Welcome to GTKids!
We believe children are a gift from God. At Grace Toronto, we desire to provide a safe place where
kids can learn that they are both beautiful and broken — in need of the saving grace and love of Jesus.
Our vision is to help children know Jesus personally and to encourage them to live gospel-centered
lives at home and in the city.
1. OUR CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
NURSERY: 6- 24 months
We provide a staffed nursery that will be open 15 minutes before the service and will remain open for
the duration of the service. Young toddlers participate in a structured program of songs, Bible stories,
prayer, snack time and group activities.
TODDLERS : 2 year olds
Our toddler program is designed to help toddlers discover the joy of God’s truth and love. The room
will be staffed and open 15 minutes before the service, remaining open for the duration of the
service. We use the TRU curriculum, published by David C. Cook.
PRESCHOOL: 3 year olds
Our preschool program is designed to help preschoolers discover the joy of God’s truth and love. The
room will be staffed and open 15 minutes before the service, remaining open for the duration of the
service. We use the TRU curriculum, published by David C. Cook.
KINDERGARTEN: 4 and 5 year olds
Our kindergarten program helps 4s and 5s understand the reliability of the Scriptures and trust the
love and forgiveness God offered through Jesus Christ. Children remain with their parents in the
auditorium until they are dismissed and accompanied by their parents to their classroom. We use the
Gospel Story for Kids curriculum, published by New Growth Press.
YOUNGER ELEMENTARY: Grades 1-3
Our children’s church program helps children understand and practically apply the gospel of Jesus
Christ to their lives. Children remain with their parents in the auditorium until they are dismissed and
accompanied by their parents to the welcome desk. We use the Gospel Story for Kids curriculum,
published by New Growth Press.
OLDER ELEMENTARY: Grades 4-5
Our children’s church program helps children understand and practically apply the gospel of Jesus
Christ to their lives. They also begin to form important relationships with one another. Children
remain with their parents in the auditorium until they are dismissed and accompanied by their
parents to the welcome desk. We use the Gospel Story for Kids curriculum, published by New Growth
Press.
PARENT RESOURCES
Because we believe that our role as a Children’s Ministry is secondary to the spiritual nurture and
education that happens within the home, we would encourage you to make use of the supplementary
resources for our curriculum:
For the toddler and preschool classrooms, you can find more resources for our curriculum, TRU
blessings, at http://homefrontmag.com.
For the kindergarten and elementary classrooms, you can purchase (at the welcome desk) copies of
these books:
The Gospel Story Bible
“It is easy to forget Jesus in the midst of frantic schedules, family squabbles, and conflicting priorities.
But the truth is that he is the hero of every story, including these ordinary ones. This is why Marty
Machowski puts God’s plan of salvation in Christ on continuous display in The Gospel Story Bible. The
easy-to-read storybook introduces your family to many captivating people, places, and events from
the Bible’s Old and New Testaments, showing how each one ultimately points to Jesus.”
Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Old Testament Devotions to Draw Your Family to God
Old Story New: Ten-Minute New Testament Devotions to Draw Your Family to God
“You won’t find a more important focus for your family devotional than a daily highlighting of the
gospel of grace. Why? Simply put, the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes” (Romans 1:16). Clever stories and good moral lessons may entertain and help our children,
but the gospel will transform our children. The gospel is deep enough to keep you learning and
growing all your life, yet simple enough to transform the heart of your first grader who has just begun
to read. Long Story Short (OT) and Old Story New (NT) help busy parents pass on the gospel of grace
to their children in just ten minutes a day. Each week in the devotionals corresponds with the Sunday
lesson from the Gospel Story Sunday School Curriculum.”
2. OUR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Check-In/Check-Out Procedures
Each week, your child will be checked-in at the GTKids Welcome Desk. We use KidCheck, a secure
electronic check-in system to ease this process, and a Welcome Desk volunteer will help you create
your KidCheck account. Please allow emergency text messaging on your account as well as indicate
if your child has any allergies. Once your child is checked-in, you will either walk them to their
classroom or have them join you for the first portion of the worship service. You are welcome to stay
with your child for as long as he or she needs time to adjust.
To pick up your child, you will need to show your printed nametag at the Welcome Desk to be allowed
into the children’s area. With the exception of younger and older elementary classes, checkout is
done at the classroom. (YE and OE are dismissed to parents at the welcome desk.) Volunteers are only
allowed to release children to parents whose number matches the child’s.
If your child needs you
To best communicate, we use “text messaging” to let you know your child needs you. Please keep
your cell-phone on you and set it to silent-vibrate. If you do not have a cell phone, please let us know
at the Welcome Desk where you will be seated in the auditorium.
Snacks
We provide your children a small snack (Nursery and Toddlers: Arrowroot Biscuits, Children’s Church:
Goldfish or Arrowroot Biscuits) and juice (Toddlers and Children’s Church) during snack-time. Please
let us know if your child has any allergies to these items.
Allergies
Our Children’s Rooms are nut-free zones. We know that nut allergies can be fatal to some children, so
all of our rooms are nut-free. If your child has a severe allergy, please let us know at the Welcome
Desk and also indicate the allergy on your KidCheck account. A special nametag will print for your
child to make sure our volunteers are aware of their allergy.
Bathroom & Diapering Procedures
Please take your child to the bathroom before dropping them off at their class. For your child’s
safety, volunteers are NOT permitted to change your children’s diapers.
Child Protection Procedures and Policies
We provide a classroom manual to all volunteers detailing all of our policies and procedures. The
manual is available online if you would like to review it further. We make every effort to ensure all
our policies and procedures are followed.
Volunteer To Child Ratios
We have established volunteer-to-child ratios in each of our classrooms to ensure the safety of your
child. In the event that these ratios are exceeded, we may ask you to stay with your child on a given
Sunday, or we may (on rare occasions), close a classroom to more children.
Parent Volunteers
For families who choose to regularly attend Grace Toronto, we ask parents to serve as parent
volunteers in GTKids. Although parent volunteers are required to complete the 3-step application
process (application, background check, interview) and serve as needed (every 6-8 weeks), they are
NOT required to prepare the lesson in advance of the Sunday they are scheduled.
Thank you for entrusting your precious little ones to us. If you have any questions or concerns, please
feel free to contact me at jen@gracetoronto.ca.
Jen Michel, Children’s Ministry Director