Web Resources
1) At www.antiochian.org/christianeducation
1.1) "The Antiochian Orthodox Gospel Program"
Ready/Grade-Spanning
Our departmental website offers each Sunday's Gospel with a page for each of four levels. A boxed area contains questions and comments that can be used by parents who wish to read and discuss the Gospel with their child, or by a church school teacher. The pages for the younger children have line art to color, and for the older, color icons of the Gospel whenever possible.
1.2) "Celebrate the Feastdays!"
Ready/Grade-Spanning
One of the distinctive features of Orthodox Christianity is its emphasis on celebrating the feast days of the Church during the liturgical year. Orthodox Christians know that the feasts are timeless and significant to our personal growth in the faith. On this page you will find several resources with their and ordering information. We have also prepared “standup centerpieces” for each feast. These can be printed on ordinary paper, or on heavier paper for better quality.
1.3) Cross and Quill (CQ) Articles.
Ready/Grade-Specific
The web-based publication by teens and for teens is no longer in production; however, the two-plus years during it existed yielded a harvest of over 100 very good articles. Most articles come with a response column containing questions to guide discussions. They are available individually by reviewing the index and clicking on the article you wish to download.
2) At http://dce.oca.org
2.1) Bible Stories.
Ready/Grade-Specific
There are many Bible stories geared towards upper elementary students available to print out. They do not have illustrations.
2.2) FOCUS Units.
Ready/Grade-Spanning
The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) has a large resource web page called FOCUS. There are abundant resources in "bins" and a template for creating lesson plans. If you don't have the patience for this activity, there are also Study Themes of shorter duration, including: "Journey to Pascha," "My Orthodox Family," "The Nativity Season." The Study Themes are broken out in six levels from Preschool to Adult. Go to FOCUS on the website.
3) At www.phyllisonest.com
Phyllis Meshel Onest, M.Div., is the Director of Religious Education for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh. She has compiled an exhaustive resource list for both church school and home use, called "The Yellow Pages." A sample of the table of contents:
Sources of books, icons, tapes, magazines; Home Schooling Resources; Websites at Your Fingertips; Church School Director Resources; Church School Teacher's Notebook; Great Lessons Need These...!; Jr. & Sr. High Resources; Parents & Families Resources; Pre-School Resources; Small Church School Resources
