The Sunday Experience

 

The Living Curriculum “is a philosophy, a process and a program of spiritual support to assist children,
teens, families and the church community.”

It seeks to draw the lesson from the student through experiences, stories and creative expression.
Through the living curriculum approach lessons are created that will relate to real issues in a person’s life
and through a process of questions & discussions, helps them to connect with God and their indwelling
Christ spirit.

The Living Curriculum is a process of spiritual support used to assist children, teens, families, and the church community in co-creating successful living. It honors the inherent wholeness and wisdom within each one of us, and utilizes storytelling and experiential creative expression to “draw out” the Truth we already know. The process helps us to explore spiritual principles and to become aware of how the principles operate in our lives.

Myrtle Fillmore believed our mission was not to “entertain the children, but instead, to draw them out.”
The Living Curriculum is an approach or philosophy which affirms that the curriculum–that which is to
be learned or known–lives within the adult, child or teen, themselves. It moves us past the belief that
teachers have all the answers and need to impart them to the students. Instead, there is a realization that
all of us are uniquely unfolding on our spiritual path, having access to the Spirit within.

1. We start by determining the issue – Living Curriculum is Issue Centered. “Life is about issues that we are trying to make sense of.”

2. Then we create the intention – The intention states how we will overcome or solve the issue.

3. Measurable learning objectives helps us create content -

• Remember – Recognizing and recalling facts
• Understand – Understanding what the facts mean
• Apply – Applying the facts, rules, concepts, and ideas
• Analyze – Breaking down information into component parts
• Evaluate – Judging the value of information or ideas
• Create – Combining parts to make a new whole
   

4. The Sacred Circle Brings everyone together – Stories have the power to enrich our lives, shape the way we perceive and experience the world, and reveal the wonders of the human spirit.

• Our Life is a Story
• Stories Connect Us
• Stories Illustrate Our Issues
   

5. Stories are universal and their function is to explore

• Who am I?
• Where have I come from?
• What have I overcome, learned, strived to achieve?
• Where do I fit?
  
  

6. After the story, we begin discussion – Our brains love questions. They have the power to engage us, to shift our mindsets, drive knowledge and growth, and fuel both creativity and critical thinking.

7. Open-ended questions keep the conversation going – Using the questioning strategies of A Living Curriculum means not being concerned about getting the “right” answer.

8. There are six types of questions to use to explore the story?

• What is happening in the story?
  
• What are the characters feeling or experiencing?
• Where do you see this happening in the world?
• How do you see this happening in your daily life?
• How are you going to use this experience?
• How would you like it to be?

9. Do an Activity - Then provide experiential activities so students can practice what they learned. Experiential learning is learning by doing. Use a Variety of Activities - People learn best when presented with a variety of learning potions that allow them to use all their senses and exercise their preferred learning style.

11. Complete the lesson with a time of sharing – Allow a time for participants to share, if they choose, what the experienced awakened in them.