Family

Impact Ministries

Kids' World

Rainbow Village: 3-6 Years

In the 3-6 year old room, we start with the three year olds once they are potty trained and they stay in our room till they start 1st grade. At that point they move to Adventure Village. When the children first come in our room, starting at 15 minutes before church starts, they will be signed in by the parents. As they enter the room, they receive a name tag and choose a box which also has a their name displayed. This box holds any crafts or other hand-outs they may receive during the class period. The class will have a monthly news letter updating parents on current events and informing them of the upcoming lessons. Most importantly, it has the memory verse for the month. The children have an entire month to learn the small verse, which the children can relate to us in any way they can, (such as repeating it verbatim, drawing it or acting it out). We are aware of the range of abilities of this age group and mainly would like the children to comprehend the meaning of the verse. When they have the verse memorized, they can tell any teacher at any point during the class and will receive a sticker on the chart displayed in the classroom as well as receive a sticker to wear home that day.
As for the class itself, they will have some free time after they first enter. They will have a choice of some activities sitting at tables or playing with the various playground equipment varying from a slide to a play house. From there we will gather the children into one big group and have a small worship service in which we will pray, sing and learn a bible story. This usually takes between 10 and 15 minutes. Then we will split up the children into three groups to rotate in to three different centers: snack, craft, and game. Each group of children will rotate into each center once during the rest of the class time. This should take us till the end of the adult service at which time the parents will be back to pick them up.
This is such a precious age and all the teachers enjoy the chance to share Jesus with your children. What a reward!

Little Lambs: Special Needs

This is a class for children with physical/cognitive delays which prevent full participation in the regular classroom. Curriculum is simple and can be adapted to any level of understanding. The focus of our current participants is to learn basic bible stories and social/developmental skills needed for successful community integration. More information about this program is available as well as resource/referral/networking by contacting Chantillie Doering at (419) 666-5595.

A Note from the Parent Advocate
Here at New Harvest we understand that all of God's children are special and have unique needs. As a parent of a disabled child, I know the challenges that face children who don't "fit" in a regular classroom. Sometimes parents are asked to stop bringing a child with behavioral issues or physical differences that are too distracting. Others are hurt because some behavior is labled innapropriate and there is no one trained to deal with mental retardation in a church setting. The result? First, parents try staying in the class as a one-on-one aid with their child or take them into the adult service. When this becomes too frustrating, mom and dad start taking turns going to church or someone is paid to care for the child at home. Eventually, they stop coming all together because even though God loves all of the children he's created, our well-meaning church body has unintentionally pushed them away. After going through much of this cycle in my own family, I decided that the family of God needed to *WAKE UP!* Any person, regardless of their disability, can be shown God's unconditional love.
Please take the opportunity to visit us before or after service or call for more detailed information on this new program. You will find several helpful links for individuals or families seeking disability information as well as a monthly featured article, story, etc. Thank you for taking an interest in our differently-abled friends and I hope to see you on Sunday!
In His Love,
Chantillie Doering