Learning Objectives for 5th Grade Students

RCC – KidZone Christian Education Ministry

By: George Nielsen – June 20,2012

All students in all of the grades of the RCC Children’s Ministry are to learn about God’s Love for them, from the example which our ministry workers show and demonstrate by our actions.  Our ‘Rule #1’ is “Love on the kids.”  All students will receive a positive, encouraging message, repeated in various ways throughout the year, teaching that “God is with you; and God is for you.”   In addition, there are also age-level learning objectives, and for the pre-teen children they are more advanced than those of the earlier grades.  We have High Expectations for the 5th grade students, and we challenge them to achieve, in our class, at a higher level than what was expected in 4th grade.

Please note that Parents play the most critical role in their child’s being able to meet our challenges.   It is necessary for the students to take the Christian Education program seriously, and to put in some effort, to meet the learning objectives for this class.    Our one-hour of class time is primarily for delivery of lesson-content.   The students bring their attitude, commitment level, and study skills/habits with them when they come to class.  Parents are the key people for helping their children in these areas.

Commitment Objectives:

1.  Salvation.   Through some of the regular weekly lessons and special emphasis lessons, the message of salvation is presented, and the children are invited to Come to Jesus.   Many children have already made this decision and commitment prior to 5th grade, but all students will be given many opportunities to either affirm their salvation or to be saved now.

2.  Worldview.   The students are presented the basics for developing a Biblical Christian worldview.   The objective is that they commit themselves to God Almighty, and the Holy Bible, as their source for wisdom, knowledge, and direction in life.   [Our learning objectives (below) will also include some information to further develop their worldview, while just touching on some information related to major competing worldviews, secular humanism and the New Age Movement/the New Earth.]

3.  Discipleship.   The students are taught that Christianity is a ‘Way of Life’.   They may have had various ideas about religion, as something that some people believe or ideas they think are true.  Many children starting 5th grade simply think of Christianity as “going to Church.”   They are taught that ‘a Christian’ is something that you are, not just a set of religious ideas you have agreed with.   If they are a Christian, the objective is that they commit themselves to be young disciples of Jesus.

Christian Education Objectives

1.  The Reality of the Spiritual Realm.   The objective is that students learn that the unseen realm of creation does exist, that one of the domains of development for them (and all people) is their spiritual life, and that they are a spirit-being, and there are other spirit-beings that also exist, including the devil, evil spirits, the holy angels, and God Almighty, both the Father in Heaven and the Holy Spirit, along with Jesus who is both God and Man.  The Spiritual Realm is not religious mythology.

2.   Bible Content Knowledge.   Old and New Testament Bible stories are taught using the Bible In Life curriculum.  The scope and sequence of these lessons are shown on the attached sheet. The objective is to learn Bible content, along with showing its relevance and application to the student’s life.  Brief written homework assignments, due the following week, are given to students for about one-third of the lessons.  Each lesson has a verse from the Bible assigned, to be memorized.    During the year, all of the Biblical themes listed are covered, but eight of the individual lessons (two per quarter) are not taught.  On those days, the lesson taught is from the additional curriculum materials presented in 5th grade – “The Bible is God’s Message for Me” and “On the Right Path”.   These lessons are described below.

3.   The Bible – God’s Message for Me.   These lessons help students reflect on the Big Picture of God’s Message, from the Holy Bible, in contrast to the series of individual topical units of 3 or 4 weeks, from Bible In Life.   The objective for this material is to present information for building a Biblical Christian worldview, and answering important questions for those 5th graders who are already presenting themselves as skeptics.  Another objective of presenting the Bible’s Big Picture is to help the students “connect the dots” of the topical presentation of the Bible in their other lessons.   This is a start toward teaching a kids-level systematic theology.

        The Big Picture includes these major topics from the Holy Bible:  God, Man, Sin, Salvation, the Kingdom of God.

4.   “On the RIGHT Path”.    Christianity is taught as being a way of life, not a “religion.”   However, it is not the only possible way of life a person can choose, and these lessons present 5th graders the concept of making this choice for themselves.   Parents can nurture their children in Christian faith and devotion when they are younger kids.  For pre-teen 5th graders, it is developmentally appropriate to now introduce the idea that their choice – which path to follow in life – has to be their own.   They could live on the self-serving, “the way of the world” path, or choose to live On the RIGHT Path, declaring that “I serve Jesus” and learning about the Christian life.    

        On the Right Path and The Bible is God’s Message – for Me are taught together, both contributing to teaching a Biblical Christian worldview.  One session, using two class periods, each quarter, is used to present this material.   Detailed essays on some of the lesson topics are provided as handouts to the students.   They are discussed in class, but need to be reinforced by review at home.  On the Right Path also has written homework assignments, and also has Bible verses assigned for memorization (usually two verses per session, and the verses are longer), and brief, graded quizzes given in-class.   Being On the Right Path is a challenging, but spiritually victorious, overcoming lifestyle; it is an expanded presentation of the topics of The Bible is God’s Message – for Me.  

In the Fall, parents are provided a summary of the teaching materials to use at home with their children, along with the lesson handouts.  Access to all of the teaching material is available online, to parents who have provided an e-mail address to the Church.