Welcome back to those families that I haven’t seen this summer. Our intergenerational water ingathering service is on September 10. Please bring a small amount of water from your home or a place you visited this summer.
Our full Religious education program begins on September 17th. The RE Committee for Children and Youth and I have planned an exciting year for UUCWC’s children. Here is what each class will be studying:
First Service (9 am – 10am)
Pk-6: All children are together in one classroom for a multi-age RE lesson taught by our Director of Religious Education, Robin Pugh. The class will use a lesson from A Discovery Year or Moral Tales (described below).
Second Service (11:00 am – 12:15 pm)
Pre-school (age 3 and 4): Chalice Children encourages spiritual development by direct experiences. We nurture young children’s spiritual growth, creativity, and connection to their UU community through rhymes, games, stories and activities.
Grades K-1: A Discovering Year nurtures children’s spiritual and religious growth by exploring connections to selves, friendships, families, church, nature and religious and cultural days. Children will learn to appreciate the worth of each person, to express feelings, to play cooperatively, to celebrate diversity and to feel part of the UU community.
In February and March, this class will have 8 sessions of K-1 OWL, the Unitarian Universalist sexuality curriculum that covers birth, babies, bodies, and families. Parent orientation sessions will be in January 2018.
Grades 2-3: Moral Tales provides children with spiritual and ethical tools to make choices and take actions that reflect their Unitarian Universalist beliefs and values. Each lesson is based on a story about a person who displays moral courage and spiritual greatness in the face of adversity.
Grades 4-5: Bibleodeon is a UU curriculum that presents the best-known Hebrew and Christian stories in a fun and informative way. The class will also explore connections between biblical events and UU principles, and between biblical ideas and their own lives
Grades 6-7: Crossing Paths invites students to explore the faith traditions and practices of other religious groups in their community—both in the classroom and by arranging visits at other houses of worship. The class will also explore their own values as they relate to other faiths and strengthen their commitment to Unitarian Universalism and UUCWC.
Grades 8-10: Our Whole Lives (“OWL”) is a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, which provides youth with accurate information about sexual health, human development, sexual behavior, relationships and personal skills in the supportive setting of our religious community. Parents must attend a parent orientation before their child can take this class.
Grades 9-12: Youth Group meets first and third Sunday afternoons from 12:30-2pm. Youth group is a youth-led, advisor-supported program. Its purposes include nurturing spiritual, emotional and intellectual growth, developing leadership skills, building community, increasing understanding between youth and adults, and serving the wider community. Activities include worship, learning, games, overnights, social action, and youth conferences.
I’m looking forward to a great year!
Warmly,
Robin