Sunday Curricula

Below you will find links to many different types of curricula. The first link is Sharon Ely Pearson’s wonderful overview of Curricula. We recommend that you start there and identify what style of Sunday School program you would like to offer. Once you know whether you are doing a one-room school house approach, a workshop rotation model, a Montessori based approach, a lectionary based model, or something else – use the overview to think through which resource is right for you.

  • Children Formation Curricula Overview – a simple comparison chart of a variety of curricula; developed by Sharon Ely Pearson, the Christian Formation Specialist for Church Publishing
  • Building a Children’s Chapel One Story at a Time by Bill Gordh – a collection of Bible stories arranged and told to create a meaningful chapel for children aged 3-7 (Morehouse Education Resources)
  • Celebrate the Good News Children’s Chapel – following the Revised Common Lectionary, provides children opportunities to hold Sunday services that include their own participation; ages 5-12 (Morehouse Education Resources)
  • Creative Ideas for Children’s Worship by Sarah Lenton – based on the Sunday Gospels Year A and Year B, provides ready-to-use material for children’s worship on Sunday (Morehouse Education Resources)
  • Episcopal Children’s Curriculum – available for three age groups (preschool/kindergarten, primary, and intermediate) for each age group there are three years of material: Shell Year (Baptism), Chalice Year (Eucharist) and Cross Year (Worship); this format allows churches with multi-age classes to alternate study material over a 3-year cycle; Shell, Chalice and Cross years may be used in any order (Virginia Theological Seminary)
  • Godly Play – using work from the Montessori tradition, uses a careful telling of scripture stories, engaging story figures, and activities to encourage children to seek and find answers to their faith questions; resources include presentation guides, Parent Pages, and training DVDs (Morehouse Education Resources)
  • Living the Good News – an on-line, downloadable lectionary-based Sunday class curriculum available for all age groups (Morehouse Education Resources)
  • Weaving God’s Promises – a downloadable Sunday class curriculum with a three-year scope and sequence—Year One: Weaving Our Faith, Year Two: Weaving Together the Family of God, and Year Three: Weaving God’s Beloved Community—that includes an Episcopal Thread in each session; for ages 3-11 (Morehouse Education Resources)
  • Workshop Cycles – for K-5th grade, a rotation workshop model children’s curriculum; each cycle provides detailed lesson plans for seven workshops including scripts, activities, and resources (LeaderResources)
  • Workshop Rotation Model – This is a clearing house for many different workshop cycle lessons and ideas.