PowerPoint Presentation Training

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PowerPoint Presentation Training How to Involve
Preschoolers in Missions Includes a Guide for
Mission Friends
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• PowerPoint Training
• How to Involve Preschoolers in Missions
• This training presentation is based on the book
  How to Involve Preschoolers in Missions Includes
  a Guide for Mission Friends.
• The training consists of viewing the slides,
  readings from How to Involve Preschoolers in
  Missions, answering questions, and doing
  assignments.
• You will need a copy of How to Involve
  Preschoolers in Missions as you go through the
  training. (W078103, 9.99, available through
  www.wmustore.com.)
• Complete one or more sections at a time.
  Approximate time needed to complete each section
  is provided on the next slide.

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PowerPoint Training How to Involve Preschoolers
in Missions

• Contents
• IntroductionSlides 46 (15 minutes)
• Who Are Preschoolers?Slides 713 (20 minutes)
• What Is Preschool Missions Education?Slides
  1416 (10 minutes)
• What Is Mission Friends?Slides 1761 (60
  minutes)
• How Can I Incorporate Preschool Missions
  Education in My Church?Slides 6264 (15 minutes)
• Whats the Big Picture?Slides 6570 (15 minutes)
• Where Can I Go for More Help?Slides 7174 (15
  minutes)

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Introduction Gods Mission

• How to Involve Preschoolers
• in Missions,
• pages 56

5

• Gods desire is for all people to know Him and
  worship Him. The Bible tells of Gods mission and
  how we are to be involved in His mission.
• For you to do
• Using a Bible, look up the verses listed in How
  to Involve Preschoolers in Missions, page 5. Find
  at least three other verses that tell about Gods
  mission or our part in Gods mission. Write the
  references for these verses on page 5.

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• Why is it important for preschoolers to begin
  learning about missions?
• For you to do
• To answer this question, read the bulleted
  statements on page 6.
• Now respond to the above question in your own
  words. Write your response in the margin of
  page 6.

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Who Are Preschoolers?

• How to Involve Preschoolers
• in Missions,
• pages 712

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• Preschoolers share some general characteristics,
  but each one is unique in his or her own way.
• For you to do
• On pages 8-9, find the ages of preschoolers in
  your missions group. Glance through the
  sections for those ages.
• Think of a preschooler who is in your
  missions group. What are some words to
  describe this preschooler? What does this
  preschooler like to do?

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Nine concept areas are the foundation of
preschoolers spiritual growth. These nine
concept areas are

• God
• Jesus
• Bible
• Gods creation
• Church

• Self
• Family
• Community
• World

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• An overview of the concept areas is provided on
  pages 1112, with more in-depth information on
  pages 4243.
• One concept area is the focus during each
  monthly unit of study in Mission Friends.
• Bible thoughts, conversation, and activities
  during the month help preschoolers
  understand more about the concept area.

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• For you to do
• Look in the current issue of Start.
• Find the introduction page for this months
  unit of study.
• Circle the concept area for this month.
• Read the information about that concept
  area on the chart on pages 4243.
• Look up Bible thoughts related to that
  concept area on pages 4448.
• Write your answers to this question What is
  important for your preschoolers to
  understand about this concept area?

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• Serving Alongside
• Parents of Preschoolers
• Preschool missions leaders help parents of
  preschoolers in two ways
• Inform parents of what their child is learning
  about missions at church.
• Give suggestions for parents to reinforce
  missions learning at home.

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• A list of ideas for including parents in their
  preschoolers missions experiences is on page 12.
• For you to do
• Highlight or circle five of the ideas that you
  will make as a goal for including parents this
  year.

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What Is Preschool Missions Education?

• How to Involve Preschoolers
• in Missions,
• pages 1316

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• In teaching preschoolers about missions, you will
  concentrate on six missions focus areas
• Learn about missions.
• Pray for missions.
• Engage in mission action and witnessing.
• Support missions.
• Develop spiritually toward a missions lifestyle.
• Participate in the work of the church and
  denomination.

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• For you to do
• Read the information about the missions focus
  areas on pages 1416. Now turn to page 13 and
  find the scenarios inside the red boxes.
• Which missions focus areas do these scenarios
  illustrate?
• Which scenarios overlap into more than one
  missions focus area?

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What Is Mission Friends?

• How to Involve Preschoolers
• in Missions,
• pages 17-34

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• Mission Friends is
• The preschool missions organization of WMU.
• For girls and boys ages birth through
  kindergarten.
• A place for preschoolers to become aware of
  Gods love, and to learn that others need to
  hear about this good news!

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In leading Mission Friends, think of four
elements of a good Mission Friends program

• Inquisitive preschoolers
• Excited Mission Friends leaders
• A nurturing environment
• Engaging activities

Look at each of these elements in the following
slides.
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Preschoolers

• Build Mission Friends around what is best for
  preschoolers!
• Keep preschoolers in mind as you plan all of
  the other elements.
• Review the section on Who Are Preschoolers,
  pages 712, as you plan and teach preschoolers.

21
Preschoolers

• Small groupings of preschoolers are best. The
  quality of care and attention to individual
  preschoolers is greater in small groupings. Keep
  the group size small by following the guidelines
  on pages 1819.

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Preschoolers

• For you to do
• If your Mission Friends group will have two or
  more ages blended together, complete the
  information on slide 23.
• If your Mission Friends group will have classes
  for each year of age, complete the information
  on slide 24.

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Preschoolers

• For blended age groupings
• Write down the number of preschoolers you expect
  in each age group below.
• Younger Mission Friends ______
• Middle Mission Friends ______
• Older Mission Friends ______
• Kindergarten Mission Friends ______
• Use the youngest age group you have listed to
  determine your maximum group size (see pages
  1819).

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Preschoolers

• For age-graded groupings
• Write down the number of preschoolers you expect
  in each age group below.
• Younger Mission Friends
• Babies ______
• Middle Mission Friends
• One-year-olds ______
• Two-year-olds ______
• Older Mission Friends
• Three-year-olds ______
• Four-year-olds ______
• Kindergarten Mission Friends
• Kindergartners ______
• Determine the number of groups needed for each
  age, using the information on pages 1819.

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Mission Friends Leaders

• A key ingredient to a great Mission Friends
  organization is the leadership. Great leaders
  share their enthusiasm with preschoolers and make
  missions learning fun.
• Mission Friends leaders have
• Open hearts to follow Gods call.
• Open eyes to see the needs of preschoolers.
• Open ears to listen to preschoolers and their
  parents.
• Open hands to do activities along with
  preschoolers.
• Open arms to show care to preschoolers.

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Mission Friends Leaders

• How many teachers are needed?
• Follow the chart of page 20 for the teacher to
  child ratios recommended for each age grouping.
• If you have a blended age grouping, follow the
  teacher/child ratio for the youngest child in
  your group.
• Lower teacher/child ratios allow for interaction
  in small groups, more individual attention to
  each child, and relationships to build between
  preschoolers and teachers.

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Mission Friends Leaders

• Two Important Notes
• Each Mission Friends class should have at least
  two teachers. This is for safety reasons and
  as a security measure to protect both
  preschoolers and teachers.
• Follow the guidelines recommended by your church
  insurance agency for screening and background
  checks of all preschool leaders.
• For resources about risk management and teacher
  screening, see Christian Ministry Resources at
  www.reducingtherisk.com.

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Mission Friends Leaders

• There are three leadership positions in Mission
  Friends
• Mission Friends Coordinatorcoordinates the
  overall plans of Mission Friends, especially
  when there is more than one class.
• Mission Friends Lead Teachertakes the lead in a
  Mission Friends class.
• Mission Friends Teacherhelps the lead teacher
  within a Mission Friends class.

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Mission Friends Leaders

• For you to do
• Review the responsibilities of each leader on
  pages 2021. Name the people who fill these
  positions in your church and list their
  responsibilities.

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Mission Friends Leaders

• In some Mission Friends classes, teachers share
  responsibilities by team teaching. They serve as
  co-teachers by dividing responsibilities.
• For you to do
• Read the information on page 21 about team
  teaching. If your church has team teaching, how
  do you divide the responsibilities?

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Mission Friends Leaders

• Mission Friends leaders plan together as the
  Mission Friends planning team.
• The planning team may meet to plan for the year
  before the church year begins, and then once a
  quarter to coordinate classroom activities.

32
Mission Friends Leaders

• For you to do
• Make a list of other Mission Friends leaders in
  your church. Include phone numbers and email
  addresses for easy reference.
• Include names and contact information for people
  who also serve as substitutes.
• Use this list not only to contact for planning,
  but also as a prayer list to use in daily
  devotion times.

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A Nurturing Environment

• Where does your Mission Friends class meet?
• Most Mission Friends classes meet in the churchs
  preschool classrooms. Mission Friends can also be
  adapted for those who meet in
• A child-care classroom
• A home setting
• A Mothers Day Out room
• A multi-housing ministry
• A neighborhood backyard.

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A Nurturing Environment

• A preschool classroom should be inviting to
  preschoolers. The classroom should say to
  preschoolers, Come in and play!
• For you to do
• Read the classroom guidelines on page 26.
• Think about the classroom you use for Mission
  Friends. What are some things you need to change
  in your Mission Friends classroom?

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A Nurturing Environment

• A Caring Place for Younger and Middle Mission
  Friends
• Notice in the diagrams on page 26 that the
  classrooms for Younger and Middle Mission Friends
  are arranged in sensory areas.
• For you to do
• Find the following sensory areas in the diagrams.
• Books
• Blocks
• Nature
• Toys
• Music and Movement
• Puzzles
• Pictures

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A Nurturing Environment

• Sensory activities for younger preschoolers also
  occur in less structured ways such as
• A baby using a toy in a crib
• A one-year-old looking at a picture above
  the changing area
• A two-year-old sitting in a teachers lap to
  read a book.

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A Nurturing Environment

• An Inviting Place for Older and Kindergarten
  Mission Friends
• For you to do
• Find the following interest areas for Older and
  Kindergarten Mission Friends in the diagrams on
  page 26.
• Books
• Blocks
• Homeliving
• Games and Manipulatives
• Art
• Nature
• Music and Movement

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A Nurturing Environment

• For you to do
• Read about activities in each of the sensory
  areas and interest areas on page 28.
• Find an activity for each of the sensory areas
  and activity areas in Start.
• How does each activity that you found help
  preschoolers learn about missions?

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A Nurturing Environment

• Sharing Space
• Church preschool classrooms are usually shared by
  programs such as
• Sunday School
• Preschool music
• Mission Friends
• Day care
• Mothers Day Out
• VBS

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A Nurturing Environment

• Sharing Space
• Be considerate of others who use the same
  classroom.
• Meet with other teachers to decide on a
  classroom arrangement.
• Decide how to handle wall decorations so each
  programs teaching pictures can be used without
  distractions.
• Keep common supplies in orderly condition for
  each other.
• Decide on the items programs will share, such as
  crayons, scissors, paint smocks, etc. Store
  items that might be used by only one program.
• Teach preschoolers about sharing and respect by
  the way you work with others to share classroom
  space.

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Engaging Activities

• Mission Friends offers engaging activities for
  preschoolers to become aware of and involved in
  missions. Preschoolers learn about missions
  through
• Hands-on activities
• Activities using the senses
• Bible thoughts related to missions
• Cultural learning activities
• Mission stories
• Praying
• Giving
• Helping others

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Engaging Activities
The curriculum resources for Mission Friends
provide suggestions for learning activities,
mission stories, and Helping Others
activities. For you to do Review the resources
for Mission Friends teachers on slides 4349,
then complete the matching exercise on slide 50.
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• Start is the teaching guide for Mission Friends
  teachers. Start includes
• Leadership articles.
• Families on Mission reproducible page for
  parents.
• Monthly units of study with weekly sessions.
• Meet the Missionaries article each month with
  background information about the
  missionaries and missions areas.
• Monthly devotion article for teachers.

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• Share is the monthly take-home leaflet for parent
  and child.
• For Older and Kindergarten Mission Friends.
• Includes activities for parents to do with
  their child, as well as information for the
  parent about the missions areas studied in
  Mission Friends.
• Leaflets for ten preschoolers are included in
  one subscription.

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Care is a reproducible page to give to parents of
Younger and Middle Mission Friends each quarter.
Care is on the inside back cover of Share.
46
Start Resource Kit contains games, posters, Bible
bookmarks, puzzles, recipes, and more to
complement monthly units of study in Start.
47
Start Picture Set includes photos of the
missionaries and missions areas. Helps for the
teacher include Bible thoughts and teaching
questions related to the photos.
48
First Steps in Missions is an annual resource
with more activities to supplement the units of
study in Start.
49
www.missionfriends.com Mission Friends Web site
provides up-to-date information on the units of
study, Families on Mission calendar, and
leadership articles.
50
Resources Match the resource on the left with the
description on the right.

• Start
• Share
• Care
• Start Resource Kit
• Start Picture Set
• First Steps in Missions
• www.missionfriends.com

• Photos of missionaries and missions areas
• Parent/child take-home leaflet
• Teaching guide for Mission Friends teachers
• Contains matching games, bookmarks, recipes, etc.
  for each unit
• Mission Friends Web site with information related
  to each unit
• Supplemental book with more activities
• Reproducible take-home page for Younger/Middle
  Mission Friends

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• Planning a Mission Friends Session
• Start is the guide to planning what will happen
  each session in Mission Friends.
• Review the unit outcomes on the unit
  introduction page.
• Select resources from the Resources list.
• Read background information about the
  missionaries and their prayer requests.
• Choose activities for sensory areas or interest
  areas. Adapt activities as needed.
• For Older and Kindergarten Mission Friends,
  prepare for Group Time. Prepare to tell the
  mission story and lead preschoolers in
  Prayertime.
• Use Session at a Glance to gather and prepare
  items from Start Resource Kit and Start Picture
  Set.
• Gather other materials and supplies.

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• Planning a session for Younger and Middle Mission
  Friends
• Babies, ones, and twos are involved in a less
  structured session.
• Choose sensory activities from Start for each
  session.
• Use Start Picture Set and Start Resource Kit
  items recommended for each session.
• Use teachable moments to point out pictures of
  the missions area, say a Bible thought, or use
  conversation.
• Routine times such as diapering and bottle
  feeding are teaching times, too.

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• Planning a session for Older and Kindergarten
  Mission Friends
• Suggestions are provided in Start for the
  following general schedule for a one-hour
  session.
• Greetings (5 minutes)
• Interest area activities (35 minutes)
• Group Time (15 minutes)
• Closing Time (5 minutes)
• Use the information on page 27 to adjust the
  schedule to meet your needs.

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• Missions Explorers
• An optional interest area for Older and
  Kindergarten Mission Friends.
• Preschoolers learn about a topic more in-depth.
• A learning project usually continues for more
  than one session.
• The teacher asks questions to encourage
  preschoolers to investigate a topic of interest
  to the preschoolers.
• Read about Missions Explorers on pages 2829 of
  How to Involve Preschoolers in Missions.

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• Missions Explorers
• For you to do
• Using the example of a Missions Explorers project
  on page 29, write three questions you might ask
  preschoolers to encourage investigation of this
  example topic. The questions might begin with
• How do you think . . . ?
• What if . . . ?
• What would happen . . . ?

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• Helping Others Activities
• (See p. 30)
• Preschoolers are involved in mission action
  through Helping Others activities. Preschoolers
  do missions themselves by helping others in need.
• A Helping Others activity is suggested each
  month in Start for Older and Kindergarten
  Mission Friends.
• Ideas can also be found in each chapter of First
  Steps in Missions.
• Preschoolers can make something or give
  something to others, or do something for
  another.

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• Helping Others Activities
• Here are a few examples of Helping Others
  activities.
• Make a warm things box with donated hats and
  gloves to give to a shelter.
• Make simple tray favors that can be placed on
  residents meal trays at a local nursing home.
• Make a recipe of cookies or spice tea mix to
  place in plastic bags. Give these to church
  staff or to a family that visits your church.

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• Helping Others Activities
• For you to do
• Choose one of the examples from the previous
  slide. Answer these questions about the activity.
• What do Mission Friends learn by doing this
  activity?
• How are preschoolers aware that this activity
  meets someones needs?

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• A Mission Step
• (See page 30)
• Involve parents along with their preschoolers in
  missions!
• A Mission Step is a quarterly activity for
  Mission Friends teachers, preschoolers, and
  parents to do together.
• Suggestions for A Mission Step are in the
  leadership pages at the front of Start.

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• A Mission Step
• (See page 30)
• For you to do
• Look in the current issue of Start and find A
  Mission Step activity suggestion.
• How can you incorporate this activity in your
  plans this quarter?
• In what ways can parents be involved in planning
  or carrying out this activity?

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• Teaching Tips
• For you to do
• Read the Teaching Tips on pages 3134.
• As you think of other teaching tips, write these
  in the margins of these pages. Share these
  teaching tips with other Mission Friends
  leaders.

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How Can I Incorporate Preschool Missions
Education in My Church?

• How to Involve Preschoolers
• in Missions,
• pages 3536

63

• Customizing Mission Friends
• Most churches need to adapt the Mission Friends
  program in some way. It may be that the session
  length is shorter or longer, age groups are
  blended, or the meeting place is in a different
  setting.
• What adjustments do you need to make to Mission
  Friends?
• How can you adapt elements of Mission Friends to
  meet your needs?

64

• For you to do
• Read the information on pages 3536.
• Highlight ideas that you will use for
  incorporating missions within your churchs
  preschool ministry.

65
Whats the Big Picture?

• How to Involve Preschoolers
• in Missions,
• pages 3738

66
WMU Organizations Mission Friends is the first
step for a child in a missions lifestyle. WMU
offers other age-level organizations so all ages
can be involved in missions through praying,
giving, and doing missions.
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• WMU Organizations
• A brief description of the WMU organizations is
  found on page 37.
• Encourage your church to continue instilling a
  missions lifestyle through childrens missions
  education by offering Girls in Action or
  Children in Action.

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• WMU Ministries
• For you to do
• Read the ideas for involving preschoolers in WMU
  ministries on pages 3738.
• Choose one of these ministries and write two
  more suggestions for involving preschoolers in
  this ministry.

69

• Families on Mission
• An excitement is created when families are
  involved in missions together. Families with
  preschoolers can begin having family missions
  experiences together.
• Read the ideas for Families on Mission on page
  38.

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Families on Mission For you to do List the ways
you can use these resources to encourage parents
to continue missions experiences with their
preschooler. Families on Mission page in
Start Family Time feature in Share A Missions
Step activity suggested in Start Families on
Mission calendar page on the Mission Friends Web
site Families on Mission by Angie Quantrell
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Where Can I Go for More Help?

• How to Involve Preschoolers
• in Missions,
• pages 3940

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• WMU offers people who serve as resources for
  preschool missions leaders, as well as offering
  print resources.
• For you to do
• Write the name and contact information for your
  state WMU preschool consultant and
  associational Mission Friends consultant on the
  lines provided in the book.
• Circle the contact information for the Preschool
  Resource Team of national WMU.
• Refer to pages 3940 for ordering information
  and other missions resources.

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• To learn more about starting Mission Friends
• Contact your state Mission Friends
  consultant.
• Visit www.wmu.com/getstarted for information
  and a sample session.
• WMU also offers a variety of missions resources
  for preschoolers, parents, and preschool leaders.
  View other missions resources at
  www.missionfriends.com or www.wmustore.com.

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Thank you for changing the lives of preschoolers
by serving as a preschool missions leader. God is
using you to change the world, one preschooler at
a time! May God bring blessings on your service
to Him as you seek to live His call in your life.