School
Materials
Bible
E v e r y b o d y h a s favorite V acation B ible School material. W h ich is yours? Have y ou ever considered the pos sibility that a survey and use of another V acation Bible School material than the one you “ always” use m igh t add freshness to this year’s presentation? W ith this in m ind, m a y w e suggest that you ca refu lly study y ou r own material this year? In settling the question, “ W h a t material should I choose?” a director and his staff cannot look solely upon the quality of paper, use of color, form at and techniques o f presentation. Our m ajor responsibility is the presenta tion of B iblical fact and related materials in such a fash ion as to brin g boys and girls to accept Christ as Saviour and Lord. Th is can on ly be done on the basis o f effective use o f B iblical materials. As the V acation B ible School material is surveyed, attention must be given to the fo l low in g items: 1. Selection o f B iblical content offered most appro priate for class and department. 2. Recomm ended use o f related Scripture passages in the classroom. 3. D octrinal content of the materials chosen. 4. O pportunity for decision for Christ afforded to the pu pil both in and out o f the classroom. 5. T h e opportunity to measure progress and spiritual developm ent in terms o f pu p il participation and grow th. Assum ing that you r choice o f material has been made w ith careful consideration of its B iblical content, its var iation from the regu lar Sunday School or training-hour curricu lum , and on the basis o f the particular needs of y ou r group, the next consideration is the external ele ments of the material. Because the m od e o f presentation affects the degree of lea rn ing and retention, it is necessary fo r us also to exam ine the characteristics o f the individual B ible School materials. Th is can be done on the basis o f theme, cost, directors’ guidebooks, pu blicity, programm ing, teacher materials, pu p il materials, recreation, crafts, un iqu e fea tures and methods. Vacation B ible School materials w h ich w ere surveyed fo r this article in cluded Concordia (L u th eran ), Great Comm ission Press (O rthodox P resbyterian), Gospel L ight Press (In terdenom in ationa l), H erald Press (M en n on ite), Scripture Press (In terdenom in ationa l), and W estm inster Press (U n ited P resbyterian). These materials are ar ranged in either a three or fou r-year cycle except H erald Press, w h ich is a closely-graded program , covering grades 1 through 10.
Th em es: The materials for the summer o f 1962 that are based on u n ify in g themes are Concordia — G od; Gospel L ight Press — A d ven tu rin g w ith Christ; H erald Press — W it nessing fo r Jesus; Scripture Press — Patriots for Christ ,
and W estm inster Press — th e Bible. T h e Great Comm is sion material uses individual themes for each department, but their cy cle is arranged to cover general B iblical ma terial. Cost: T h e cost of material varies from 35c to 95c fo r teach ers. Pupils’ w ork or activity books vary from 25c to 30c per pupil. Gospel L igh t Press and Concordia Press have handcraft packets fo r 69c to 89c. These program s also in clude a guidebook ranging in price from 50c to one dollar. Pictures and various audio-visual aids are avail able at different prices. Guid ebook: W ith the exception o f Concordia Press, all publish ing houses in clude a director’s guidebook in their packets. These guides are fa irly uniform , covering such subjects as organization, time schedules, finan cing, records, trans portation and leadership training. Some o f these in clude age group characteristics, though more often this is cov ered in the teacher’s m anual at each age level. Scripture Press includes an evaluation schedule in their guidebook b y w h ich the success o f the school m a y be measured. H erald Press, W estm inster Press and Scripture Press also in clude a plann in g calendar, both in preparation for Bi ble School and recomm ended activities fo llow in g B ible S chool h i terms o f follow -u p work. H erald Press has a very strong emphasis on w orship, ¿ e lu d in g complete packets on worship program s in addition to the sugges tions in the director’s guidebook. A ll guidebooks in clude some w orship programs. (Continued on next page)
APRIL, 1962
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