The Fall quarter for toddlers is entitled God’s Family. At this age there is a beginning awareness of what it means to be in a family. New baby sisters and brothers may be coming into their families. They visit grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Throughout thirteen lessons, toddlers will learn God created everything and everyone and He began his own family - the family of faith. This quarter covers the book of Genesis, including: Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Esau and Jacob, and Joseph. The lessons show how all of these people were a part of God’s plan of salvation.

Welcome to the Fall quarter of the Show Me Jesus curriculum for preschoolers. For 13 weeks this curriculum will focus on the theme God Leads His People. Children will discover that God calls his people to himself, and he wants them to trust and follow him. Through exciting Bible stories about Moses and the Israelites, preschoolers will begin to grasp that God is loving and powerful, he makes and keeps promises, he punishes sin, and he redeems and saves his people.

Unit 1 focuses on the fact that God prepares his people. The first three lessons show how God called Moses and sent him to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. In Unit 2 children learn that God saves and protects his people. God showed his power to the Egyptians and Israelites, saved his people from death, and led them safely away from Egypt.

Unit 3 highlights how God provides for his people. Preschoolers discover that God did not abandon his people as they traveled through the wilderness. He gave them manna and quail to eat, he provided sweet water for them to drink, and he protected them from their enemies. In Unit 4 preschoolers are taught that God keeps his promises to his people. He made a covenant with the Israelites at Sinai, promising to be their God as they served him faithfully. The Israelites broke their promise to obey. And although he punished them, God did not turn away from his people; instead, he forgave them and led them on to Canaan, the land he promised to give them.

Interwoven throughout the quarter is God’s promise to send the Savior. Preschoolers learn that God sent his Son, Jesus, to save his people from their sins. They learn that those who trust the Lord Jesus as their living Savior can be sure of forgiveness of sins and help to follow God’s leading.

The Fall quarter of the Show Me Jesus curriculum for Elementary is a new quarter of teaching, learning, and growing. The theme of this quarter is Obeying God.

In this 13-week quarter we will be studying prophets and kings from the Old Testament. We will be exploring their lives and learning what it means to obey God. We will look at King Saul and his willfulness, King David and his heartfelt repentance for his sin, the courageous obedience of the prophets Elijah and Daniel, the reluctant submission of Jonah, and the stories of several others. Above all, we will be teaching the children that obedience is not only a command from God, but also our loving response to the Good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep (John 10:11; 14:15). As we teach this quarter, let these be our goals for our children:

• To learn that although obedience is sometimes hard, trusting Jesus as their Savior from sin means they can obey God.
• To learn how to obey God as they study God’s Word.
• To see God as loving, powerful, and sovereign, leading them to want to obey him.
• To continue in obedience as God works in their hearts.

By the end of this quarter, your children will come to know that our obedience is a privilege and a gift from God, and they will thank him for his grace and goodness. They should have both memorized and experienced these words taken from Psalm 23: “The LORD is my shepherd. . . . He guides me in paths of righteousness. . . . Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”