Image of God (published by Ignatius Press, just like the Faith and Life series) is also good. Similar scope and sequence, similar level of information (from what I’ve seen and heard of it), just different in the method of presentation.
I’ve used Faith and Life (F&L) for 1st and 2nd grade, and Image of God (IOG) for K and 1. Based on that, these are the obvious differences:
F&L has re-usable student textbooks with beautiful artwork, consumable activity books (busy work), and a really large teacher’s manual for each level. IOG doesn’t have student textbooks, just consumable workbooks (or work-texts), and then a smaller teacher’s book that guides the discussion.
In F&L, the main points are in the student text, and the teacher’s manual is used to expand on them. In IOG, the main points are made in the discussions (led by the teacher’s book), and the workbook is used to expand on them.
I like that each unit in F&L has a chapter of reading for the kids, and that the kids have something written down in their hands that explains the main points of the lessons. The Teacher’s manual is chock full of information and ideas. Too much, perhaps for a weekly religion class, but probably wonderful for a daily class. The teacher’s manual gives tons of information, but you will have to do some work ahead of time to put it all together and decide how to present it.
I like the way the Image of God teacher’s books present the information - they set up very clear explanations and discussions to have with the students. There is less total information in these manuals than in the F&L, but If you are only using this for Sunday school, it may be just the right amount. You’ll still have to look over the books ahead of time, but won’t have to spend as much time weeding out extra activities that you would in F&L (because of the sheer volume).
I think Ignatius Press will send out samples if you want to compare them.
)