Grow Curriculum & Strategy Reviews 262

I find this curriculum full of activities and bible stories/truths. You can edit lessons easily which is so important for ease of planning. Most importantly the kids in our ministry are growing in their knowledge of the bible and their love for Jesus. So for those reasons I would recommend this curriculum.
However, with the newest Volume 9, the Grow curriculum has changed to a credit system. It is confusing and much more expensive. We have a small church and qualified for a discount. But what we recieved only covered most of the year. We are short 2 months of curriculum which is less than ideal. The organization of materials changed as well to be much more confusing. Each week I am spending a significantly longer time locating material that we've purchased. So for those reasons, I would think twice about purchasing this curriculum.
Overall, I find it a solid choice and is usable, but the time it takes to plan lessons now is inconvienent.

As someone who has been in youth ministry for 16 years, I’ve seen a LOT of curriculum. This is HANDS DOWN the best one out there. I’ve used most of the majors and this one has my heart.

It is scripturally sound, focused on discipleship, and invites students into spiritually and emotionally healthy relationship with Jesus. And when you get the full package, it’s basically youth ministry in a box! I edit my lessons to fit my students and my gathering time, but especially if you’re a volunteer youth leader, you don’t even have to do that. There is also social media, devotionals, parent and volunteer emails, events, and more included. All you have to do is execute the plan!

Seriously, I feel like I stewarded the church’s money SO well by investing in Grow Curriculum from Stuff You Can Use.

We are on our fourth year with Grow Kids and second year with Grow Students. We love, love, love Grow and the people who help us understand how to use this curriculum effectively. When I have questions or an issue, I receive a response and follow-up support almost immediately. I have also had several strategy Zoom calls when I have needed help working through an element or figuring out a tweak for an age group. These appointments are easy to schedule and available to all subscribers. The people at Grow are kind, care deeply about their product, and understand what it's like to be on the front lines of ministry. They accept feedback and have consistently improved the Grow experience each year that we have used it.

I am a former elementary educator. I have seen a huge shift in the needs of students and the attention span of students. Grow has allowed me to get the kids moving during our lesson, integrate elements that hold their attention, and teach to a variety of learning styles. We are not simply watching a video or giving a sermonette, we are approaching a Big Idea from six different directions to be sure that the kids understand. The lessons are so customizable that you can move, delete, or alter things so that they fit your group - we are a small church and find this easy to do!

Finally, our church is in New England. We need to work hard to offer spaces and experiences that people will prioritize in their week, as it is not assumed that families attend church each Sunday in our area. If you are looking for a Bible study or a sermonette-style curriculum, Grow is definitely not for you. It is dynamic and interesting, and you will hear students laughing and asking questions to dig for understanding. During a given Sunday, we will have deep moments of reflection and quiet prayer, but we also might do jumping jacks while memorizing scripture, move between four corners of the room to respond to polling questions, or teach a Bible story in full robot character. Yes, you might be incorporating a YouTube clip or referencing something from Disney. Almost all of these kids are watching these very same things at home! And while I would not say there are liberal teachings in Grow, I would say that this curriculum is the one you want if you have found others to be too restricting. There is diversity and loving acceptance represented in these lessons, without anything being overtly stated. Our kids need to be able to connect with what they are learning on Sunday mornings, and Grow has allowed us to make that leap with ease. The material is relevant and our students are not left wondering, "What does this have to do with me and my everyday life?" They understand, because the creators of Grow have spelled it out for them.

We have students returning week after week (the youngest kids literally running into classrooms!) and our volunteers are happy because teaching with Grow is clear and easy to follow. We are so happy that we switched to Grow, and look forward to seeing what's still to come!

I have been teaching in children's ministry for over 42 years. For the last 10 years, I have been teaching 1st through 5th graders every Sunday morning. So I can assure you that I am not a novice, I know my bible quite well, and I can also assure you that if you are looking for a children's Christian ministry curriculum that has a solid biblical foundation, this is not the curriculum to invest in.

When I read the first lesson I was asked to teach, my thoughts were, "What in the world is this!" Nine months later, I am still asking the same question. The misappropriation of scripture abounds throughout every lesson. There is no doubt in my mind that the people who wrote this curriculum do not know how to rightly divide the Word of God as commanded in 2 Tim 2:15.

Before you consider purchasing this be aware that the majority of each lesson is focused on a secular, imaginative narrative--not on the bible lessons. The bible lessons and the monthly memory verses are consistently taken out of context from their biblically intended purposes and woefully misappropriated to accommodate the make-believe narrative and the predetermined Big Idea. Also, the two bible lessons and the memory verse are all contextually unrelated.

Occasionally they suggest showing an exerpt of a secular movie (like Disney) to reinforce the narrative.One of those recommendations came with a warning that there might be some unacceptable language in the clip. Why would the authors suggest that teachers show children an inappropriate video!

Here are just a few of the multitude of examples of the continuous disconnect and confusion in lessons: The narrative is about going through a jungle looking for jungle animals, but the bible story is about Moses and the children of Israel wandering through the wilderness. How do you mesh a jungle journey with a wilderness journey! By talking about the importance of leadership, of course. (That's what the story of Moses in Exodus through Deuteronomy is all about, right? SMH).

One narrative is about career development in the entertainment industry, which reminds the writer about the story of John the Baptist (how so???). And JTB's story somehow connects with Psalm 29--you know, the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon, shakes the wilderness of Kadesh, and makes the deer give birth. I'm sure the children will have no problem understanding what that means. Besides, what does that have to do with JTB and/or career development in entertainment? If you're going to talk about hearing the voice of the Lord, how about using John 10--His sheep know His voice.

The writer suggest that the kids learn about the mathematical Fibanocci sequence (I had to google what that is), and then tell them how it connects to Jesus feeding the 5,000. And what about using space aliens to teach about Peter and John healing the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. One of the Press/Play videos in this same series actually taught that Jesus was a kind of "space-hitchhiker." (Is He just out there floating around?)

There are also subtle tones of wokeness in these lessons. Words like follow your dreams/heart, diversity, and "inclusiveness" have come up when misappropriating scriptures.

But the lesson that confirmed all of my reservations and critisms about this curriculum is the series on prayer. In one of the activities, instead of having the children actually practice praying to the Lord, it has them using Yoga and Transcendental Meditation positions and techniques (I confirmed this with a very quick google search). Instead of telling the kids to chant 'om,' they "Christianize" it by having them say the word 'prayer' over and over again, as well as saying/thinking about different phrases and words they heard in class about prayer. In other words THE WRITERS OF THIS CURRICULUM THOUGHT IT IMPORTANT TO OVERTLY INCORPORATE HINDU RITUALS AND BODILY POSITIONS INTO A SUPPOSED BIBLE LESSON ON PRAYER. UNACCEPTABLE! INDEFENSIBLE! I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me. This alone should tell you not to invest in this curriculum

Again, there is no doubt in my mind that the people who wrote this curriculum do not know how to rightly divide the Word of God.

If you are a woke, liberal church, or a seeker-sensitive church, you may appreciate this curriculum, as it is light on biblical substance and heavy on make-believe narratives. But if you are set on being obedient to the Great Commission and intent on discipling children to learn, understand, and live according the the Word of God in its fullness, then do not invest any money or time into it. Just open your bible and teach them. Be creative, be active, and above all, be contextually accurate. Cover your lesson in prayer, love the children, and watch the Holy Spirit show up in your classes.

The ease of this curriculum is awesome! Quick to edit; multiple choices to work with; and it’s easy to keep it light or take it deep. Our church is VERY satisfied with GROW!

Thank You for your excellent work and ministry! I struggled most of my life (8 years leading Young Life Clubs, 50 years doing foster care, 16 years caring for homeless, and now discipling 15-20 men) putting material together for use in teaching students, children, and grown adults. It is SO GOOD to see that no longer needs to be the case. You deliver in spades! May God continue to bless your ministry!
It fills a very essential role in His Kingdom! Keep up your good work!

Grow has been a phenomenal resource for our church. We use this curriculum for our ages, birth-young adults. As the lead pastor, I like knowing where our kids, students, and young adults are going for the year. I also utilize some of the Grow resources for our adults as well!

The curriculum is very easy to use and contains a lot of material for the overall price...which is why they get the 2 stars.

The bad... it is very watered down. The lessons they give usually don't connect to the scriptures they use. Example..this week the big idea is take another step - pray for others. The base scripture is Acts 3. Peter and John didn't pray for the cripple to be healed, in the power of the Holy Spirit they performed a miracle of healing. It seems as this happens every week.

Also the activities usually don't correlate to the lesson well. The elementary videos are kinda weird and include transgender actors.

My advice to kids directors is to use a different curriculum. We are probably switching to the gospel project.

Our church has been using this curriculum for 3 years. I liked it for the first 2 years. Now I feel the curriculum has turned the corner and is starting to bring in more woke ideas.

Example: Daniel 1:8 when Daniel refused to eat the "king's food"...the reason the curriculum gave was that vegies was much better for you. Meat was bad and they didn't eat meat back in Jerusalem. The real reason Daniel didn't want to eat the meat nor the wine was according to the NIV Study Bible notes: “Israelites considered food from Nebuchadnezzar’s table to be contaminated because the first portion of it was offered to idols. Likewise a portion of the wine was poured out on a pagan altar. Ceremonially unclean animals were used and were neither slaughtered nor prepared according to the regulations of the law.”

They also flashed a quick picture in the background of the 3-4 year olds video relating to the recent beauty pageant where a transgender person won.

I am using less and less of the curriculum, games and suggested videos. I'm doing more of my own research as to the Bible text they to pull out truths in the Bible text and memory verses.

The theme and examples they use to bring the Bible text together with the theme and games is getting harder and harder to correlate.

I pray this review will help you look for the truths of the Bible in any curriculum you decide to use. I'm very disappointed they have chosen to go this route :0(

This is a well thought out curriculum that has more information than you'll probably be able to use. It simply requires intentionality from the teacher/leader to fit it to context. I've never questioned the goal or biblical accuracy of the content, only how to make it fit my students. We use both children and youth and it's been incredibly helpful for us and our volunteers!

Very difficult to work with. Complicated, and hard for our workers to learn. We will be dropping it.

I LOVE Grow Curriculum!! I love the series themes, the writing, the many options for teaching the series, the games, the Grow Game app - and the list goes on and on! It is thorough and well-thought out, Biblically sound, the videos are engaging and professional, and the provided links are extremely helpful. I have been a Children's Ministries Director for 13 years and this is my favorite curriculum thus far!

We love GROW! It is very customizable which is great for us. They have more resources than we could ever need, but very much appreciate!! They are also promptly responsive to questions which makes a big difference. Thank you for this organized and friendly-to-use curriculum!!

Wonderful lesson outlines and teaching videos, fantastic overall vision and execution, and the materials provided are easy to assimilate into any church structure. The external resources shared are so helpful as well! The Email drafts are fantastic, and the parent communication documents are easy to use. This curriculum is awesome, and so worth using!

We are just getting started with Grow but so far everything has been amazing and the customer service is exceptional.

The "Grow" family helped me immensely throughout my first year of youth ministry- especially in the midst of a pandemic. I have been able to implement so much of the structure and fun that "Grow" provides into my yearly planning, leadership development, and parent partnership. I've grown as a leader, our youth ministry is thriving, and we have a lot of hope for the future of our ministry because of

This Curriculum is Top Notch!
My kids love the media and really relate to the messages and walk away remembering what they learned. I love the flow of the series and the themes are super fun! Keep it up GROW, there is no where to go but up!