SuperStart!

SuperStart! curriculum is a 2-year large-group/small-group curriculum specifically written for preteens (4th/5th grades or 5th/6th grades) to help them get a super start living the rest of their lives for Jesus.

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Yes! You know your preteens better than anyone, so feel free to teach the curriculum units in any order.

There are 8 quarters of SuperStart! curriculum. Each quarter has 3 units (4 or 5 lessons per unit), which is very similar to quarterly Sunday school curriculum. SuperStart! curriculum can be used on a quarterly basis or it can be used whenever you choose, either in the order the units are presented or in a different order. We do suggest teaching the lessons in each unit in the order they are given to help preteens explore the unit question thoroughly.

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You can buy these products individually: teacher guide with 13 lessons and CD with music and printable files; student magazine with activities, interviews, and fun tear-outs; and teacher DVD with 13 lesson clips and other bonus video. You will need the teacher guide and the DVD for the leader of the large-group time. You will need a student magazine for each preteen. Leaders of small groups will need the teacher guide or PDFs of the small-group leader pages from the teacher guide. The PDFs are available as downloads on the Small Group section of the Web site.

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Yes! Access to Web site resources is free! And, for a group of 25 preteens, you’ll only spend $136.73, which includes a teacher guide with CD, a magazine for each student, and the teacher DVD.

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Downloadable samples are available on this Web site. Just visit our lesson samples section.

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The CD has both audio and printable files. Use the songs by recording artist Yancy to help your preteens worship. The printable files supplement the lessons by including Big Question posters, Scripture memory posters, Challenge cards, graphics, song lyrics, and helpful articles. You’ll use the DVD in each lesson. Humorous video clips correlate with and introduce each lesson and fun Q&A segments reinforce each lesson. There's also an Intro Loop you can play as students arrive, and Countdowns to use as fun transitions from one activity to another.

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SuperStart! curriculum uses the New International Version®, but any Bible version will work.

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SuperStart! curriculum is based on 24 big questions preteens might ask such as, “Does Jesus Understand Me?” and “How Can I Figure Out What the Bible Says?” In each unit of 4 or 5 lessons, preteens will explore one big question, dig into Scripture to find the answer, and really learn to live what they’re studying.

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Yes! Your large group can be as large as your facilities and staff can accommodate, and your small groups should be determined by the leader-preteen ratio that works for you. We suggest no more than 6-8 preteens per small group.

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Each lesson is designed to be 60 minutes—30 minutes in large group, 30 minutes in small groups. With optional Pre-Start Activities and Extra-Time Activities included in the teacher guide, each lesson is adaptable to 90 minutes. If you don’t have 60 minutes, you can pick and choose from among the large-group and small-group activities to fit your time frame.

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You will need at least 1 large-group leader and 1 leader for every small group of 6-8 preteens.

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SuperStart! curriculum lessons are “super” easy to prepare—not many extra items are needed. The DVD cuts prep time for the large group by providing a video segment and Q&A for each lesson. The curriculum is not overly scripted, but still gives plenty of information and guidance for leaders and teachers.

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The DVD eliminates some of the prep time, but does not do all the teaching. Preteens want to get to know you, so the large-group leader will need to prepare to lead the teaching/discussion time in the large group. Small-group leaders will need to be familiar with the lesson, but will be able to easily lead preteens in study and discussion using the activities and questions suggested in the teacher guide and student magazine.

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No! You will need basic classroom supplies (Bibles, pens, paper, tape, index cards, etc.), and occasionally a few more easy-to-find items. Check out the easy-to-use overview chart provided for each lesson. At a glance, you will see what you’re teaching and what you will need.

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The Web site is the place for teachers/leaders to find teaching tips and activities, share experiences, successes, and ideas with others who are using SuperStart! curriculum, and get up to date information on SuperStart! products and events. It’s also a place where preteens can find out more about the SuperStart! characters, download art, and play games.

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Yes! The section for teachers/leaders includes downloadable parent newsletters to e-mail to parents of your preteen students, bonus messy activities to use for special get-togethers with preteens, teaching tips from experts in the field of preteen ministry, and current information about SuperStart! products and events.

The section for preteens includes SuperStart! themed downloadable wallpaper and icons, fun facts about SuperStart! characters, and games and activities just for preteens.

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SuperStart! curriculum is a large-group/small-group curriculum format. Part of the time preteens participate in one large group for excitement-building activities, teaching, and worship. The other part of the time, preteens are divided into small groups of 6-8 students with an adult leader. In small-group time, preteens will dig deeper into God’s Word, talk about what they’re learning, and build relationships with a small group of peers.

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Yes! Standard Publishing’s SuperStart! Web site is part of a secure server that is monitored daily.

There are no links to other sites on the preteen section of superstartpreteen.com. However, depending upon what type of security is set up on the preteen’s computer, he or she may be able to access other sites by typing the URL into the browser. Parents may want to check their Web filtering software settings to make sure that they are consistent with the level of independence they wish to give their preteens.

Information that can personally identify you, such as your full name (first and last name), your e-mail address, or your postal address is not requested from any preteen who visits this site, consistent with the Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). For preteens who are using SuperStart! curriculum at church, the Web site is a place to download SuperStart! art, read more about the SuperStart! characters and what they think, play games, and participate in weekly polls on preteen topics. It is not a community where kids connect on-line with other kids or adults.

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That’s OK! The preteen section of the Web site is a bonus feature of the curriculum and is not a necessity to participate fully in the learning and fun. Community and relationship building happen best face-to-face during the large-group and small-group activities and discussions.

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Kids really love video, so the DVD includes a video clip for each lesson with situations and characters preteens will love, a wacky Q&A segment for each lesson, plus an intro loop and countdowns to use during the large-group time.

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SuperStart! curriculum will be produced quarterly with limited quantities of the previous quarters available while supplies last.

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SuperStart! magazine is used in each small-group time, so you will want the student magazine for every student. It is truly a magazine and not your average student activity book! And it is great, because it’s developed to appeal to preteens in content and design. The magazine includes articles, activities, interviews, do-at-home suggestions, fun facts, jokes, and lots more. Each student will want to read, use, and take home his own magazine at the end of each quarter.

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Standard Publishing’s Customer Service team will help you with any of your questions! Contact them by calling 1-800-543-1353 or e-mailing your questions to customerservice@standardpub.com.

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SuperStart! events are developed and sponsored by CIY (Christ In Youth) specifically for preteens. These two-day events are held from September through May in cities across the country. Each year’s SuperStart! event has a unique theme with a story line that is played out in the large-group time, along with high-energy worship, fun teaching activities, and small-group discussion. Check out www.ciy.com/superstart for more info!

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The SuperStart! curriculum is tied to the themes and characters of the SuperStart events, but you don’t need to attend the events to be able to use the curriculum. It works great independent of the event. It’s just a bonus for those kids who have attended SuperStart! events and are already familiar with the characters who appear in both.

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A must-have resource for all preteen leaders and teachers is Leading Preteens by Patrick Snow. Patrick is the director of Christ In Youth’s SuperStart! events for preteens. This practical guidebook will be helpful whether you’ve been doing preteen ministry for years or are just beginning to think about it.

If you’re looking for fiction for preteens, check out the Caleb Pascal & the Peculiar People series or the Elijah Creek & the Armor of God series.

Standard Publishing also offers several devotions for preteens including 365 Trivia Twist Devotions.

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The video clips are arranged to correlate with the focus of the lessons. For Volume 1, Numbers 1 and 3, the video clips were filmed at SuperStart! live events. In order to use portions from the energy-charged live events as lesson video clips, we had to arrange them to make sense with the main focus of each lesson.

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Before using the video clips with your students, watch them in the following order to become familiar with the story. You’ll be better able to set up the situations the students will see in the clips and answer questions your students may have. Click here to read the synopsis of the story. Watch the clips in this order: Lesson 11, Lesson 6, Lesson 5, Lesson 9, Lesson 2, Lesson 8, Lesson 10, Lesson 3, Lesson 7, Lesson 13, Lesson 4, Lesson 1, Lesson 12.

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Before using the video clips with your students, watch them in the following order to become familiar with the story. You’ll be better able to set up the situations the students will see in the clips and answer questions your students may have. Click here to read a synopsis of the story. Watch the clips in this order: Lesson 5, Lesson 12, Lesson 2, Lesson 9, Lesson 8, Lesson 11, Lesson 7, Lesson 1, Lesson 4, Lesson 3, Lesson 6, Lesson 13.

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