Religious Education / Children

- To affirm the dignity and worth of every human being.

- To acquaint our young people with their own Unitarian Universalist heritage.

- To foster a feeling of community within, and among our youth for our church, and for the world at large.

- To teach respect of the earth and the interdependence of its living systems.

- To study, reflect on, and celebrate life.

What we offer:
We provide childcare for Babies, Toddlers and Pre-schoolers from 9:50 a.m. to 12.00 noon. Kindergarten through High School students attend the first part of the gathering service beginning at 10:00 a.m. The Sunday school program begins at approximately 10:30 a.m. This gives parents a wonderful opportunity to teach their children appropriate behavior for worship service. Children should be encouraged to learn to respect the quiet times of the service as well as to participate during the appropriate times. Sunday school ends at 12:00 noon. 

Babies, toddlers and pre-school:
We provide a safe and nurturing atmosphere in our nursery. Caregivers will begin nursery room coverage at 9:50 a.m. to enable parents to get their children settled. Please provide your own diapers, bottles, etc. as needed. A favorite toy or blanket may help your child feel more comfortable. A snack will be served to the toddlers and pre-schoolers.

How our program works:
Our Youth Programs Committee and Director of Religious Education meet once a month to plan and implement our program. Together, with input from the adults and children, they set goals for religious growth and learning. They plan the curricula, recruit and support the teachers, plan special events and service projects. At least once a year, a teacher workshop is held to help our volunteers with the job of teaching our children.

Curricula for the 2005-2006 Church Year

PRE-SCHOOL
This year we will use the curriculum Celebrating Me and My World by D. Pratt most weeks with the pre-school age children.

GRADES K-1-2
The year-long curriculum, Experiences with the Web of Life by Donn, et. al., involves our children with the UU principle of respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Emphasis is placed on values and differs from ecological content children often receive at their weekday schools. The children will be outdoors weekly unless it’s lightning, so please have them dress appropriately!

GRADES 3-4-5
This class will use A Stepping Stone Year by M. K. Gooding. This curriculum is based on the premise that religion helps people find answers to important life questions and that a religious community can help people in their search for answers. It contains creation myths, many stories of Unitarian and Universalist history and discusses life and death issues.

JR. HIGH Grades 6-7
We will use Traditions with a Wink by K. T. Erslev. This curriculum teaches UU faith and traditions while adding in fun to encourage these youth to be enthusiastic about their church experience. This will include the different ways UUs create community, our tradition of good works, our music and hymns, our purposes and principles and our Judeo-Christian roots.

Grades 8-9
From Sept-Dec. these youth will participate in the Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality education program. This is a comprehensive and inclusive program that addresses sensitive topics that are typically excluded from school-based programs. This curriculum is designed to model and teach caring, compassion, respect and justice. Beginning in January the 8th graders will join the Jr. High and the 9th graders will join the high school class.
A Coming of Age program will be offered this year for our eighth grade youth. Once a month classes will begin in January to encourage our youth to further develop their faith. They will choose an adult mentor to help them accomplish the program goals. There will be a celebration service in June.

SR. HIGH
This class will begin the year with the curriculum Articulating Your Faith and also work on a worship service to present to our church community. They will then use various other sources and media to aid in discussion of UUism and life issues.
A Sr. High Youth Group will meet about once monthly at a separate time from Sunday class, led by youth advisors, to plan social events and community service activities.

Senior High Service & Photos: On Feb. 27, 2005, the Senior High class presented a full service to the adult congregation and some of the other grade levels on Fairytales, providing an interesting view on what is good and what is bad in the tales we share with our children. Below are some photos from that service, which included two alternatives to the traditional Cinderella story.

A Sr. High Youth Group will meet at a separate time, led by youth advisors, to plan district conference activity, social events and community service activities.

Some links parents might find useful in answering kid’s questions about religion and life:

Between Sundays
Spiritual Parenting
New Connections (seasonal online newsletter with creative ideas for families, small groups)
BeliefNet

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We are in year two of our three-year curriculum cycle that the Curriculum Task Force and our Director of Religious Education developed. The 3-year program looks like this:

Year One (2002-2003): 
Exploring Our UU Faith

Year Two (2003-2004):
K-1-2 and 3-4-5:  Judeo-Christian Heritage and UUism
Jr. & Sr. High:  Expressions of our UU Faith

Year Three (2004-2005):
Understanding our Diverse World (This will include curricula about diversity and world cultural traditions for younger children and world religions for Jr. & Sr. High) 

Other UU Links:
Kid Talk (a webpage created especially for UU children)
Famous UUs
YRUU - Young Religious Unitarian Universalists
100 Questions

Last updated February, 2005
Director of Religious Education -  Jan Price
 

One class celebrates the start of summer with a field trip to the Detroit Zoo