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Our Sunday Morning Classes
for Children & Youth

Schedule

10:15    Nursery opens
10:30    Worship Service begins
10:45    Children and youth depart the service for their  RE Classes
11:30    Worship Service concludes, social time begins, and parents pick  ______up their youngest children from the nursery
11:45    RE Classes conclude, and parents meet children in the Gerber _____ Room

Nursery

Our cheerful, comfortable nursery is conveniently located next to the sanctuary, and is stocked with toys, music and books appropriate for very young children. You may drop off your child at 10:15 AM, and are expected to pick them up immediately after the service. Parents are welcome to stay with their young child if they wish, and can listen to the service via built-in speakers.
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Preschool

Celebrating Me and My World

This beautiful, gentle curriculum begins by celebrating the wondrous qualities of the children themselves and expands to the things and people around them. It provides your pre-schooler with opportunities to grow in their sense of trust and caring, and to develop their self-identity and     connection with all of life. Class will meet in the second classroom upstairs. Parents will be asked to help with healthy snacks and to assist the class leader in the classroom periodically. Our preschool children will—

• Enjoy sharing and being part of a group
  
• Appreciate our interconnectedness with  nature
  
• Learn to take turns, listen and accept the needs of others
  
• Express themselves by describing what they feel, see, think, prefer, and remember
  
• Expand the boundaries of what they regard as “their world”

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1^st grade

Super Heroes:
Bible people and UUs

During the first half of the year, the children will focus on stories about people from the Bible, and in the second half they will focus on the stories of Unitarian Universalists—men and women who have acted with courage and wisdom in their attempts to live life fully and make the world a better place for others. Their classroom is the first one as you enter the REspace   upstairs. The curriculum is lively and active, with the children fully    embodying these timeless stories through play-acting, games, and creating interesting art related to the topics being covered.

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2^nd through 3^rd grades

Spirit of Adventure

This brand new curriculum teaches UU Identity using many different kinds of learning, including physical movement, and the learning that comes from challenge and adventure.

Engaging activities include dissecting a computer, building a cantilevered bridge using graham crackers, interviewing a sports coach, eating smoked oysters and singing Jingle Bells in “dog language”—plus circus arts, an Animal Blessing, and a Popcorn Sale. Bring in your active children and watch them be amazed!

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4^th-6^th grades

Spirit of Adventure/You the Creator

This class will use the same Spirit of Adventure curriculum as the 2nd and 3rd grade class. Additionally, these children will meet once a month with Yolanda Reyes, an artist and art therapist who will help them use the arts to express and celebrate spiritual and religious themes.

Spirit of Adventure teaches UU Identity using many different kinds of learning, including physical movement, and the learning that comes from challenge and adventure. Included are activities like dissecting computer, building a cantilevered architecture using graham crackers, interviewing a sports coach, eating smoked oysters and singing Jingle Bells in “dog language!”  There are also circus arts, an Animal Blessing, and a Popcorn Sale.

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7^th-8^th grades

Compass Points:  A Questing Year

For youth that express the desire, by the end of this year, they will have the opportunity to become associate members.  The Compass Points curriculum is part of their requirement for such membership, as are a social service project, and attending several retreats, and district-wide events. Compass Points will lead its middle school participants on a year long spiritual journey in which they will have opportunities to:

• Sort out their feelings about themselves and their world as they do the difficult work of starting to create their adult selves;
  
• Discover what they believe about life’s big questions—the nature of humanity and God, beliefs about death and faith;
  
• To think independently, assume responsibility, make decisions, explore values and adopt the practice of radical hospitality;
  
• To acquire enough background in Unitarian Universalist history, polity and theology that they can know and express what  Unitarian Universalism stands for.
  
• To understand that religious liberty is a hard-won legacy that continues to need protection.

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High School

You the Creator/OWL

Sunday mornings, the youth will be working with the “You the Creator” curriculum, interspersed with special events and social service projects throughout the year.  The goal of this program is creative empowerment: helping our youth discover themselves as creators who can align themselves with positive and universal creative forces.

Our Whole Lives, a comprehensive sexuality curriculum will also be offered on a separate evening for interested youth.  Grounded in a holistic view of sexuality, OWL provides not only facts about    anatomy and human development, but helps youth clarify their values, build interpersonal skills, and understand the spiritual, emotional and social aspects of sexuality.

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Special Traditions and Rituals

Recognizing the deep need we all have for meaningful  tradition, we bring our young people together with the adult congregation to  celebrate holidays, Water Communion, Flower Communion, and  the Day of the Dead. Our teens offer a Worship Service every year, and we celebrate personal milestones with Dedication Ceremonies, Coming of Age Programs for Middle School youth, and Bridging Ceremonies for graduating seniors.

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