your program theme based, (God first), and teach the skills within the context of the theme. This approach does not undermine the teaching of skills. Students will be more motivated, more confident and present work of higher standard.
   Examples: God is Creator: Illustrate the days of creation. Teach drawing and painting skills through the God is Creator theme; God is Provider: Make leaf rubbings or plant prints. Teach collage and design skills.
   5. Literacy
   •    Use theme based stories as reading material.
   •    Develop research skills.
   •    Ask students to write reports and stories based on the theme or topic.
   •    Students can re-tell and illustrate key Bible stories. Present them as books.
   •    Are there Christian biographies that reflect the theme?
   •    Is there any other Christian reading material on the theme that can be studied?
   
5. Maths
   •    Observe that God is a God of order
   •    Look for mathematical concepts within the creation
   
6. Prayer
   •    Thank God for who He is.
   •    Thank Him for His love, His protection, His provision.
   •    Ask Him for protection and healing.
   •    Ask Him to show you how to serve.
   •    Ask Him to help you in becoming more like Jesus.
   
7. Character development
   •    Constantly reinforce the teaching of God's character, weaving it into the daily educational process.
   •    Remind the students that God wants us to be more like Him. Example: As we learn that God is loving, we are challenged to love others.
   
   Thematic units in a Christian setting
   We would begin by placing God at the centre. In addition to researching the topic we would…
   •    Teach about an attribute of His character.
   •    Ask the students how the topic reminds us of this aspect of God.
   •    Read the Bible stories and choose memory verses that that link with the spiritual theme.
   •    Discuss the outworking of this aspect in the lives of Christians.
   

Why use this approach?

1. It is very powerful.
2. Children see God in all they do.
3. This form of Christian education does not contrive to make God relevant: It simply focuses children's eyes on to God.
4. Provides opportunity for consolidation and reinforcement.
   
   

Evaluation
To ensure that the students are connecting with God through their studies, ask three key questions regularly:

1. What is God teaching us in our classroom this week? (e.g. God is provider)
2. How does our study of X (e.g. rainforests) show us that God is… (e.g. provider)?
3. Which Bible stories/verses tell us that God is .... (e.g. provider)?
   
   

At the end of the theme, the following questions can be asked:
Did the students understand more about God though the topic?
Were the students able to discuss the attribute of God is depth?
Do the students remember Scripture passages related to the theme?
Have the students applied the spiritual theme to their own lives?

Attributes List
God is…

(Read vertically to see relationships between attributes)

Suggestions for relating topics to attributes of God

God is Creator
•    animal life; plant life; ecosystems
•    human biology
•    solar system
•    air
•    water
•    fossil records; creation science
•    technology; inventions

God is Love
•    myself; my family
•    understanding different cultural groups
•    understanding the aged and disabled
•    the third world: giving and sharing
•    friendship, fruits of the spirit
•    biographies of those who have shown kindness and compassion
•    technology; inventions (God's wisdom given to man)
•    the balance of nature
•    the age of discovery and exploration (God's guidance)

God is Wise
•    civil laws
•    environmental responsibility
•    safety
•    money
•    planning for the future; careers
•    biographies of those who relied on God for guidance and wisdom

God is Protector
•    family
•    shelter
•    protection services
•    the middle ages, (castles and fortresses)
•    human biology
•    sea voyages, ships and lighthouses
•    environmental protection
•    animal protection; camouflage

God is Powerful
•    force and motion
•    electricity
•    magnetism
•    solar system
•    landforms
•    change: chemical reactions
•    weather
•    transport; flight

God is Truth
•    friendship, (faithfulness and truthfulness)
•    scientific method
•    discovering real or substitute; fact or fantasy
•    scientist who discovered the truth
•    discovering the truth through archaeology
•    creation science
•    the media and advertising; consumer education

God is Pure and Holy
•    The Great Flood (history)
•    water, (symbol of purity)
•    light, (symbol of purity)
•    purity in relationships: loving and forgiving
•    the fall of the perfect creation; environmental pollution
•    heaven- study of precious metals, crystals and gems in the Holy City

God is Patient
•    Growing things (patience in watching them grow)
•    listening to others patiently
•    listening, sound and the ear
•    patience with people
•    tolerance
•    patience in hobbies and occupations
•    people who have shown patience: pioneers
•    gold- patience and perseverance
•    development of technology

God is Life
•    cycle of life from birth to death
•    animal life; plant life; ecosystems
•    plant life
•    requirements for life: air, water
•    desert survival
•    joy in life: celebrations and cultural festivals

God is Provider
•    food
•    plants
•    forestry
•    fibres and fabrics
•    animal husbandry
•    fishing industry
•    world food supply
•    technology
•    rainforests; ecosystems

God is Peace
•    home and family
•    peaceful play
•    trust, (inner peace)
•    dealing with fears, (obstacles to peace)
•    barriers to peace, (racial, national, cultural prejudices)
•    national and international peace
•    biographies of peacemakers and those who have struggled for peace
.