In today's session the elementary children learned about the third Unitarian Universalist Source, expressed in children's language as "the ethical and spiritual wisdom of the world's religions." We learned what Hinduism teaches us about reverence for life and living without harming animals. We heard a Hindu story about the god, Ganesha, whose mother takes the form of a cat without his knowledge. Ganesha chases and torments the cat without thinking, believing he is "playing", only to learn upon returning home that he actually had been tormenting his own mother. We also thought about ways that animals communicate without words.
Explore the topic together as a family: Talk about animals your family has contact with and how they communicate. Encourage your child to be a scientific observer, watching animals and noting their behaviors in various situations. Seek out opportunities to observe many different creatures, preferably uncaged animals in their natural settings. Always be careful and respectful of an animal's territory! Visit a 4-H show or a farm to observe domesticated animals Visit an animal shelter or wildlife rehabilitation center. You might want to explore the idea of serving as a foster family for a homeless dog or cat.
Create a family ritual: As a family, create a blessing or prayer for animals. List your hopes and wishes for the animals of your acquaintance, as well as the animals of the world. This can be a nice alternative to a mealtime grace, or bedtime prayers.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Love and Gratitude
Today's elementary level from the curriculum LOVE WILL GUIDE US focused on our sixth Unitarian Universalist Source of beliefs, expressed in children's language as "the harmony of nature and the sacred circle of life." We heard a winter solstice story in which the sun has grown tired and rises for shorter and shorter times each day. The children of earth re-energize it by expressing their gratitude for all the sun gives. In return, the sun regains its energy and vigor and begins to shine ever more brightly, longer and longer each day.
The children also brainstormed things they didn't like, and things they were grateful for. And finally, together we created an acrostic for the word THANKS that expressed things we are grateful for.
Gratitude is a spiritual orientation connected to the experience of joy and the practice of generosity. How can you expand upon today's teachings at home? One way is to set aside a time every day or every week for sharing gratitude. Light a candle and give each person an opportunity to name what they are thankful for. Or set a shallow dish of water on a table and give each person a pebble or glass gem. As they share what they are grateful for, they can place the pebble in the water. Or place a large twig in a vase, give each person a paper cutout leaf or flower and have them write something they are grateful for, then hang it on the branches. This could also be created on a piece of posterboard and displayed on the wall.
Explore with your child how the rhythms of nature support our life, and how the lessons we learn can be a guiding star pointing the way to love.
The children also brainstormed things they didn't like, and things they were grateful for. And finally, together we created an acrostic for the word THANKS that expressed things we are grateful for.
Gratitude is a spiritual orientation connected to the experience of joy and the practice of generosity. How can you expand upon today's teachings at home? One way is to set aside a time every day or every week for sharing gratitude. Light a candle and give each person an opportunity to name what they are thankful for. Or set a shallow dish of water on a table and give each person a pebble or glass gem. As they share what they are grateful for, they can place the pebble in the water. Or place a large twig in a vase, give each person a paper cutout leaf or flower and have them write something they are grateful for, then hang it on the branches. This could also be created on a piece of posterboard and displayed on the wall.
Explore with your child how the rhythms of nature support our life, and how the lessons we learn can be a guiding star pointing the way to love.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Love is Accepting AND Dreaming of Change Quest
Today's elementary level children continued their exploration of our 4th UU Source: "Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all others as we love ourselves." The children recalled that the last time we considered that source, we heard a story from the Christian Bible (New Testament) about how Jesus compared God's love to a mustard seed. In today's session we heard a story by Rabbi Marc Gellman from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) based on Jacob and Rachel, highlighting the importance of questioning gender stereotypes and accepting people for who they are.
While we may wish to believe that the damage of gender bias belongs to the past, there is still much to be learned about gender identity. We talked about gender as a feature of identity we find on a continuum, rather than a rigid male/female dichotomy. The children arranged a wide variety of pictures of toys, sports equipment and clothing along a continuum of BOYS and GIRLS. A thoughtful discussion emerged of their own personal preferences regardless of societal bias. We also talked about how gender stereotyping can hurt everyone - the person whose behavior does not fit it, as well as people whose behavior does seem to fit. And finally, we talked about how stereotyping and gender bias can prevent people from giving and receiving the love and acceptance we all deserve.
The middle school youth were challenged with a Quest based on the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream for a better world. In today's session participants explored the specific dreams of outstanding UUs; and expressed personal dreams for change.
Through a series of stories focusing on outstanding UUs, we discovered the lives and dreams of UUs such as Tim Berners-Lee (creator of the World Wide Web); Susan B. Anthony (women's rights activist); Pete Seager (folk singer and social justice activist); Albert Schweitzer (world humanitarian); Paul Newman (philanthropist); James Reeb (civil rights activist) and others.
To focus on personal dreams, participants listened to a guided meditation and added symbols of their personal dreams to their mirrorboards.
While we may wish to believe that the damage of gender bias belongs to the past, there is still much to be learned about gender identity. We talked about gender as a feature of identity we find on a continuum, rather than a rigid male/female dichotomy. The children arranged a wide variety of pictures of toys, sports equipment and clothing along a continuum of BOYS and GIRLS. A thoughtful discussion emerged of their own personal preferences regardless of societal bias. We also talked about how gender stereotyping can hurt everyone - the person whose behavior does not fit it, as well as people whose behavior does seem to fit. And finally, we talked about how stereotyping and gender bias can prevent people from giving and receiving the love and acceptance we all deserve.
The middle school youth were challenged with a Quest based on the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream for a better world. In today's session participants explored the specific dreams of outstanding UUs; and expressed personal dreams for change.
Through a series of stories focusing on outstanding UUs, we discovered the lives and dreams of UUs such as Tim Berners-Lee (creator of the World Wide Web); Susan B. Anthony (women's rights activist); Pete Seager (folk singer and social justice activist); Albert Schweitzer (world humanitarian); Paul Newman (philanthropist); James Reeb (civil rights activist) and others.
To focus on personal dreams, participants listened to a guided meditation and added symbols of their personal dreams to their mirrorboards.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
PEAK: Know Before You Go
Today's environmental session for the elementary level was from the PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) program from the Leave No Trace organization. Diane came in dressed as if she had just returned from a hike in the woods. She removed her outer garments (including orange hat and vest for hunting season, gloves, down coat, etc.) to illustrate the "Know Before You Go" principle, showing that she had checked the weather forecast and hunting season calendar to prepare before leaving home. She had on rubber bottom boots so that she could stay on the trail, even through low wet spots, rather than go off trail and trample the tender grass/flowers - "Choose the Right Path" principle. Then we went through all of the items that were in her backpack to illustrate the other principles, and discussed why they were important. (The children got a special chuckle about the reason for the toilet paper and hand trowel.) We talked about what it means to "Be Kind to Other Visitors" as well. The children then spent the remaining time drawing things or scenes we might have seen on our hike.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
The Sacred Circle of Life AND All the World Together
Because of the holidays falling on Sundays, January being a 5 Sunday month, and our college childcare/teacher student on winter break, our schedule this month is a bit off kilter. However, we were delighted to welcome quite a crowd of children and youth to our programs today, typically a time we enter the winter doldrums! And thanks to our incredible teaching and childcare staff we have the month covered without missing a beat.
Today's elementary level children discussed a very adult topic: death and dying. Using our sixth Unitarian Universalist Source of beliefs "Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature" - expressed in children's language as "the harmony of nature and the Sacred Circle of Life" - we explored a topic that can be very confusing and scarey for children. We learned of the reassurance that our Sources bring to us as Guiding Stars in helping us deal with those "big questions" about life such as Why do people and pets we love die? and What happens to us after we die?
We read a Madagascar creation tale called "Why Death is Like the Banana Tree." All of the children were familiar with a close personal connection with death and dying, and were able to express their relative comfort or discomfort with the subject. We talked about how we experience many strong feelings when someone or something we know dies - sadness, grief, anger, guilt, and fear - and those feelings were affirmed. We talked about how important it is to talk about our strong feelings within our families or our church congregation where we are in a safe and loving environment. And we also talked about how we can show our love for one another by listening carefully, and giving hugs or words of kindness, when someone talks about their strong feelings associated with the death of one they have loved.
The children also shared various ways they could memorialize one they have loved, such as creating a special burial rite for a beloved pet, or decorating a special memory box, or making a scrapbook. We talked about how our church has a special service called a Memorial Service, a Service of Remembrance, or a Celebration of Life for people who have died. And the children were showed the UUCR Memorial Garden and invited to explore it and imagine it as a beautiful woodland sanctuary of memories when the trees and shrubs mature.
As a creative expression, the children traced their hands and made "memory flowers" out of them to memorialize a loved one or pet. The session ended with placing a special UU constellation - We Learn From Nature - in our Night Sky display.
While our elementary children were exploring the Sacred Circle of Life, our middle school youth were exploring issues about diversity through their Questing Year session "All the World Together." We brainstormed social problems surrounding intolerance, and engaged our Avatars in probing questions such as being popular in school.
They discussed the very serious ramifications that can occur as a consequence of intolerance, bigotry and hatred in the world, and what we as UUs can do on a local and global level. They were also challenged with the seeming conundrum of how can we as a religion embrace a wide variety of individual beliefs while simultaneously creating parameters of intolerance when it comes to those very issues.
As always, our youth rose to the challenges posed to them and displayed a remarkable maturity and a refreshing outlook in their responses.
Today's elementary level children discussed a very adult topic: death and dying. Using our sixth Unitarian Universalist Source of beliefs "Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature" - expressed in children's language as "the harmony of nature and the Sacred Circle of Life" - we explored a topic that can be very confusing and scarey for children. We learned of the reassurance that our Sources bring to us as Guiding Stars in helping us deal with those "big questions" about life such as Why do people and pets we love die? and What happens to us after we die?
We read a Madagascar creation tale called "Why Death is Like the Banana Tree." All of the children were familiar with a close personal connection with death and dying, and were able to express their relative comfort or discomfort with the subject. We talked about how we experience many strong feelings when someone or something we know dies - sadness, grief, anger, guilt, and fear - and those feelings were affirmed. We talked about how important it is to talk about our strong feelings within our families or our church congregation where we are in a safe and loving environment. And we also talked about how we can show our love for one another by listening carefully, and giving hugs or words of kindness, when someone talks about their strong feelings associated with the death of one they have loved.
The children also shared various ways they could memorialize one they have loved, such as creating a special burial rite for a beloved pet, or decorating a special memory box, or making a scrapbook. We talked about how our church has a special service called a Memorial Service, a Service of Remembrance, or a Celebration of Life for people who have died. And the children were showed the UUCR Memorial Garden and invited to explore it and imagine it as a beautiful woodland sanctuary of memories when the trees and shrubs mature.
As a creative expression, the children traced their hands and made "memory flowers" out of them to memorialize a loved one or pet. The session ended with placing a special UU constellation - We Learn From Nature - in our Night Sky display.
While our elementary children were exploring the Sacred Circle of Life, our middle school youth were exploring issues about diversity through their Questing Year session "All the World Together." We brainstormed social problems surrounding intolerance, and engaged our Avatars in probing questions such as being popular in school.
They discussed the very serious ramifications that can occur as a consequence of intolerance, bigotry and hatred in the world, and what we as UUs can do on a local and global level. They were also challenged with the seeming conundrum of how can we as a religion embrace a wide variety of individual beliefs while simultaneously creating parameters of intolerance when it comes to those very issues.
As always, our youth rose to the challenges posed to them and displayed a remarkable maturity and a refreshing outlook in their responses.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
The Gift of Time
"Love is, above all, the gift of oneself."
This quote from Jean Anouilh was the basis of the elementary children's lesson today as they explored our second Unitarian Universalist Source of beliefs, expressed in children's language as "women and men of long ago and today whose lives remind us to be kind and fair." They heard an often-quoted Christmas story from the life of UU minister and author Ralph Waldo Emerson. When Emerson asked his daughter Emily what she wanted for Christmas, she responded with a riddle: "You cannot buy it, for it is worth all the money you have, but only YOU can give it." Emerson pondered that for quite a while, and finally concluded - correctly - that his daughter's wish was for the gift of his time, which he gladly gave her throughout the coming year. Later in his life, Emerson would repeat that story often in his writings and from the pulpit.
Today the children played a riddle guessing game, and made Gift of Time coupons to give to family members. They added a new UU constellation to the Night Sky display: a constellation of two stick figures joining hands, representing our second Source and the gift of love.
In another lesson on the gift of love, our middle school youth thanked the congregation for their extremely generous special collections the past two weeks (over $500 was donated as well as several boxes of food goods) and spent the morning shopping to fill the shelves of the local Food Pantry.
AT HOME IDEAS: Start a new holiday tradition of gifting others with your time! With your child, explore the topic together. Is there a family member or friend who might especially appreciate the gift of your time? Brainstorm ways your family can spend time together without spending a lot of money, such as planting a garden, going for a walk, reading books, playing games, etc. Coupon booklets are one way to capture those gifts of time. Another is to make a Give Love or Gift of Time jar, into which family members can deposit a piece of paper with a gift of time that the family can share together such as family movie night, or cooking dinner together. Then once a week or so, have the family gather round to draw one slip and enjoy the gift of time together. Or create a Give Love family scrapbook. This is particularly appropriate at this holiday season when we have time to spend with extended family members, and can include interviews as well as multigenerational scrapbooking activities.
In this era when a family's life can be filled to overflowing with one structured activity after another, giving our children the Gift of Time can be the most precious thing we can do.
This quote from Jean Anouilh was the basis of the elementary children's lesson today as they explored our second Unitarian Universalist Source of beliefs, expressed in children's language as "women and men of long ago and today whose lives remind us to be kind and fair." They heard an often-quoted Christmas story from the life of UU minister and author Ralph Waldo Emerson. When Emerson asked his daughter Emily what she wanted for Christmas, she responded with a riddle: "You cannot buy it, for it is worth all the money you have, but only YOU can give it." Emerson pondered that for quite a while, and finally concluded - correctly - that his daughter's wish was for the gift of his time, which he gladly gave her throughout the coming year. Later in his life, Emerson would repeat that story often in his writings and from the pulpit.
Today the children played a riddle guessing game, and made Gift of Time coupons to give to family members. They added a new UU constellation to the Night Sky display: a constellation of two stick figures joining hands, representing our second Source and the gift of love.
In another lesson on the gift of love, our middle school youth thanked the congregation for their extremely generous special collections the past two weeks (over $500 was donated as well as several boxes of food goods) and spent the morning shopping to fill the shelves of the local Food Pantry.
AT HOME IDEAS: Start a new holiday tradition of gifting others with your time! With your child, explore the topic together. Is there a family member or friend who might especially appreciate the gift of your time? Brainstorm ways your family can spend time together without spending a lot of money, such as planting a garden, going for a walk, reading books, playing games, etc. Coupon booklets are one way to capture those gifts of time. Another is to make a Give Love or Gift of Time jar, into which family members can deposit a piece of paper with a gift of time that the family can share together such as family movie night, or cooking dinner together. Then once a week or so, have the family gather round to draw one slip and enjoy the gift of time together. Or create a Give Love family scrapbook. This is particularly appropriate at this holiday season when we have time to spend with extended family members, and can include interviews as well as multigenerational scrapbooking activities.
In this era when a family's life can be filled to overflowing with one structured activity after another, giving our children the Gift of Time can be the most precious thing we can do.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
PEAK and MEETING MYSTERY
Under the leadership of teacher Diane Shields, today's elementary group participated in a PEAK program (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids). The topic was "How Long Does It Last?"and the focus was on the "Pack Your Trash" principle of Leave No Trace. Participants were shown a variety of objects (aluminum can, wool sock, orange peels, paper, plastic grocery bag, etc) and guessed at the length of time each item takes to decompose. That led to a discussion of what it means to decompose, and some side discussions such as mending worn clothing that is still quite usable, disposing of pet droppings, and bringing cloth bags to use at the grocery store. Since the temperature was quite brisk, children were given the choice to do the primary activity indoors or outdoors. Responding to the theme, they unanimously chose to do the activity outdoors! Diane notes that PEAK is a GREAT addition to our RE program, not just for the kids but for the parents and general congregation as well. The idea of incorporating Leave No Trace/PEAK principles into a culminating spring camping trip was discussed with a few parents afterward, with great enthusiasm. Look for details in the future!
While the elementary group was exploring environmental practices, the middle school group, under the guidance of Linda Dutton, was busy with their Questing Year session "Meeting Mystery." Discussion revolved around the different ways people use to explore spirituality, including prayer, meditation, and music. Participants had the opportunity to experience various practices such as chanting during their Mystery Quest.
Thanks to the extremely generous donations of our congregation in the past two Sunday special collections, the middle school and upper elementary students will spend next Sunday (December 18) shopping for the Food Pantry. The students are excited to offer this service on behalf of our congregation. The children's religious education program thanks our congregation for such generous support!
I would also like to draw your attention to a wonderful weekly parenting blog by UU educator Michelle Richards. She focuses on how to incorporate UU principles into daily practice within the family. Please visit her blog "UU Parenting" at: blogs.uuworld.org/parenting
I would also like to draw your attention to a wonderful weekly parenting blog by UU educator Michelle Richards. She focuses on how to incorporate UU principles into daily practice within the family. Please visit her blog "UU Parenting" at: blogs.uuworld.org/parenting
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