Age Group Objectives for Ages 3-16

Age Group Objectives for Ages 3-16:

May 1998

 

The Christian Education committee has given much thought to ways and means of assisting the teaching and learning activities in our congregations, with particular attention to selecting and using published curricula appropriate for the Lutheran context.  The liturgy of Holy Baptism intends some mastery of the faith tradition in its address to the parents and sponsors: “You should, therefore, faithfully bring [them] to the services of God’s house, and teach them the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments...and provide for their instruction in the Christian Faith.”

 

The question is when, in their mental development and experience, are the children ready to learn these and other matters beneficially “living in the covenant of their Baptism?”  The Committee has had before it the document; “The Age Group Objectives for Christian Education” developed some years ago by predecessor bodies of the ELCA and has based its work on this earlier effort.  The Christian Education Committee sees these accompanying “Age Group Objectives” as descriptive of the learning process rather than prescriptive of subject matter, a decision we are content to leave the curriculum writers.  The objectives are presented in a linear fashion so that each year’s learning experience contributes to the next year’s learning.

 

The objectives are useful, we think, in a number of ways as

·       a measure for comparing and evaluating various curricula

·       a guide for teachers in planning lessons

·       an aid to parents in home teaching

·       a resource for discussion in parents’/teachers’ meetings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christian Education Objectives by age groups for the 

Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

 

At Age 3 the child will be able:

·       to understand a few Bible stories that are within the experience, language and grasp of a child of this age

·       to recognize the Bible as the book from which we learn about God and Jesus

·       to recognize appropriate Bible pictures

·       to ask for, listen to, and talk about Bible stories

·       to pray in Jesus’ name

 

At Age 4 the child will be able:

·       to become familiar with additional selected Bible stories that will contribute to growing confidence and faith in God

·       to become acquainted with meaningful Bible passages which relate to the child’s daily experiences

·       to show a growing interest in Bible stories by using Bible story books and pictures in church School and in the home

·       to associate the Bible with worship activities (regular worship attendance)

·       to associate a few selected Bible passages with his/her actions and conduct

·       to associate selected Bible passages with expressions of joy and thanksgiving

 

At Age 5 the child will be able:

·       to understand God’s loving plan for his people through the use of additional Bible stories

·       to relate additional, meaningful Bible passages to his/her life situations

 

At Age 6 the child will be able:

·       to discuss that baptism has made him/her a child of God

·       to talk about more of the Old Testament stories

·       to understand the saving purpose and love of God as revealed in the Bible stories about Jesus

·       to understand that God speaks to us in the Bible

·       to use dramatization to help the child identify him/herself with characters in the Bible

·       to memorize and use few brief selected Bible passages

·       to identify names and significance of various parts of the church building

·       to understand the structure of the Bible

 

At Age 7 the child will be able:

·       to understand that Jesus is the Son of God and the purpose for which God sent him

·       to understand that the term “Holy Spirit” refers to God at work in the world today

·       to exhibit a strengthened faith in God through an expanded knowledge of God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

·       to use both Old and New Testament stories to give the child a sense of God’s power and greatness operating in people’s lives

·       to understand that some of the Psalms are expressions of praise to God

·       to express thoughts about the Bible not only in words but also by drawing and painting

·       to begin to read brief, selected passages with help

·       to understand the terms: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, intercession, and petition as elements of prayer

 

At Age 8 the child will be able:

·       to understand that when he/she wills to do that which the child knows to be against God’s will, this is sin and interferes with the child’s relationship with God

·       to understand the implications of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection

·       to demonstrate familiarity with the way material is arranged in the Bible

·       to prize his/her own copy of the Bible as a personal possession

·       to find things more readily in the Bible

·       to locate Bible passages and read a few simple verses from the Bible

 

At Age 9 the child will be able:

·       to grasp the events of the life of Jesus in their chronological order

·       to understand the church liturgy

·       to fully understand that the Holy Spirit works through the church

·       to have a clearer sense of the Bible as a whole, so as to see more clearly the whole plan and saving purpose of God for his people

·       to understand how to use Bible helps, such as maps

·       to show some understanding of the Gospel record of Jesus

 

At Age 10 the child will be able:

·       to understand what God does through the means of grace

·       to know the meaning of “Christ” as used in relation to Jesus

·       to understand the significance of God’s revelation of himself through the Old Testament leaders and prophets

·       to grow in understanding the meaning of the “holy catholic church, the communion of saints”

·       to have an elementary understanding of some of the different denominations and their characteristic beliefs and practices

·       to study the lives of the outstanding heroes of the church

·       to develop more fully the sense of the Bible as a whole, including more study of the prophetic writings along with the historical and narrative materials

·       to learn to use the Bible itself for study and investigation, with particular emphasis on people and specific facts

·       to have a better understanding of various books of the Bible

 

At Age 11 the child will be able:

·       to understand the meaning of justification by grace through faith

·       to understand the meaning of some of the best known symbols of the church

·       to round out an understanding of the Bible as a whole, particularly its outstanding stories, persons, and basic facts

·       to understand how to use tools of Bible study, such as dictionaries and cross references

·       to understand how we got our Bible and why we have various English versions and translations

 

At Age 12 the child will be able:

·       to understand the numerous ways God speaks to him/her and to see the relations between these means and prayer life

·       to understand the significance of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, intercession, and petition as elements of prayer

·       to understand more deeply certain terms applied to God, e.g. holy, righteous, merciful, just, omnipotent, gracious, as descriptive of the way God acts with all people.

·       to understand that God is triune and the importance of this fact

·       to show familiarity with the confessions of the church as stated in the sections of the Small Catechism dealing with the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed, particularly the First and Second Articles

·       to memorize, and understand, parts 2 and 3 of the Small Catechism as one means of retaining the teachings of the church

·       to understand the relationship of prophecy to fulfillment in the life of Jesus

·       to use tools of Bible study, such as concordance, a Bible dictionary, and various English versions

 

At Age 13 the child will be able:

·       to understand how God’s law expressed in the Ten Commandments is comprehended and deepened in Christ’s “Great Commandment”

·       to show familiarity with the historical sweep of the Old Testament in chronological sequence as expressing God’s redemptive purpose

·       to understand how the Old Testament must be interpreted in light of God’s revelation in Christ

·       to become more familiar with the prophets of the Old Testament and their importance

 

At Age 14 the child will be able:

·       to understand the meaning of Baptism and Holy Communion as well as understand their implications for Christian growth

·       to complete memorization, and understanding, of the Small Catechism

·       to understand the significance of “the cross” in the life of Jesus and its implications in the life of believers

·       to have a grasp of the significance of the second coming of Christ

·       to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in calling, gathering, enlightening, and sanctifying both in the establishment of the early church and in the church today

·       to know something of the agencies of the church which serve the needs of people

·       to have an understanding of the history and mission of the Lutheran Church

·       to have a greater understanding of the meaning of the church as the body of Christ and communion of saints

·       to relate to his/her knowledge of the Bible to what they know of world history

·       to understand the Book of Acts and the New Testament epistles

 

 

 

 

At Age 16 the child will be able:

·       to exhibit a mature understanding of the miracles of Jesus and their place in his ministry

·       to relate law and grace in his/her spiritual life

·       to understand that his/her assurance of salvation is based on the atoning work of Christ rather than on his/her own fluctuating feelings

·       to develop a more mature understanding of the Old Testament prophets and their place in the Scriptures

·       to tract the Messianic expectation through the Old Testament and see its fulfillment in Christ