Posted on February 4, 2010 - by rfrank

Roger Fields, curriculum and the new purple gorilla

God has blessed me with some great friends. It seems like most of them live in other states and I only get to see them once or twice a year. One of those friends is Roger Fields.

Roger is one of the most creative guys I know and he is a loyal friend. He also knows what he’s talking about. Roger is one of those guys that when he talks – I listen. He sent an email yesterday to his eBlitz subscribers (you should sign up) and it got me thinking. I thought I would share his thoughts with you.

Curriculum is a Disease.

That’s right! I said it. Not only does the word “curriculum” sound dry, stale and academic, it sounds like a disease! Pronouced “kuRIKyoolum,” say it out loud slowly and tell me it does not sound like a disease. The only word it rhymes with is “diverticulum” which is a herniation through the muscular wall of a tubular organ such as the colon. That’s right. There’s a link between curriculum and hernias. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Can’t you hear it now? “My aunt Thelma has pancreatic curriculum.” “Bobby got acute curriculum and had it for 13 weeks. It hit him on a Sunday morning at 11:00 when he glazed over and stiffened up in his metal chair while staring at the white board.” Any day now the World Health Organization will declare an outbreak of curriculum a pandemic sweeping through Sunday Schools across America. This virus must be stopped now before if bores children into a comatose state and shuts down blood flow to the heart.

Research shows that children exposed to dry curriculum through their elementary years develop hardness of the heart. They acquire a resistance to the Spirit of God and a blockage in their inner ears.

We need another word. There is nothing wrong with using materials to help teach kids. I am a curriculum publisher. But the WORD “curriculum” has got to go. It encourages the flawed idea that we can subject kids to an academic lesson and expect them to get excited about God. The bug is not so much the curriculum itself but the curriculum mentality that is the ailment. Until we can come up with a better word that sounds more alive, there is, however, a four-step remedy for the curriculum malady. Think of it as curriculum bypass surgery.

1. Use curriculum that uplifts the amazing character of God and what He has done for us. Remember it is ultimately about what God has done for us not about what we do for Him.
2. Encourage your teachers to read over the “lesson” at the start of the week to give the Holy Spirit time to make it real and practical in their lives before Sunday rolls around.
3. Get kids involved with what you are teaching. Guard against creating a spectator environment where kids merely sit up straight and listen.
4. Don’t be afraid to change direction at a moment’s noticed based on how God leads.

Together we can stop this dreadful disease from sweeping though our churches and choking the spiritual life out of kids.

Roger Fields

P.S. Have you seen the Bo Zerk, the new purple gorilla, in Kidz Blitz Live? Go to http://www.kidzblitz.com/go.htm