When it comes to teaching children, one size does not fit all. This is why Truth78 curricula takes an age-graded approach. This is opposed to a unified approach, which would have students of all ages studying the same basic content. We strongly believe an age-graded approach best aligns with the basic realities of what children can comprehend and how they learn best at specific ages.
Christian discipleship involves instructing not only the mind but also engaging the heart and influencing the will. Teaching must consider the whole child and the child’s developmental stages, including fine motor, speech, cognitive, emotional, and social development. Think of how children are taught to read and write. There is a progression—starting with letters, simple words and phrases, and then sentences. Our curricula is designed to teach children in this type of precept-upon-precept manner. Over time, we give children the essential building blocks needed to understand the whole counsel of God.
Our scope and sequence, from nursery onward, has a very intentional flow that introduces children to specific biblical concepts with increasing breadth and depth as they grow. For example, by sixth grade, students are taught the doctrine of God’s providence—His sovereign control over all things. This can be a very challenging doctrine to explore and embrace. However, our earlier curricula have carefully laid the biblical foundations for this doctrine by teaching and explaining the attributes of God, His good and perfect promises, and His plan of redemption as seen in the Person and work of Christ, as well as by helping students to see God’s hand throughout all the narratives of Scripture.
The Limitations of Unified Curricula
It’s easy to see the appeal of a unified curriculum. It simplifies the logistics. Everyone is on the same page as you go through the Bible (usually chronologically), giving you a sense of fulfilling the commitment to teach the whole counsel of God and promising an easier means of home discipleship as parents can discuss the same content with their children of different ages.
Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t take into account the educational needs of children of various ages. Consider again how children are taught various subjects and skills in a school setting. They learn the alphabet before they learn to read and write. They learn numbers before addition and subtraction. In other words, certain concepts require prior knowledge. This is no different with biblical truths. Children can grasp that “God is sovereign” in a basic way, but to truly understand deeper concepts like His providence over all things, they need key foundational truths that have been introduced and explained over time.
A unified curriculum often introduces young children to concepts and biblical narratives beyond their ability to understand, missing the opportunity to first ground them in a more simple but necessary biblical “alphabet.” For example, teaching preschoolers about the particular Levitical sacrifices is not foundational at this age and presents concepts that are way beyond their ability to grasp.
Another concern is that unified curricula are typically built on a chronological approach that relies heavily on the narratives of Scripture. While narratives are important, children need more than stories–they need a systematic theology crucial for understanding and living out the Christian life. They need to be taught doctrines concerning the Bible, the triune God, man, salvation, the Church, heaven, etc. Take, for example, the New Testament epistles. They are loaded with deep and rich doctrinal truths on which the Christian life is grounded and through which believers grow and mature. These portions of Scripture are often minimized when the focus is mainly on narratives.
So while we understand the appeal of a unified curriculum, we believe that it does not serve the needs of children best and falls short of providing them with the necessary breadth and depth of the whole counsel of God.
Adapting Age-Graded Curricula for Multi-Age Classrooms
Many churches face the challenge of combining multiple age groups into a single classroom due to limited resources or space. While age-graded teaching is ideal, there are ways to adapt Truth78’s curricula for multi-age settings. There is a target age for each study, along with a broader age range, giving flexibility for various classroom setups.
Grouping children in closer age ranges—such as keeping preschool and early elementary students separate from older elementary children—can help. For churches that must combine ages, Truth78 offers additional resources and tips to support teachers in these mixed-age settings. You can explore these strategies and recommendations here.
In summary, while a unified curriculum has its conveniences, we believe Truth78’s age-graded approach is more effective for long-term spiritual formation. By progressively introducing biblical truths in a developmentally appropriate way, children are better equipped to understand the breadth and depth of God's Word as they grow.
