MH:Kids
A Guide for Our Families
The mission of MERCYhouse Kids (MH Kids) is to partner with parents to help build a firm gospel-centered spiritual foundation in our children. This is accomplished by providing excellent resources and training to our ministry team and parents to help establish and grow the faith of our children in God through each of their stages of development.
Our goal is to create a safe, loving environment where our children can experience the Hope of the Gospel through the Word of God, taught by the People of God. Our Children's Ministry is fueled by the prayerful and selfless service of our committed MH Kids Ministry Team, with the hope of watching the next generation of our children and their friends walking in faith in Jesus Christ.
Things to Know
Our Volunteers
All of our volunteers have gone through a significant onboarding experience which includes an application process, an extensive background check, personal interviews and ongoing training. All of this is done to ensure the safety of our children and to create a fruitful learning environment for them.
To learn more about what our expectations for our volunteers are, you can view our Volunteer Handbook here.
Our Curriculum
MERCYhouse Kids utilizes “The Biggest Story” curriculum which focuses on teaching the whole Bible to our children over the course of three years. It his based on The Biggest Story Bible Storybook which we highly recommend to all our families. You can learn more about the curriculum here, and also check out the resources for families which we recommend for the home to pair with what children are learning in church (memory verse cards, color/activity books, posters, children’s books.
Checking In and Checking Out
MERCYhouse utilizes an electronic check-in and check-out system to help make sure your children are where they need to be, when they need to be there.
Check In beings at 9:50am and continues until the end of the first worship set
You can download the app and register your family for MH:Kids here.
We will only release children to those registered as “Trusted People” who have the app or printed security badge. To add “Trusted People” you can speak with our Point Person during check in, or contact kaitlyn@mercyhouse365.org
Restroom and Diaper Changes
For the safety of the children and MERCYhouse Kids volunteers and to limit the distractions during the lesson time, we request that parents change their child’s diaper prior to checking in to MERCYhouse Kids. Parents/guardians will be contacted during the service if their child’s diaper needs to be changed.
We also request that all other children be taken the restroom prior to checking in. If a child must use the restroom during class, parents will be contacted via the MERCYhouse App/Text Message to have their parents/guardian come and assist them with the bathroom.
Children must be brought back into the MERCYhouse Kids Area and handed off the the Point Person before returning to service.
Healthy Child Policy
Parents and guardians are encouraged to be considerate of other children when deciding whether to place a child under our care. If your child exhibits any of these symptoms, we ask that you not drop your child off:
Fever (100+), diarrhea, or vomiting within the last 48 hours;
Green or yellow runny nose;
Eye or skin infections; and/or other symptoms of communicable or infectious disease.
Children who are observed by our volunteers to be ill will be separated from other children and the parent or guardian will be contacted to request that the child be picked up.
MERCYhouse Kids Volunteers are also not to serve if they have any of these symptoms.
Snacks
Snacks may be given out to children in the Pre-School Class. Snacks are age-specific and may include: Cheerios, graham crackers, goldfish crackers, water, or diluted apple juice. Snacks will NOT include anything with nuts.
Food allergies or special needs will be included on the Check-In Roster app. If nothing is indicated when registering your child, we will conclude that they have no allergies or special needs.
We will ask that parents do not bring individual snacks for their children unless it is due to a specific dietary need. This has the potential to create conflict between children. If an individual snack is necessary, please have it in a container with the child’s name and inform the Point Person that it is in the child’s bag. Please note that individual sippy cups MUST be clearly labeled with the child’s name, and will only be given to the child during snack time. This will allow us to take every precaution to help children avoid drinking out of someone else’s cup.
MERCYhouse Kids is a Nut-Free Zone
Products such as peanut butter, Nutella, nut-containing food bars and any other products that have nuts or peanuts listed in the ingredients should not be brought in order to prevent allergic reactions and to protect any children or staff that may suffer from these allergies.
Behavioral Expectations: Kind, Gentle, Safe
We regularly communicate these expectations each week so that the children of MERCYhouse Kids know what is expected of them during their time in our care.
Respect God – demonstrated by their behavior during prayer with God and teaching about God.
Respect Adults – demonstrated by their kind speech and gentle & safe behavior towards MERCYhouse Kids teachers and volunteers . (Listening to instructions, not talking back, participating, etc.)
Respect Friends – demonstrated by their kind speech and gentle & safe behavior towards other children. (Their behavior should allow for a safe place for all children physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Not hurt others with words or actions).
Respect Yourself – demonstrated by how they talk about and behave towards themselves.
When children are not meeting these expectations or if there is unacceptable behavior, our MERCYhouse Volunteers administer disciple and correction with the following guideline:
We ask ourselves: Does the child know what is expected of them? Is the child being kind, gentle, and safe? Is the child being a distraction to others? Is the child complying with expectations?
Correction is to be done with kindness and love in order to bring healing and restoration, not sadness or guilt. We always work to understand and validate the child’s feelings. Children are never to be humiliated.
MERCYhouse Kids Volunteers will NEVER administer physical discipline. If a parent finds it necessary to discipline their child, they MUST discipline them in private.
MERCYhouse Kids Volunteers will NEVER yell at a child.
If you have any questions about any of the items above, please reach out to Pastor Tommy.