Children's Religious Education

Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse

For Grades Pre-K Through Sixth Grade
Summer Curriculum
High School Youth Group
After RE Classes Child Safety
Yellow House Needs Snacks!

For Grades Pre-K Through Sixth Grade

There have been a few changes in the Yellow House Religious Education classes recently. The 9:30 service has continued to be quite popular with our families and is bustling with activity. The 11:00 service has had less in attendance, but continues to be a thriving group.

To accommodate our families needs we have maintained the three class divisions at 9:30. The classes are divided by grade level and are: Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten; first, second and third grades; and fourth, fifth and sixth grades. The largest class is the first, second and third grade, so we have moved to a plan of opening a second “overflow” class in the Yellow House foyer if the number of children in that class becomes too large.

The 11:00 service has moved to an all ages model drawing on small group ministry and one-room schoolhouse ideals. This class has a smaller ratio of children to adults, resulting in more individual attention, as well as allowing for more hands on participation. Each member has different skills, knowledge and interests. In this way we all learn from each other and can build a close community. By grouping children and adults of all ages together we create a "family model" of RE. Those with children who may benefit from this type of learning may consider changing to our 11:00 session. The multi-age class will be taught by Janet Granja, our new DRE (Director of Religious Education), with the activities focused on the same themes as the earlier session, but with a slightly different twist that will make use of Janet's background in Fiber Arts and as an elementary teacher.

Summer Curriculum: Tapestry of Faith

This summer, we will be piloting a new UUA created curriculum, Tapestry of Faith. This curriculum weaves together many of the facets of some of the older curricula of Social Justice, UU Identity, World Religions, and others into a program that seeks to give children integrated experiences that are anchored in narratives and hands-on activities, keeping the religious program “religious”. The lessons are designed to allow children to learn Unitarian Universalism with their minds, hearts and hands. According to the UUA, each program “will nourish the child’s quest to understand what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist, holding our children in love, igniting their passion for justice, and satisfy their need to know more deeply the diversity and wholeness of our Unitarian Universalist faith.”. This summer’s program will select a couple of threads from this curriculum and introduce it to our children through the RE classes. Because of the smaller number of children attending RE classes, the grade-level classes will be divided into two different combinations: PreK through Second grade, which will meet on the main floor, and Third through Sixth grade, which will meet in the old 4/5/6 class on the top floor. Because this curriculum is taught in a sequential arrangement, the summer classes will be taught in the traditional format, using a lead and assistant teacher team that rotates through the month.

PreK-second Grade Classes:

The PreK-2nd grade classes will be exploring the curriculum, Moral Tales, which will attempt to provide children with the spiritual and ethical tools they will need to make choices and take actions reflective of UU beliefs and values, through the medium of story telling, followed by discussion and then either games or crafts that demonstrate the moral fiber of the story told.

Third Through Sixth Grade Classes:

The 3rd through 6th grade classes will be using A Tool Box of Faith curriculum to discover what aspects of UU faith are helpful to them as tools to face and manage the challenges of life. They will also use stories as a path to opening discussion, and will follow up with more advanced games and co-operative activities.

And of course the program will continue to incorporate all of the current rituals of the Yellow House— lighting the chalice, and the sharing of Joys and Concerns, and the most important part of all—SNACK TIME!! The Summer Coordinator of all this new summer madness will be our very own RE Assistant, Jason Wellman.

As the curriculum is somewhat fluid, the DRE will try to tie weekly lessons to ongoing events in the church, and to other events happening in the church and out in the community. On days when the calendar lists Multi-Age RE, there will be no age-grouped classes, but rather multiage activities and games that relate to UU principles and environmental/social justice concepts.

High School Youth Group

The high school youth group, open to grades 9 through 12 continues to meet on Sunday evenings at 6:30 in the Yellow House. At present, the youth are watching movies together (both at the Yellow House and on outings to local theatres) and then discussing them afterwards. The YRUU leaders are Pam Bettis, Archie George, Lysa and Tom Salysbury, and Jenny Sheneman.

After RE Classes Child Safety

For safety reasons, it is extremely important for parents to remember that RE does not provide supervision on the playground after RE classes are finished.

With those same concerns in mind, it is critical that parents of children in grades PreK-3rd grade sign their children out before they, the children, leave the Yellow House.

Up to now, we have not been requiring the 4th-6th grade students to be signed out by parents. But as part of our overall Safe Congregations Policy, we are now asking parents of the 4th-6th grade students to fill out a form, available from Director of Religious Education Janet Guthrie-Granja or from the UUCP Executive Secretary Summer Stevens during their office hours, noting whether they wish their children to sign themselves out or they wish to personally pick up and sign their children out at the Yellow House. Please drop the form off in the RE registration box in the windowsill in the Church foyer.