Preschool Sunday School News

Abraham and Sarah’s Baby

Arleen — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:39:07 +0000

During January, preschoolers at First Baptist Church of Fort Oglethorpe have been learning that God loves and cares for people. The Bible story for January 29 comes from Genesis 12:2-3; 17:1-8, 15-17, 19, 21; 21:1-8. Abraham and Sarah were quite old and had no children. God told Abraham that Sarah would have a baby boy, and they should name him Isaac. Things happened just as God had said. Abraham and Sarah had a party to celebrate, then took care of Isaac. They knew God had a plan for their family. Preschoolers should know that God loves us and planned for families to take care of us.

For the 1s and 2s, the Bible thought is “God is good to us.” (Psalm 73:1) The Bible phrase for 3s, and 4s is “God loves us.” (Psalm 107:1) The Bible verse for kindergarten is “God has plans to care for you.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Our Preschool Roooms

Arleen — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:37:50 +0000

Our preschool rooms have a lot of things like blocks and dolls and puzzles and art easels. Our preschool teachers have had training on the different ways children learn, and know that some learn best while building blocks, and others by looking at things from nature, and others from molding things from play dough and others from singing songs. As the children “play” in the learning centers, the teachers are talking with them about the Bible stories and thoughts for the day.

Our preschool rooms have an area rug. This is the meeting space for our older preschool classes. The children come together with the teachers to hear the Bible story, look up things in the Bible, sing songs, and do other group activities. It is our preschool worship area. There are alternating quiet and active things to do according to the age of the children. The Bible story is told within the number of minutes equal to the child’s age in years. The children experience group prayer when they are together.

Our preschool room walls do not have Superman or Spider Man pictures. There are no Toy Story or Peanuts characters. Are our teachers just old-fashioned and unaware of what children today like? Our teachers choose not to have fictional characters in our Sunday School or weekday education classes. We want to focus on teaching the Bible and using things that help us relate Bible stories to life. It is not that the fictional characters are bad, it is just that we have limited time in Sunday School in which to teach the Bible stories and do not want the children to confuse Abraham and Buzz Lightyear.

Our preschool rooms have sinks and restrooms. We like to wash hands, toys, and other things. Preschoolers need restrooms handy as they are potty trained. We like having children in the rooms rather than wandering the halls looking for the restrooms.

Finally, and most importantly, our preschool rooms have teachers who have answered God’s call to teach young children. They give up their Sunday morning time with their adult friends to help you lay the foundation for faith in the children. We are thankful for our rooms, thankful for our teachers, and thankful for the families who bring their preschoolers to Bible study.

Upcoming Events

Arleen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:02:01 +0000

There are many things happening at First Baptist Church. Here is a partial list:

Preschool Sunday School – every Sunday morning!
Connection Class for Visitors and New Members – January 29 during Sunday School
Commitment Sunday – January 29
Preschool Sunday School – every Sunday morning!
“Courageous” Movie Night – February 3, 6:30 p.m.
“Navigating Through Change” – February 7, 6:30 p.m.
Men’s Courageous Bible Study – February 8, 6:00 p.m.
Preschool Sunday School – every Sunday morning!
Mugs and Muffins Fellowship – February 19, 9:15 a.m. (for women)
Youth Fund-raising Luncheon – February 22 in the Fellowship Circle
CookingLIVE with Amanda Varnell – March 13, 6:30 p.m. ($15 per person)
Did I say Preschool Sunday School – every Sunday morning?

January

Arleen — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:25:00 +0000

January is National Mentor Month. If you could ask anyone in the past or present to be your mentor, who would it be? Did you choose someone related to your vocation? Did you choose someone good at your hobby? Did you select someone who, in your opinion, was a good parent? Did you think of a Christian who could help you with your spiritual growth? We appreciate those who have mentored us through all aspects of life. We are better people because of their efforts.

We have many opportunities to mentor children outside of our natural families. We do that through working with preschoolers, children, and youth at church. We also do that by reaching out into the community to mentor children at Battlefield Primary and Battlefield Elementary. If you are available to mentor during the day, or if you know of someone who is available to mentor during the day, please tell them that there will be mentor training on Thursday, January 19, at Graysville Elementary at 11:00 a.m. If you wonder about the blessings that come from mentoring, ask Lisa Banister who has mentored a girl for six years. Ask Audrey Brown who mentored a girl all the way through school and into college. Ask Charles Tant who is mentoring two boys this year. There are other mentors in our church, and the need is great for more. If you are interested, please see Ann Born, Sandra Mullins, Carol McDowell, or Arleen Wyatt.

Birthdays

Arleen — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:03:01 +0000

Mrs. Bernice Banister has a birthday on January 15. We wish her a very happy day.

Mother Carrie, daddy Mark, and big sister Chloe welcomed MaKayla Payne on December 21. As our newest Preschool Division member, we look forward to having MaKayla at church soon.

If your child/grandchild is a regular attender and has a birthday in January, please let us know. We want to acknowledge their special day.

Apple Juice

Arleen — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:38:52 +0000

The news this past week was filled with references to research about the levels of arsenic in apple and grape juice. Consumer Reports did testing that showed the levels varied among different brands, and varied from bottle to bottle within the same brand. The point was to encourage the establishment of standards for the levels of arsenic allowed in fruit juices in our country.

We serve apple juice in the Preschool Division. If you are concerned after hearing the news, we will be happy to work with you. We can give your child very, very diluted apple juice. We can give water instead of apple juice. You can send something you would rather your child have instead of apple juice.

Blog Readers

Arleen — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:05:51 +0000

If you are here looking for a church to visit, we would love to have you next Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m., at First Baptist of Fort Oglethorpe. Please see the post below about a first visit. We have wonderful preschoolers and preschool families. We have caring leaders who teach preschoolers the Bible in developmentally appropriate ways.

If you are a church member visiting the blog, we welcome your interest in the Preschool Division. We thank you for our lovely facilities, and appreciate your continued support. We would love to talk with you about becoming more involved in our Preschool ministry! There are many ways you can help. Please see Carol or Arleen.

If you are the parent of a child in first through fifth grade, you would be interested in the First Baptist Church Kids Connection Blog. You will find it at http://www.lstrick923.wordpress.com.

Safety and Security

Arleen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:42:28 +0000

When our preschoolers arrive for Sunday School, our parents do a super job of making sure they get a name tag at the Preschool Welcome Center. There are three parts to the name tags. On the right front, there are spaces for the child’s name, parent’s name, pager number, medical alerts, and special instructions. Usually, these will be at least partially filled out for our regular attenders. On the left front, along with a space for the pager number we have “This bag belongs to: ____________” This section is easily detached to place on diaper bags, tote bags, backpacks, or other items brought from home.

The opposite side of the name tag is the “stub” to be used by parents or guardians. Parents keep the stub and present it to the workers when it is time to pick up their child(ren). Most of the Sunday School and ETC volunteers know our parents and guardians; however, we are blessed with some volunteers new to the ministry that may or may not know which children to pair with which parents. The Preschool Council asks that you follow the directions on the name tag and present the stub when picking up your child.

The name tags and pagers should be used for the evening church activities as well. Our goal is to have an adult in the Preschool Welcome Center whenever we are providing child care during church activities. If you know of someone who might like to provide this ministry, please contact Carol.

We want our children to be safe and secure at all times. Thank you for your help with this.

Update Reminders

Arleen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:40:11 +0000

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First Visit?

Arleen — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:14:21 +0000

If this is your first visit to our blog, we are so glad you found us! We are the First Baptist Church of Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. For more information, please click on the “About” page on the right of your computer’s screen.