The Oregon Community

our kid's community vision

The most important part of our Children's Ministry here at The Oregon Community is to make sure our kids feel welcomed, valued, and get to know how important and loved they are. Period.

The Oregon Community is a place where children are viewed as gifted individuals, a part of the body of Christ.

As a ministry team, we want to come alongside parents and nurture each child's relationship with God and discovery of who they are, through classroom teaching and activities. As a whole, every activity and lesson is designed to foster in children a deep understanding of God's love for them and desire to have a relationship with them.

early childhood curiculum

Our toddler and preschool classes are introduced to Sunday School through a routine of: open play, clean-up, music time, story, snack, Bible activity, and an ending playtime/clean-up while parents pick-up their children.

Our toddler and preschool age group uses the same curriculum, First Look, from www.252basics.com. This curriculum is designed for the toddler and preschool development level with a monthly theme, basic memory verse, and a simple truth about the love of Christ which carries through each month. These themes repeat throughout the year with an intended goal that our kid's will learn about the love of God and His love for them.

toddlers 18 months to 3 years

We have two toddler teachers to teach this class. The lesson is presented in very basic words to show a glimpse of who God is through basic Bible stories and hands on activities. This is the youngest age group we have for our Sunday School classes. Parents are welcome to stay and particiapte with their child if needed until they feel comfortable in the class. We also provide take home handouts that talk about what was done in class that day and how to interact with the theme at home

preschool 3 years to 5 years

This is where children learn foundational things about God, the Bible and how to treat people. We use the same curriculum as the toddler class, but the story is told in an expanded form and the children have a chance to interact more with the monthly theme. We focus this class on community as well, with the children beginning to build friendships among themsleves and their teachers. Weekly handouts and projects are encouraged to be taken seriously by parents to extend the lesson at home, as well as a memory verse to practice each month.

school age class k-6th grades

These are the years where kids really start to own their faith and discover more deeply who Christ is and how they are part of His story. Our school age group meets as one class. The older students are encouraged to act as role models for the younger students which provides a great opportunity for all our students.

K-6th Grade students experience worship in the main service with adults, and are dismissed to their class with their teacher partially through the service. During classtime, students are engaged in activities together focused around the message for the week, read scripture together, and practice the monthly theme though activity based learning.

These materials are focused around a monthly theme and dive deep into issues our school age children face on a daily basis whether it be: how to be a generous person, using self-control, or what it means to be gracious.

Policies and procedures

Volunteer Screening

We are committed to providing our families with a safe & secure ministry environment. That includes volunteers who have been screened and have been cleared to work with children. Because we have this standard, it requires us to have every person who applies to work with our children go through a background check.

Teacher/Student Ratio

To ensure student safety we will follow the guidelines below for our teacher/student class sizes:

In our School Age Class: 1:10 students

In our Toddler Class 1:4 students

In our Preschool Class: 1:8 students

Teachers will follow clear guidelines on Student/Teacher Interactions

Because we place a high value on the safety of each child, we ask all teachers to follow these rules:

• Never find themselves alone with a child.

• Never touch a child in a questionable way during discipline or any other time.

• Never use questionable language.

• Get prior approval before showing a video tape.

• Bathroom assistance: Only female volunteers are allowed to assist a child, and will ask parents to come change their child's diaper.

• Immediately report to the pastor or Children’s Ministry leader any behavior that appears inappropriate.

Boundaries and Discipline

It is important to set some boundaries with the children so that they are safe, have fun, & don’t hurt themselves or others while in our care. Teachers are given many suggestions so they know how to interact with your child. But overall please know that we do not allow volunteers to yell, grab, slap, or spank kids. In certain situations we may have your child in a time out to calm down from a high energy situation, and if needed, will call you from the main service to help with behavior.

Sickness Policy

-We follow the same rules of many day cares/schools and ask our families to not come to Kid's Community if your child has: had a fever, is vomiting, has diarrhea, has an infectious condition, or a lot of sneezing, coughing or mucus.

-All children should be free of vomiting for at least 48 hours before coming to Kid's Community

-All children should be clear of fever for at least 24 hours without the aid of fever reducing medication, and should be free of illness related diarrhea for 24 hours.

-Teachers will remove mouthed toys from play, placing them in a dirty toy bin or wash them.

-Children will be asked to instruct children to cough/sneeze into the crook of his/her elbow, towards his/her shoulder or into shirt collar, and will keep noses wiped.