Gospel of Matthew Curriculum
Explanation of our church school program for the year:
For the 2022-2023 church school year, St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Euless, TX studied the Gospel of Matthew. This is our third year of having everyone in our parish learning about the same topic and we’ve learned so much together!
All of our teachers were provided with the lessons below for their designated age group. We continued for a second year in a row to have weekly teacher meetings via Zoom – typically for 30 minutes. We went over teaching methodologies, goals, collaborated with one another, & shared photos and videos of how the lessons went in our classrooms. As the year progressed, we focused on studying icons of the life, miracles, and parables of Jesus. These became the favorite lessons of both the teachers and children alike!
The classroom lessons were written by Jennifer Hock and submitted weekly to Fr. Vasile Tudora.
*Any mistakes or errors within these lessons belong to me, Jennifer Hock. Please forgive me.
Family Guide
List of Topics / Lessons for the Year
Pre-K to 2nd Grade Weekly Class Routine
Singing “Lord have mercy” in Different Languages
Teaching Iconography to Our Children
Each parish will have their own unique circumstances which will influence the way your religious education program will be run. I have shared our lessons and also glimpses into our delivery methods within the resources here.
I encourage you to take the needs of your church school and children into consideration when you incorporate any of these lessons at your parish and make the appropriate changes, as needed.
Video on the right – one of my teachers created a booklet in Publisher for their class. The information in the booklet is a summary of all of our lessons this year on the level of our 1st & 2nd grade class. Then they gave this wonderful booklet to each student at the end of the year.
Feel free to create something similar as a guide for parents at the beginning or end of the year. Our children’s formation and education occurs primarily within the home and our religious education program is in support of each and every family at our parish.
Good strength as you plan your upcoming lessons and school year!
Introduction to the Bible: Review
Goals:
1. Why is the Bible important to me?
2. Review knowledge learned last year about the Bible
Life of Saint Matthew
Goal:
Learn about the life of St. Matthew
Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew
Goals:
What is a gospel?
What is the purpose of Matthew’s gospel?
Matthew 1: The Genealogy of Christ
Goal:
Why is Christ’s genealogy included in Matthew 1?
Who is the Messiah?
Matthew 2: Concerning the Magi
Goal: Who are the Magi?
Why did they travel to find Jesus?
How did they find Jesus?
Matthew 3: John the Baptist Prepares the Way
Goals:
Who is St. John the Baptist?
What is Theophany?
Matthew 4: Concerning the Temptation of Christ & the First Disciples
Goals:
Why does God allow temptation?
Who were the first disciples of Jesus?
Matthew 5: The Beatitudes
Goals:
What are the Beatitudes?
Matthew 6: Almsgiving, Fasting, and Prayer
Resource Needed:
Pascha at the Duckpond by Mother Melania (All of my teachers ended up using this book with this lesson. It was a huge hit with everyone!)
Goals:
What is almsgiving, fasting, and prayer?
Why do we give alms, fast, and pray?
Matthew 7 & 8: Not Judging Others; Miracles of Jesus
Goals: How can we work towards not judging others? Icon Study: Jesus heals the leper
Matthew 9: Miracles of Jesus
Goals: What can we learn from the healing of the paralytic? Where is Capernaum located and what is its significance?
Matthew 10 & 11: The Twelve Chosen; Those Sent By John
Resource Needed for Pre-K to 2nd grade: 101 Orthodox Saints
Goals: Who are the twelve apostles? Why did St. John the Baptist send two of his disciples to Jesus?
Matthew 12: Responses to Christ
Goals: What is a miracle?
Do miracles happen today?
LESSON 14
Matthew 13: Parables
Goals: Why does Jesus teach in parables? What do the parables teach us?
One of my teachers made loaves of bread and fish for the younger classes as a visual aid for this lesson.
Matthew 14, 15, & 16: Feeding of the 5,000 & 4,000 and Jewish Leaders Test Jesus
Goals: What did Jesus teach us with the Feeding of the 5,000 & 4,000? Who are the Pharisees and the Sadducees?
Matthew 17: The Transfiguration
Goals: The Transfiguration is one of our major feast days. Read the gospel along side of the icon of the Transfiguration
Matthew 18: Finding the Lost Sheep
Goals: Who are the sheep and who is the shepherd? Christ came for our salvation. What does this mean?
Matthew 19: Riches and the Kingdom of Heaven
Goals: What are the 10 Commandments and how do they apply to me? What is Christian discipleship and how does it apply to me?
Matthew 20: The First and the Last
Goals: Who is the landowner and laborers in the parable? What is the vineyard in the parable?
Matthew 21: Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday)
Goals: What is another name for the feast of Palm Sunday? Why is Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem important?
Matthew 22: The Greatest Commandment
Goals:
How do we learn to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind? How do we learn to love our neighbor as ourself?
Matthew 23: Concerning the Woe of the Pharisees
Goals:
To develop an understanding of the meaning and dangers of hypocrisy
Matthew 24: Concerning the Day and the Hour of the End
Goals: Christ will come again at the time of the Last Judgement and no one knows when this will occur.
(Younger Children) Learn about the story of Noah’s Ark in reference to verses 37-39
Matthew 25: We Must Be Prepared
Goals: How do we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ? When do we hear this parable in church?
Matthew 26: Jesus’ Arrest
Goals: Why was the anointing of Jesus by Mary significant? What are the sequence of events in Matthew 26 in relation to Holy Week?
Matthew 27: Jesus’ Crucifixion, Death, and Burial
Goals: Our knowledge of all four gospels enables us to read the icons relating to Jesus’ life
Matthew 28: Jesus’ Resurrection
Goals: Learn about the icons –
Myrrh-bearing women at the Tomb; Myrrh-bearing women worship the risen Lord; the Resurrection (Descent into Hades); Adam and Eve
One Year in Review
Goal: to encourage our students to recall and remember our lessons this year, especially the icons