Each lesson plan is broken down into sections.  Review the information below to best understand the lesson plans.

Items Needed: Here is a list of items needed for the lesson.  These are items to have gathered and printed off before beginning the week.  Basic items like pens and pencils are not listed.  

Theme:  The 5 Year Curriculum themes focus on the meaning behind the Scripture instead of simply memorizing Bible stories. The child will learn what the Bible is, who God is, ways that God desires to help us, and how we need to live.

Bible Story: The Bible stories are chosen to correspond with the theme of the week.  Weeks 34-35 tie the lessons together by introducing salvation and the Wordless Book.  Included is the biblical reference as well as page numbers listed for two preschool Bibles and the Betty Luken's Through the Bible in Felt book.  ABCJLM contains a list of ideas on how to tell Bible stories to children.

Verse: The Bible verse reinforces the Bible story.  Depending on the child's ability, shorten the verses as needed.  Be sure to print off the 5 Year Curriculum Memory Cards.  Click for ABCJLM Ideas for Learning Memory Verses.

Bible Song: These are traditional "Sunday School" songs.  Almost every song is on the CDs 100 Hymns and Praise Songs for Kids or The Ultimate Bible Song Collection.  The rest of the songs can be found on YouTube which are linked for you.  It is best to learn the song yourself and then teach the child the song in slow, small sections.  Use the CD once the song is learned.  Click for ABCJLM Ideas for teaching songs.

Books of the Bible: In order to study the Bible, I believe everyone should know the order of the Books of the Bible.   With a little help, most preschool children can master this task.  The Old Testament books have been divided into small groups with a new group being introduced every two weeks in the curriculum.  Use a song, motions, or simply repetition to help your child.  Click for more ABCJLM Teaching the Book of the Bible Ideas.

Math & Numbers:  Colors, shapes, spatial concepts, sorting, are reviewed in this curriculum.  While counting backwards, counting by tens, coins, the clock and addition are introduced in this curriculum.  Numbers 0-40 are written and grouped.  Ideas to teach these concepts are included in the "Ideas" section.  Keep this portion of learning fun and active.  Click for more ABCJLM Math Ideas.

Letter and Sight Words:  The 5 Year Curriculum focuses on writing the letters and identifying the letters in words.  Each week contains a sight word taken from the "Fry Instant Word" list.  According to Dr. Edward B. Fry, 25 of the 28 words introduced in the curriculum make up 1/3 of all items published.

Science and Social Science:  Use this portion of the curriculum to introduce the child to weather, seasons, the calendar, holidays, maps, hygiene, self-care, safety, transportation, and so much more.

Comprehension Questions:  These questions are provided to help pull out the main points of the lesson.  Each children's Bible is going to emphasize different areas of the stories.  Use the questions that are appropriate to the learning and are at the level of your child's understanding.

Book of the Week: The research is unanimous - children should be read to and read to often. The 5 Year Curriculum along with the other curriculum include a "Book of the Week." This list includes books that are a little bit longer and require more vocabulary maturity than the 4 Year list.  When you are finished with the curriculum, your child will have been introduced to 28 of the top children's books according to ABCJLM users and our family. Be sure to check out the ABCJLM Reading suggestions for other titles and authors.

Ideas: Included in this section are ideas to reinforce the concepts learned this week.  This list starts with "Book of the Week" ideas and Bible story activities and color sheets.  All other supplies are listed.  This is not an exhaustive list nor is it mandatory.  Pick and choose what is appropriate for your situation.

Fine and Gross Motor Skills: Each week contains an activity to help improve fine & gross motor skills.

Visual Perception Skills: The skills worked on in this section help the eyes and the brain work together correctly.  These activities help the brain properly translate what the eyes are seeing.  The Visual Perception Worksheets can be ordered in print form to save you the time of printing each of them.

Review Weeks

On average, every fourth week is a review week.  These weeks typically match up with holidays.  Use these weeks to review concepts learned so far, do activities that time didn't allow to cover, or focus on a concept that your child is struggling with.  Review weeks contain their own fine and gross motor skill activity along with visual perception activities.