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Children's Religious Education |
Welcome to the website for the Children's Religious Education program at the UUC. Here you will find resources for parents, students and teachers pertaining to all aspects of our program. Please follow the links below to jump to specific topics, or just page down to learn more about us!
- Information about our program
- Registration form
- Curriculum
- Class schedule
- Becoming a teacher
- Volunteering for RE
- Nursery
- Young Adult RE
- Teacher's Resources
Religious Education is very important in the liberal religious tradition. Our program's aim is to introduce our congregation's children to the tapestry of human spiritual experience and traditions. We want to provide for our children the tools and resources that will help them find their own spiritual path, whatever that path might look like. The Children’s RE program at the UUC is designed to give our children a safe, happy place to explore their own spirituality and how they relate to others of various faiths. We endeavor to make sure that all children and all faiths are valued and honored.
Our Children's RE program takes place primarily in the Education Wing of our church. This is a multi-use space designed primarily for Religious Education, and includes several classrooms, a large common area with a carpeted section, and an outdoor playground. While most lessons will take place here, our teachers may also avail themselves of the extensive grounds of the church, including a large undeveloped area of native land.
The current program will run from the first Sunday in October until the end of May. As our program is small, we have adopted the "one-room schoolhouse" style for our classes. Children between the ages of 3 and 10 years of age are welcome to participate; we regularly have 5-10 children in attendance on any given Sunday. This style of class helps ensure a good number of students in regular attendance for each class. It also helps our children learn how to interact with other children of a wide variety of ages. We have found that the older children, in particular, enjoy the role of helper/mentor with the younger children, and will often lead games and read stories to the younger children. While this strategy is successful for our program's current size, we anticipate that in the near future we will be splitting the group into two classes as our attendance grows.
Within the program we have three teams of teachers, two per team. Having team teachers is both to make leading classes easier on the teachers, and to ensure the safety of the children. These teams rotate throughout the month. The fourth Sunday of each month is Music Sunday, where our choir director Louise Clark, or our flutist Kate Prouty, will lead the class in various forms of music and music-related play.
We ask that all parents or guardians register their children with our program. This helps us keep track of our students, their activities and attendance, as well as helping our staff keep in contact with the parents/guardians about the program. You will find registration forms on the information desk in the entrance foyer of the church, or you may download and print out your own form below. There is currently no fee for registration.
Download registration form (Word Document; if a login box pops up, please ignore and press cancel)
For the 2006/7 academic year we will be following a UUA published curriculum called "We Are Many, We Are One". This curriculum is aimed at preschoolers, but the lessons lend themselves to being scaled-up for the older children as well. Some of the topics we will cover in this curriculum are: holidays, nature-themes and responsibility for the Earth, cooperation, learning to cope with fears, diversity and body awareness. For a complete list of scheduled classes, please download our schedule below.
Download Class Schedule (Word Document; if a login box pops up, please ignore and press cancel)
Becoming a teacher for the RE program is a serious commitment. We are very proud of our teachers, and we trust them to help us raise our congregation's children in our religious tradition. There are three main requirements for becoming an RE teacher at the UUC:
- You have been a member or regular attendee at the UUC for at least 6 months;
- you complete the Teacher's Orientation scheduled before each semester begins; and,
- you pass a background check (UUA-wide policy).
The time commitment for our teachers is currently to teach one RE class per month, and to alternate as the lead teacher once every two months. Lead teachers are responsible for reading through the entire lesson and picking which activities and stories will be used for the class, writing up a brief lesson plan and materials list one month in advance, and delegating responsibilities during the class between him/herself and her co-teacher. Assistant teachers are responsible for helping the lead teacher, leading whatever activities delegated to him/her, and assisting the nursery worker in preparing the nursery 15 minutes before the service.
We want our teachers to have an easy and good time with the children, and so we have opted to follow a standardized curriculum for our classes. These curriculums remove a lot of the work (and worry) by providing ready-made topics, activities and stories for the classes. The teachers are at some liberty to modify the lessons to their own tastes, as long as any key features of the lesson are still covered. However, it is perfectly acceptable to simply follow the lesson plan as provided.
To become a Children's RE Teacher, simply volunteer during the annual call-for-teachers! Once a year, usually during late summer, we will make a general appeal for teachers. If the teacher's drive is passed, you are welcome to volunteer for the following year, or perhaps as a fill-in teacher for the current year. Speak to Robyn Morton or Sam Martland for more information.
An RE program is made up of more than just teachers. There are many and varied tasks that can always use doing. Supplies need to be bought, inventories need to be taken, letters need to be mailed, projects need to be taken on, copying needs to be done, and so on. There are many tasks that we don't even realize need to be done until someone points them out to us! We welcome everyone in the congregation to bring their own skills to bear on our program: handy with a hammer? Make a wonderful batch of cookies? Love talking about lizards? Anything can be incorporated into the RE program--just ask us how!
Our congregation provides nursery care for children ages 6 months-3 years old. Before the service, children may go to the Education Wing to play and be cared for. During the service the Nursery will move to the Library adjacent to the Sanctuary.
We are currently hiring for the position of nursery caregiver. Please contact Robyn Morton or Sam Martland for more information.
Young Adult RE is provided for children who have outgrown the children's RE classes. While no formal cut-off is in place, a general guideline of around 10-11 years old is reasonable. However, each child and his/her own situation should be evaluated individually; parents and children are free to visit both the children's and young adult RE sections to determine for themselves which will be the most beneficial. Some young adults prefer to remain in the service with their parents. Others prefer the more informal young adult RE discussion group. If you are interested in our Young Adult RE program, please contact William Carper for more information.
Teachers can find here various resources for their classes. Lesson plans are grouped by month, and the location of the requested materials is noted in italics next to each item. The Teacher's Resources section will grow slowly as our resources increase. Parents and others should feel free to look through this section. Check back often, as this section is bound to grow!
Lesson Plans, 06-07 academic year
| Last updated
October 16, 2006 | Contact
robynmorton@verizon.net with webpage issues.