			Faith Milestones


Our Goal for the Children:
To share their faith and learning with their parents
To grow in understanding of the Bible, prayer and worship
To seek out time for faith activities at church, at home, and in the community


Class	Milestone			Worship Participation
2 year old	The routine of an organized group			N/A
	We want to start the kids slowly being in a group of children their age. Some children don't go to daycare and this gives them a chance to interact with other children their age.

3 year old	Celebrate Baptism birthday			Party hats - Remembering Baptism dates
	Talking Easily with God			Recite a learned prayer
	1. We want the kids to celebrate their faith. Celebrate their baptism, celebrate Christ's birth, celebrate Christ rising from the dead. We want to introduce them to the importance of holidays as religious, not just myths or rituals.

	2. We want to teach the children to pray. There are 4 examples of prayers (morning, mealtime, evening, and a "special prayer". We want to go over and over these prayers to create repetition and to recite one for the congregation.

4 year old	The Keys of Forming Faith			N/A
	1. Caring conversation
		Asking the children lots of questions; getting them to communicate as best you can; showing them we care as church member "family"
	2. Devotions
		Promote praying (at mealtime or night time prayers for example), give examples to take home (something for their walls; laminated prayers; etc.)
	3. Service
		Explaining or show the kids how we can "service" God. There are 2 ways to look at this - Physically - explaining/showing the kids the jobs in the church. Take them into church and familiarize them with the jobs of the church (pastors, usher, organist, greeters) Mentally - Besides worshipping God, our services to God include saying using our manners as not to hurt anyone intentionally.
	4. Rituals and Traditions
		Create class traditions, explain the meaning of Christmas, Easter, etc. We want to enrich these keys into the children's daily/weekly lives. This will more than likely be done by "being caught, not taught". The children will catch on to these keys as they are consistently done.

	Along with the "service" of the church, we want to familiarize the children with everything "in" the church. Make trips to church pointing out the altar, baptismal font, bible, choir seats, crosses, etc. Give the children a tour of the church, explaining what happens where and why.

Kindergarten	Learn the Lord's Prayer			Lead the Lord's prayer
	Our goal for these children is to memorize the Lord's Prayer. By the end of the school year, we would like to have this class lead our Lord's Prayer during one or more of the church services. In an effort to begin to familiarize the children with the church service itself, we would like to teach them to stand during the church service when the Lord's Prayer is recited. This may mean sending home a note with the children asking parents to encourage this.

1st grade	Learn the 10 Commandments			Recite the 10 commandments before a sermon that focuses on the Commandments in daily life.
	Our goal for the children is to understand the 10 commandments, to become very familiar with them. We would like them to be able to recite the 10 Commandments (with help if needed) during a church service towards the end of the school year.

2nd grade	More of a review of the 10 commandments			Recite the 10 commandments before a sermon that focuses on the Commandments in daily life.
	What's fair?
	1. Our goal for the children is to memorize the 10 commandments, to become very familiar with them. We would like them to be able to recite the 10 Commandments (with help if needed) during a church service towards the end of the school year.

	2. We want to talk to the children about fairness (examples will be given to the teachers). Basically, we are reviewing manners again but the children understand more now how hurting someone also hurts God and can also understand that God forgives (as should we).

3rd grade	Opening the Bible			Weekend readings
	The 3rd grade class will receive their Bibles (a gift from the church). They will learn what the Bible is for and how to find their way around "God's library" of stories. We would eventually like to include this class in the weekly scripture readings during the church services.

4th grade	The Apostles' Creed			Lead the Apostles' Creed
	Our goal for the children is to memorize the Apostles' Creed. We would like them to be able to lead the congregation in a worship service during the Apostles' Creed. We want to make sure the children understand what they are learning.

5th grade	1. The Real Life Faith (Martin Luther)			Brief reports of each person's hero in faith
	2. Prepare and make First Communion			First Communion
	1. This class will learn the history of Martin Luther, the Lutheran hero in faith. They will write a brief summary of who their hero in faith is and recite this during a worship service.

	2. This class will prepare for their First Communion. First Communion will be made on Palm Sunday. (More information will be given to the teachers of this grade.

6th grade	Community Service Projects			Report to the Congregation on the Service Projects completed
	Preparing/Familiarizing themselves with Confirmation
	1. We would like these children to understand what Community Service means to the community. We would like them to complete at least 3 Community Service Projects throughout the year and put some information together as to what they did, why they chose this project, and what it meant to them.

	2. This will also be the year the children familiarize themselves about what will be available to them in the upcoming confirmation process and high school years through our Church.