Last Saturday night, the Hillside Community gathered with around a 130 in attendance for an evening of dessert and vision casting for the coming year.  

Here is what was shared in the program booklet regarding HillsideKids that night:

Since the arrival of our current environments, Waumba Land and UpStreet/Avenue252 in fall 2008, HillsideKids has seen steady growth of around 10% a year.  That means on a weekly basis we are Better Together with around seventy children a week and two dozen leaders.  We are a significant part of what happens on this hill each week.  

We live out Better Together as the church and the parents by forming a partnership for the benefit of the spiritual formation of our children.  HillsideKids through their volunteers, leaders, innovative curriculum and tools help parents be prepared and equipped to weave faith conversations into everyday life.  

Here are some of the ways that we actively partner with parents so that we are truly Better Together:

• Small Group Leaders:  Consistent leaders for your kids that truly know them and love them, investing multiple years into building a relationship with you as well as your child that allows them to say things to your kids that a good parent would say.
• ParentCue app:  app that gives parents direct access to their child’s curriculum as well as parenting tips, training and encouragement.
• Legacy app: This app will tell you exactly how much time you have left to be a major influencer of your child.  It’s an eye opener and a great reminder of how we need to use our time wisely with our kids.
• ParentCue Take Home:  Monthly take home papers that contains current month information that they can use to lead their children in faith discussions in the ordinary places of their lives.
• GodTime:  For elementary students to use as a personal devotional or for families to use as a family devotion.  Contains four daily activities to use between Sundays.
• HillsideKids Facebook page:  A way for all of our families to connect.  One of our primary communication tools about upcoming events and to see photos from events once they happen.   www.facebook.com/HillsideKidsMarin
• HillsideKids Blog:  Blog written specifically for parents of HillsideKids, contains a lot of information that cannot be contained in our all church newsletter, along with posts on parenting helps.  http://hillsidefamilyministry.blogspot.com
• Add me to your Twitter feed: @tmw4kidz where I will connect you to other sources of great parenting information and fun.

Don’t have kids in the program?  You will still want to know this stuff - because you do know someone who does need what we have in HillsideKids.  Someone in your neighborhood, at your work place, at your gym.  Please take a risk and be bold for the sake of their kids, invite those families to partner with us.  We have something unique and really good here at Hillside that needs to be shared because we truly are Better Together!  

Thanks to all of you who have signed up with HillsideKids Facebook and blog and joined me in the Twitter-spere!  If there's anything else you'd like to know about HillsideKids or Hillside, be sure to drop me a message, email, text or tweet. 

Blessings,

Terri