The Spiral Of Truth
The Praise Factory family of curriculum is based upon a spiral of truth in the form of 16 Big Questions and Answers.
These 16 big questions and answers are major biblical truths, common to a systematic theology and which provide the framework on which all of the concepts learned in all three Praise Factory curriculums hang.
Twelve of these Big Questions and Answers are introduced from the beginning, in the Teach, Take and Tell curriculum for 2's and 3's; and then carry on through the other two curriculums (Big Questions and Answers for little people; The Praise Factory) Four additional Big Questions and Answers are added to these in the elementary school curriculum (The Praise Factory).
Teach, Take and Tell: The Spiral is Introduced
Teach, Take and Tell, the curriculum for the 2 and 3 year olds is a one year curriculum which introduces the big questions and answers as 12 one month units. The same concept, Bible story, Bible verse, action rhymes and songs are used each week of the unit. This allows the children to master the material on the simplest level. Different review activities and crafts are suggested to add variety to each week.
Big Questions and Answers for little people: The Spiral Is Expanded
Big Questions and Answers for little people, the curriculum for 3's, 4's and pre-K 5's uses the same 12 Big Questions as Teach, Take and Tell, but smaller sub-concepts are introduced for each of the 12 Big Questions.
For example, in Teach, Take and Tell, the children learn Big Question #1: "How Can I Know What God Is Like? He Shows Me What He's Like!" for 4 weeks, then move onto Big Question #2: Can Anybody Tell Me What the LORD Is Like? He's Not Like Anyone Else!"
But in Big Questions and Answers for little people, the children learn 4 sub-concepts (3 weeks of curriculum available for each) that have to do with Big Question #1.
They learn: How Can I Know What God Is Like? He Shows Me What He's Like...
- 1. By the Heart He Gave Me to Know and Love Him
- 2. In Everything I See All Around Me
- 3. In the Bible, the Perfect Word of God
- 4. Through His Very Own Son, Jesus Christ
Before they move onto Big Question #2 and its sub-concepts, etc.
As with Teach, Take and Tell, one Bible story, one Bible verse, one action rhyme, and related songs are used for each sub-concept. Different review activities and crafts are suggested to add variety to each week of curriculum within a sub-concept.
So with Big Questions and Answers for little people, the spiral of truth has expanded from 12 truths to 52 truths, that can be used as a 1,2 or 3 year curriculum (depending on whether you use 1, 2 or 3 weeks of the curriculum for each of the 52 sub-concepts).
The Praise Factory: The Spiral Stretches Upward and Outward
The Praise Factory, the curriculum for K through 5th grade, uses the same 12 Big Question truths as the preschool curricula, but adds four new ones: one on God's Word, the Gospel, the Holy Spirit and How God Sustains His People. Like in the Big Questions and Answers for little people curriculum, The Praise Factory sub-concepts--each called a "Big Idea" --are used to expand the children's understanding of the big question. Now there are 104 sub-concepts that fill the 16 big question truths. These concepts are much more complex as is appropriate for these older children. They have been prepared in the preschool curricula to expand their understanding even more.
The spiral of truth stretches in another way in The Praise Factory curriculum. Now the children do not learn just one story for each 3 weeks spent on a Big Idea concept; they learn three: an Old Testament, New Testament and church history/missions story that all reflect the concept. This helps the children see the enduring faithfulness of God and His unchanging character as well as the beautiful reflections of Himself and His ways throughout the ages.
So, with Big Question #1: "How Can I Know What God Is Like? He Shows Me What He's Like!" there are now 5 sub-concepts:
- 5. God Made Our Hearts to Know & Love Him
- 6. God's Creation Tells Us about Him
- 7. God Spoke to His People Long Ago through Prophets
- 8. God Speaks through His Word, the Bible
- 9. God Reveals Himself Most Completely through His Son, Jesus
And there are three stories per Big Idea sub-concept, such as
In "God Made Our Hearts to Know and Love Him":
- 10. A New Testament Story about Paul speaking the people of Athens, using the altar to the Unknown God
- 11. An Old Testament story about David, the man after God's own heart, and
- 12. A story from the life of C. H. Spurgeon
which all reflect this same Big Idea concept.
The spiral of truth provides reinforcement of truths learned as well as expansion of their understanding of them as the children progress through the three curriculums.