Resources / Pro-Life Curriculum Introduction and Contents / Unit I Preschool & Lower Elementary / Unit III High School & College / Unit IV Parents, Grandparents, All Adults / PDF Printer Friendly Version

Contents of this Unit:

• Introduction

• Preparation

• Lesson I:     God Himself Forms A Child In The Womb

• Lesson II:    God's Jealous Love for the Preborn and Wrongness of Abortion
  Handouts: (Diary of an Unborn Child) and (Fetal Development Fact Sheet)

• Lesson III:  When Things Go Wrong

• Additional Sample Lesson: for the more mature by Kathy Lowers - homeschooler and mother of 6, including one who is autistic

• Supplemental material for the teacher, parent and student

Introduction:

The upper elementary and middle school ages have been shown to be one of the most important ages to reach the young student.  Often this can be a crucial time to reach teenagers for Christ.  Touching their hearts for the unborn baby can last them a lifetime.  Here’s what one adult whose parents were very active pro-lifers wrote:

“When I was a child, a young friend decided to hide in our garage. She found some pictures of an aborted baby. Many years later, as a high school student, she became pregnant. She told me that she was pressured to abort her son, but after having seen those pictures she could not do it. It is important for children to become pro-life at an early age because earlier opinions determine what new information they later believe or reject.”

Preparation: 

Materials can be obtained, sometimes free, from the Supplemental Material listings at the end. Articles, pamphlets, DVDs and books are listed. For Sunday school classes the requirement portion wouldn't pertain but most of the other ideas could be followed - especially the showing of the DVDs and/or pictures on fetal development, and other materials such as visual aids and the two handouts.

By Chris Auretto Piper, junior high, middle schoolteacher
 

LESSON I.  God Himself Forms A Child In The Womb

Aim:  

• Know that God is the creator of life, how a baby is formed and know that life begins at conception.

 
• Feel awe at God's workmanship and the preciousness of God's care and love for the preborn.
   
• Respond by defending the preciousness of life and having a foundation laid about the sanctity of life.
   
• Teach Memory Verses - Psalm 139: 13-16, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Readiness Activity - match baby pictures to students.  When did you begin? When did you become different from anyone else in the world, past and present?

Visual Aids:  fetal models – “young one”, “Precious Feet” pins, a pamphlet or pictures on fetal development - even one baby model at 3 mon. can make a difference – such a model saved a baby when passed around at a youth group and a pregnant teenager held it.

*The “young one” is perfect for all ages. http://www.heritagehouse76.com/pro_life_products_details.asp? prod_id=4534&display_grouping_id=&group_id=6&page=1&site_id=&look=1
*The “precious feet” are perfect for ALL ages. http://www.heritagehouse76.com/pro_life_search_results.asp? search_in=1000&page=2&search_for=precious+feet   Heritage House '76, Inc. - 919 S. Main St., Snowflake, AZ 85937 1-800-858-3040

Lesson - Based on Psalm 139:13-16

1. Define: conception - sperm and egg - x, y and DNA – depending on the maturity of the group.
    
2. Teach fetal development to birthday. Hand out the fetal development sheet. (See below for the handout sheet. Also several web sites have good fetal development in colored pictures that you can make copies of such as http://prolifetraining.com/Prenatal-Pictures.htm)
    
God's gift of Jesus before we were born.

LESSON II.  God's Jealous Love for the Preborn and Wrongness of Abortion

Aim:  To teach God's love for man and the truth that man is created in the image of God.
To introduce the issue of abortion and ways to help babies.

Teach Memory Verses -

Genesis 1:27 “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Psalm 127:3 “Behold children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.”

Proverbs 24:11-12 “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.  If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?”

Feel:  Protection for the preborn.

Respond:  Ways to help babies.

Readiness Activity: Cut out pictures of babies from magazines for a collage.

Lesson:  Go over Scriptures. Go over fetal development – give out the handout on fetal development. Give out the handout “The Diary of An Unborn Child”. Several web sites have excellent pictures that can be downloaded of fetal development. 

Depending on the maturity of the group, handout the pamphlet “What Every Christian Needs to Know About Abortion.”

Supplementary Ideas for the Middle School Student:

SUGGESTIONS: Depending on the maturity of the students, more explicit material can be presented.  

DVDs - These DVDs are available from www.CrusadeforLife.org at the discount price of $12.95. Must put on order form/check:  Life Loving Kids or a school curriculum order to receive the discount.

"Your Crisis Pregnancy" - true stories of four women who face unplanned pregnancies; two decide to keep their babies; two decide for adoption – not graphic

"Silent Scream" (several languages)  - actual abortion shown by ultrasound imaging. 

"Matter of Choice" (29 minutes) –a newspaper women explores the facts about abortion – not specifically Christian, some graphic material

http://www.crusadeforlife.org/crusade%20for%20life%20Order%20Form.pdf 

HAND-OUTS:

Diary of an Unborn Child - PDF printable version
 

HANDOUT OF FETAL DEVELOPMENT - PDF printable version

FACT SHEET 

*Good prenatal pictures that can be copied.http://prolifetraining.com/Prenatal-Pictures.htm   Life Training Institute,  PO Box 50918, Colorado Springs, CO 80919 719-264-7861 – comments@ProLifeTraining.com

The Miracle of Baby Samuel by Dr. Frank Joseph
http://abortiontruths.net/samuel.html 

What your baby looks like this week.
http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-fetal-development-index?s_evar2=fetal%2520development&s _prop2=fetal%2520development
 

LESSON III.  When Things Go Wrong

Aim:  To teach God's love and compassion for the weaker person.

Feel:   Compassion and concern for those weaker and that life is sacred no matter what.

Respond:  Care for others.
 
Scriptures:  Bear one anothers burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.

Readiness Activity:  Blindfold each other and lead each other.

Lesson:  Have students present a story about a person with a handicap they know or read about such as Joni Eareckson Tada. Joni Eareckson Tada has some excellent materials. http://www.joniandfriends.org/store_product.php?product_id=1173   *Joni's Story for Kids   For use with Camp Lean-on-the-Lord or On A Roll for Jesus. This brochure describes Joni's life story, her special talents, and her ministry in language kids can understand. Brochures - 25 per package – for $3  Excellent information on living with a disability:    http://www.joniandfriends.org/faq.php

Additional Sample Lesson: for the more mature by Kathy Lowers – homeschooler and mother of 6, including one who is autistic.

Lesson name:  Loving the Weak   -  Levels:  middle school, high school

Objectives:  To inform older children about the history of euthanasia , to make them aware of how it targets the elderly and handicapped, to unmask deceptive vocabulary used by the euthanasia movement, to give children the biblical mandate for taking care of the weak, and to foster a love of
seniors and those with disabilities.

Memory verse:  "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of
the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."  Matthew 25:39

Materials:  Short article on the history of euthanasia in Germany:
http://www.pregnantpause.org/euth/nazieuth.htm

Short article on the Terri Schiavo case:  http://www.terrisfight.org/pages.php?page_id=32
and Matthew 25: 31-46

Procedure:

1.       Ask the students to define “euthanasia” and discuss which states
in the US and which countries have legalized it.

2.      Read together the article on the history of euthanasia in Germany
and the article on the killing of Terri Schiavo.

 3.   Go over deceptive euphemisms for killing the old and handicapped (e.g.
mercy killing, right-to-die, etc.)

4.   Go over the passage in Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus talks about the different reactions from the “sheep” and the “goats” towards the weak. 

5.    Discuss how euthanasia is in direct conflict with what the Bible teaches about how we are to treat “the least of these”.

Action and Follow Up:

1.  Have each student put their faith into action this week by assisting an elderly or handicapped family member with chores or by having the class or your family visit residents in a nursing home.

2.  Have each student write about their experience helping the weak in this way or to give a verbal report to the class.

Supplemental material: for the teacher, parent and student during the upper elementary and junior high grades./font>    * Highly recommended.        Noted when possibly free.

The Miracle of Baby Samuel by Dr. Frank Joseph

http://abortiontruths.net/samuel.html 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895262932/regnerypublishin  Regnery Publishing, Inc.,  422 First St, SE, Washington, DC 20003 regnery.com - Facts Not Fear, A Parent's Guide to Teaching Children About the Environment  by Michael Sanera and Jane S. Shaw

http://www.ampartnership.org/about_us/about_us.asp    Abstinence & Marriage Education Partnership   AandMpartnership.org – 9810 Capitol, Wheeling, IL 60090  847-537-3417 -  providing Project Reality materials. (Teenagers) abstinence material with workbooks including Game Plan, Navigator.   Also a Christian version with scriptures.

What your baby looks like this week.
http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-fetal-development-index?s_evar2=fetal%2520 development&s_prop2=fetal%2520development 

http://babystepsdvd.com/  *  DVD called Baby Steps Help others see the miracle of life develop throughout a baby's 16 stages of growth – for all ages. http://www.all.org    American Life League   P.O. Box 1350, Stafford, VA 22555 540-659-4171  (possibly free)

Publishing Commerce | Baker Publishing Group  books for young people on America with activities. webmaster@bpg.com   prolifeforum.org - Bethany Productions, 901 Eastern Ave, N.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503  616/459-6273 fax 616/459-0343  A long list of pro-life materials.  

http://www.christianbook.com  - Books for a church Pro-Life Library –

junior high school and up:  Has excellent resources pertaining to life such as these
true life stories: *The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, about living in Holland at the time of the Nazis and surviving in a concentration camp; Angel Unaware by Dale Evans Rogers, about having a special needs child; * Joni by Joni Eareckson Tada, a true story about a young girl paralyzed in a swimming accident.  Joni has written several books, some for younger children.

For parents: * Honey for A Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt gives imaginative use of books in family life, with both secular and Christian titles for children of all ages including teenagers. For the Families Sake, For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley and for young teenage girls * Let's Talk by Danae Dobson.   services@christianbook.com

http://www.cph.org/c-240-childrens-books.aspx?REName=Shop%20by%20Category

*Arch books are perfect for young children. Concordia Publishing, Official publisher of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. 3558 South JeffersonSt. Louis, MO 63118 314-268-1000 Toll-Free 800-325-3040 http://www.cph.org/searchnew.aspx?SearchTerm=sex+education    Concordia Pub. House

*A Sex Education Series  for Christian families. From preschoolers to adults, the updated and revised Learning About Sex series makes the awesome gift of sexuality understandable to all. Age-appropriate language and graphics throughout the six books help the reader recognize gender differences as one of God's great gifts designed as part of His creation plan.

EPM probably has more articles from a Christian viewpoint than almost any other web site Go to index: http://www.epm.org/resources/articles/article-index.htm#Sexual%20Purity

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/   Focus on the Family  P.O. Box 35500, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3550 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459)

*A teenage version of Truth Project - TrueU https://www.mytruthproject.org/TrueUFAQ.aspx   
http://www.heartlink.org/PDF/firstninemonths.pdf  Beautiful fetal development brochure for all ages especially upper elementary and older.  Pregnancy Resource Center  http://www.heartlink.org/  
1-800-395-HELP 
Focus has partnered for materials with http://www.christianbook.com
service@christianbook.com  (See above under Christianbook.com.)*The “precious feet” are perfect for ALL ages.
http://www.heritagehouse76.com/pro_life_search_results.asp?search_in=1000&page= 1&search_for=precious+feet  Heritage House '76, Inc. - 919 S. Main St., Snowflake, AZ 85937 1-800-858-3040 

*The “young one” is perfect for all ages. http://www.heritagehouse76.com/pro_life_products_details.asp? prod_id=4534&display_grouping_id=&group_id=6&page=1&site_id=&look=1
*The “precious feet” are perfect for ALL ages. http://www.heritagehouse76.com/pro_life_search_results.asp? search_in=1000&page=1&search_for=precious+feet   Heritage House '76, Inc. - 919 S. Main St., Snowflake, AZ 85937 1-800-858-3040

http://www.hdrc.org/products.aspx   Human Development Resource Council, Inc.   hdrc.org - 5415 Sugarloaf Parkway, Suite 2201, Lawrenceville, GA 30043 770-513-0060 fax770-513-0057, Exploring Life Inside the Womb for elementary school children. Material for teenagers on sex.

http://www.humanlife.org/index.php   Human Life Alliance   humanlife.org  2855 Anthony Land S., Suite B7, Minneapolis, MN 55418  651-484-1040  Educational organization, producing and distributing pro-life literature especially for young people. "Life Begins" for grade school. feedback@humanlife.org

http://www.ignatius.com/index.aspx      Love and Life by Coleen Kelly Mast - an abstinence program for teenagers.(Catholic)   Ignatius Press   ignatius.com 15 Oakland Ave, Harrison, NY 10528 -1-800-651-1531 - leading on line Catholic book store   webhelp@ignatius.com

http://lifecyclebooks.com   Life Cycle Books   PO Box 1008, Niagara Falls, NY 14304 800-214-5849 fax888-690-8532 excellent material on all aspects of pro-life including abstinence, euthanasia and health. orders@lifecyclebooks.com
  http://lifecyclebooks.com/usa/product_details.asp?PRODUCT_ID=319 

* “What Every Christian Needs to Know About Abortion”
NEW! Our all-new 12-page full color booklet was created to awaken Christians to the true nature and spiritual consequences of abortion. It describes and illustrates abortion, summarizes prenatal development, presents the biblical perspective and lists practical actions Christians should take to end abortion. Written by Dr. Donald Smith, the creative force behind “The Silent Scream” (the most powerful pro-life movie ever created), this booklet has been called "the best of its kind that I have ever seen." the late Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, Ph.D. NOTE: This might be the material to introduce the student to the realities of abortion and what it does to the baby.

http://www.lifeissues.org/windows.html *Great pictures of fetal development for all ages "Windows to the Womb".

http://lutheransforlife.org/Teaching_For_Life.htm   http://lutheransforlife.org     Lutherans for Life  Witnessing to the Sanctity of Human Life, Through Education, Based on the Word of God - 1120 South G Ave, Nevada, Iowa 50201  888-364-LIFE  One of the best selections of materials for all ages covering fetal development, abstinence, abortion and other related life issues. http://lutheransforlife.org/Teaching_For_Life.htm   *"Teaching for Life" – lesson plans K-8^th grades. info@lutheransforlife.org    http://lutheransforlife.org/Catalog/bioethics_(C).htm  Bible Studies on *“The Sanctity of Human Life” and  *“Playing God” – bioethical issues such as cloning. Some of the material is free to download.

http://www.nace-cee.org/ceebookstore.htm   National Association of Christian Educators, P.O. Box 3200, Costa Mesa, CA 92628 - Escape From Sugarloaf Mine by Ruth Buehrer - a children's book to neutralize the dangers of humanism

* Choosing Your Child's Future/A Workbook For Parents - helping parents decide between Christian, home or Public schools for their child's education. Exclusively from CEE, by Dr. Bob Simonds & Kathi Hudson.

http://prolifetraining.com/Prenatal-Pictures.htm   Life Training Institute   http://ProLifeTraining.com   - PO Box 50918, Colorado Springs, CO 80919 719-264-7861 - special material for your pastor – *good prenatal pictures for elementary and  abortion pictures with excellent pro-life arguments for older youth. Free to make copies of.      comments@ProLifeTraining.com

www.wallbuilders.com/store/product230.html  Wall Builders,Inc.   wallbuilders.com - P.O. Box 397, Aledo, TX 76008 phone:1-800-873-2845 - *Drivethruhistoryamerica - great for high school including homeschooling families plus other American history materials such as: America's Godly Heritage and many other books by David Barton.    info@wallbuilders.com
 
http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/enUS/Search/Search.htm?SearchValue=Honey+for+a+Child's+Heart& SearchContent=Products&SearchMode=Simple&QueryStringSite=Zondervan    Zondervan Publishers - * Honey For A Child's Heart  by Gladys Hunt, imaginative use of books in family life, secular and Christian titles for children of all ages.  Read for Your Life Turning Teens into Readers Includes an Exclusive List of over 300 Recommended Books! By: Gladys Hunt, Barbara Hampton   
 

Please send any comments and suggestions on this curriculum to:  prolife@crusadeforlife.org  Thanks!