Making Life Work

According to Get Real: Making Core Christian Beliefs Relevant to Teenagers, kids need action. Active learning is an adventure, it's fun and captivating and it involves everyone. But is there more to it than making the lessons fun and captivating? Yes! Educators tell us that the learning process is incomplete until the lesson is acted out in one form or another. The activity is that step in the learning process which makes students remember what they have learned. “Interactive learning not only helps people learn, but also helps learners develop healthy self-concepts and get along better with others.” As you read through each of these five sample lessons, be sure to notice that interactive and active forms of learning are used throughout all YEA books.

Too often youth lessons are “too big for the kids' britches.” They deal with doctrinal issues and lofty concepts that kids simply don't relate to. The January/February 1998 Group magazine says, “If we refuse to change with the times, we're throwing our kids into the crack of irrelevance! Truth is, kids will arrange their schedule around and even pay for relevant programs.” YEA lessons address the issues kids face at each stage of their development – kids find YEA lessons to be relevant. And we think you will see in this Sneak Preview that they are.

As you make your way through the lessons in this Sneak Preview you will see the cover of the book first with the class for which it is written in the upper right hand corner. At the bottom of the page you will see the theme for that particular book. The theme provides a running thread through all ten lessons in each book. The first book in this Sneak Preview is for Beginners (ages 3-5), and the theme for that book is God's Promise. As you come to the next page, you will see YEA's purpose and vision statement, and an index of lessons. This shows you the titles of the other nine lessons you will have when you order this book.

    Next you will read the students' lesson with all of its components. You will see that it includes such things as memory work, Scriptures, words to know, the actual lesson, a song, and an activity the students are to do before class. Each student should have his own book so that he can be prepared to participate in a much more productive and interesting class.

For easier preparation and more effective classes, YEA publishes a separate parent/teacher's guide as a companion to every lesson. This is the next thing you will see in this Sneak Preview. This essential guide includes all of the necessary components for a parent or teacher to make each class interesting and compelling.

Children are a gift from God, and core Bible teaching and practical aspects of Christian living are equally as important to them as they are to adults. YEA lessons answer the whys, explain the hows, bring children and teenagers closer to God. And they take students into a deeper understanding of how sin has consequences and obedience reaps beneficial and eternal rewards.

To do all of this, a comprehensive program of age appropriate lessons is being laid out beginning with age three and going until the teen has his 20th birthday. Each curriculum book and festival supplement has ten lessons. The student will have 40 different curriculum lessons (four books) each year all 17 years. There is a festival supplement every year teaching the meaning of the Passover and the meaning of festivals or holy days taught in the Bible. There is also one lesson each on the nonobservance of Easter, Halloween and Christmas. These lessons are intended to be spliced into the curriculum and taught in their seasons.

The first year's 40 curriculum lessons are based on The Life of Christ. The second year's 40 curriculum lessons begin with creation, Noah and the flood, continues with Abraham and his children and ends with the Exodus. All five age groups' first book for the third year will include a lesson on each of the Ten Commandments. Then the curriculum will continue chronologically through the lessons to be learned from the great Bible characters.

Considering the fact that there will be a total of 952 different lessons in this program, YEA uses one point lessons to improve learning and comprehension. Every nuance of a subject is not attempted to be covered in one lesson. A foundation is laid and built on in successive lessons over the 17 years the student is in the YEA program. The YEA lessons are planned to be taught in sequential order beginning with book one, lesson one in the Life of Christ series.  Often one lesson builds on and refers back to the previous lesson. After the first year's curriculum is completed, the Creation Series should be covered. By following this plan your child will grasp the story flow of the Bible with greater understanding of the events.

In addition to the curriculum books and the Festival Supplement, YEA publishes special full color books for the Feast of Tabernacles for five age groups. Depending on how the Sabbaths fall during the Feast, these books are either five or six lessons. Because this is a celebration, a lot of effort goes into making each lesson fun, memorable and effective.

The YEA comprehensive program will include 952 different students' lessons and 952 companion lessons in the teacher's guides to go with them. This is a work in progress that is about 45% completed. Hardly a month passes without one or more new books being completed.

Youth Educational Adventures (YEA) provides a comprehensive biblically accurate curriculum for children three years of age to 20, spanning 17 years of a child's life. Each book is designed to be used at church or at home. Every student should have his own full color book in order that he can read his lesson, and learn his memory work before class. You will find all of the following components in every YEA lesson:

- YEA encourages daily contact with God through prayer and devotional Bible readings. Each student's book has Daily Devotionals on the back two pages. These verses relate in some way to the lesson she will study the next Sabbath. We encourage families to read these together. It will not only improve biblical literacy, but will build spiritual and biblical knowledge that will last throughout all eternity.

- In order to grab the attention of the student, focused one-point lessons begin with a relevant story or a familiar illustration tying in with that day's Bible story.

- YEA lessons are not just isolated Bible stories. YEA's motto is: “Into each lesson must be woven a spiritual/character life application.” Practical lessons are planned to change behavior and make our students better citizens and Christians.

- Each YEA book comes with a companion teacher's guide that is an enormous aid in preparing classes. Objectives that should be accomplished in each class are laid out at the very beginning of the lesson. Scriptures included are posted. A list of all materials needed to teach the class are given as well. YEA recognizes that many teachers are working moms with limited time. Our goal is to make teaching easy for these hardworking, dedicated moms and others who have a passion to teach. They can put their teacher's guide in the car as they go to work and pick up any supplies they don't already have on their lunch hours.

- Background or preparation material is given to aid the teacher in preparing the class. A more complete background is painted in without a lot of additional research. Information about what that particular age group is capable of doing and how to solve class or behavior problems are also given.

- Sequential goal-directed questions are laid out for the teacher to facilitate a discussion. Often classes begin with an active form of learning capturing attention with an object lesson. This makes relating the Bible story to their own lives easier. Learning is pointless if it is not done in a way that the students will relate to and understand.

- Educators tell us that a student is much more likely to incorporate into their lives a principle they discover for themselves than one a parent or teacher passes on to them. The YEA lessons are planned to cause the students to think, analyze and compare as they are led to discover that God's ways are best. Review questions help ensure that the objectives at the beginning of the lesson have been met.

- Throughout the Bible, we are told to praise God in song. Children love to sing. Teenagers love their music. YEA encourages the use of music in every class and provides a song emphasizing the lesson. Words set to music are learned faster and retained longer. For your convenience, you can order the Kids Classics Collection songbook for the younger three age groups or The Group Songbook for teenagers through CEM's Book Store. CDs and cassette tapes of the music are also available.

- An activity is included in both the students' books and the teacher's guide. The activity in the students' book is intended to be done prior to class and is often reviewed in class. The activity in the teacher's guide is usually an active form of learning adding fun and excitement to the class while involving everyone. Active forms of learning include such things as purposeful games, field trips, research projects, group pantomimes, construction projects, role-plays, and simulation games. These activities drive the lesson home to ensure it is long remembered.

- A prayer is included in the students' lesson not for them to memorize, but to aid students in learning to pray. Teachers are encouraged to open and close each class with prayer.