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The Children's Church School of Community United Methodist Church meets each Sunday morning at 9:15 AM in the church's lower level. In the Fall of 1999 the program was changed from a straight classroom format to a new more interactive "Bible Zone". Called "The Zone" for short. "The Zone" consists of three 20 minute sections. They are as follows:
1st 20 minutes - Free time.
There are currently 3 computes available for the children to use. Software ranges from interactive bible stories to bible based computer games.
Each week a different craft is available for the children to work on. During the Christmas season the children will prepare Angels for the Christmas trees and Christmas cards for members that are unable to attend church.
In this area of the Zone Children get to let out energy. They can play catch with a tennis ball, mini golf, bowling, basketball, toss-across and other active activities.
The Think Tank is an area that the children can work on worksheets. Worksheets are available for all age groups. The range from puzzles to fill in the blanks by looking up verses in the bible. When 5 worksheets are completed the child gets to go to the "treasure Chest" and pull out a surprise gift (bookmarks, Pez, Pins, Hot Wheels, etc....)
Various board and electronic games are available for individual or group play.
In this area of The Zone children can sit and read many children's books containing popular biblical stories and parables. Music Zone
A variety of tapes and CD's containing children's Christian music are available for listening.
2nd 20 minutes - Joys and Concerns and Weekly Message
During this time period all the children gather together on carpet squares around the Zone Leader. All children are given the opportunity to share with the group anything good or bad that happened to them or anyone they know during the past week. Following this is the Weekly Message. It is delivered in a variety of ways such as the reading of a story or the acting out of a small skit. Following the message there is a brief group discussion about the message.
3rd 20 minutes - Classroom Reinforcement of the Message
The children are separated into two groups. Older Elementary and Younger Elementary. Younger Elementary is Kindergarten through 2nd grade. Older elementary is 3rd through 6th grade. After separating, each group goes with their Teacher to a classroom setting. The groups will be presented with a concentrated activity/discussion to help highlight and better comprehend the message.
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