Scope and Sequence

This title has a dry taste to it. I know that it is essential to have a well thought out plan of education in your children (I love organized plans) but the question always needs to be asked...what will lead a child to Christ and to follow Christ? The most common plan is to cover all of the basic Bible stories and essential theological concepts. I have likewise followed this plan for my children's ministry. And yet, I am still evaluating it wanting to make sure it is accomplishing those two goals. There are other strategies, some will focus mainly on practical issues, some will focus primarily on theological concepts, and others have created a strategy.But is a scope and sequence the key to leading to accepting and following Christ?Miss Vicki had a different strategy. She was always willing to follow the Promiseland lessons (with some resistance), but in the summer when there was not an essential plan to follow she would ask me if she could teach her own lessons. Now I would perhaps want to evaluate this but with her having being a Sunday school teacher for many many years and seeing my boy excited to go to class, I had the confidence let her do her own thing. Now Vicki didn't do lessons the easy way, with having gone to Israel several times she had photos and items for every Bible story you could think of. How much more real can a story become for a child when they see a photo of their teacher standing in the same location where the Bible story actually happened. Taking all of this into consideration, what impressed me the most was the way she taught. She didn't read a lesson to the kids or find a lesson that didn't require much prep. Vicki worked on her lesson all week and come to church on a Thursday or a Friday to do some set up and then come to church two hours early to get everything ready before she taught that night (we did kids church in the morning and did Sunday school at night). When she taught her lessons to the children, she did it with a passion like she was literally preaching to the children. The results were amazing. Children would consistently run into class, say hi to her every Sunday even though they were in third grade, and many children accepted Christ. Did she have a scope and sequence, no. Vicki taught lessons to those children that would allow her to share what God had put on her heart.The question has to be asked, which will lead a child to accepting and following Christ? A strict scope and sequence or a flexible plan that allows committed teachers to pour their heart out to the children. The two can work together sometimes, but I would say that if you have a teacher who has this kind of passion, take the risk and compromise on your plan.