Chalice Lighting in the Classroom
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Sadie Kahn-Greene, Director of
Religious Education
Religious Education Program Office: 978-244-2583, dre@uuchelmsford.org
Sunday Morning RE | Adult Education
From the DRE | RE Schedule | Registration | RE Committee | RE Youth | RESES
Chalice Lighting in
the Classroom
From the Director of Religious Education, Sadie Kahn-Greene |
 |
April 20, 2008
Upcoming Religious Education Programs
Sunday April 27th
Early Beginners & Kindergarteners enjoy lessons on "We Love Animals" & "Playing in Nature is Fun"
1st-6th graders start in the Sanctuary followed by the 3rd week of our UU worship service elements rotation.
1st Grade – Social Hour hospitality with Tim O’hara in the Kitchen & Vestry.
2nd Grade – Sermons & For All Ages stories with Bonnie in the Alliance Parlor.
3rd & 4th Grade – Worship Music in the Chapel with Beth Benoit & Elizabeth Valentine.
5th Grade – Joys & Concerns and Prayer on the Vestry stage with Jane Collins.
6th Grade – Chalice Lighting and Call to Worship with TBA in the Warren Room.
7th-8th graders will explore "Popcorn Theology" lesson exploring prayer.
9th-12th graders will start in their classroom with advisors for an extended session until 12:30.
12th graders will meet with Sadie for a Bridging Program session at 11:30.
Sunday May 4th
Early Beginners & Kindergarteners enjoy lessons on "We Love Animals" & "Animals are Special"
1st-6th graders start in the Sanctuary followed by the 4th week of our UU worship service elements rotation.
1st Grade – Chalice Lighting and Call to Worship with Jim Collins in the Warren Room.
2nd Grade – Social Hour hospitality with Tim O’hara in the Kitchen & Vestry.
3rd Grade – Sermons & For All Ages stories with Bonnie in the Alliance Parlor.
4th & 5th Grade – Worship Music in the Chapel with Beth Benoit & Elizabeth Valentine.
6th Grade – Joys & Concerns and Prayer on the Vestry stage with Martha Sherbourne.
7th-8th graders will start in their classroom and if the weather is nice, they’ll meet outside!
9th-12th graders will start in their classroom with advisors for an extended session until 12:30.
Coming of Age information session after church on May 4th in the Chapel.
Friday May 9th - 6th grade milestone pizza night. This year’s 6th graders are invited to come to the church at 6:30pm for pizza and painting. We will have chalices and alter cloths for 6th graders to paint and personalize. The chalices and alter cloths will then be presented to each 6th grader during their milestone ceremony on May 11th.
Sunday May 11th - All are invited to attend the intergenerational worship service led by guest musician and speaker Matt Meyer. Milestone gifts for our 6th graders will be given out at this service.
Early Beginners will enjoy a lesson on "Playing in Nature is fun"
Religious Education Milestones
The Religious Education Committee sponsors our Milestones program that seeks to honor and support the faith development of our young Unitarian Universalists. We mark the growth of our young Unitarian Universalist every two years with gifts and recognition to serve as tools for the faith development of each child. Our Kindergarteners were honored on March 16th. Our 2nd graders were honored on March 30th. Our 4th graders were honored on April 6th. Our 6th graders will be honored on May 11th. Our 8th graders will be honored on May 18th and our 12th graders will be honored during our bridging ceremony on June 15th. Invitations will be sent out to each family prior to each milestone ceremony. If you have any questions about this program please talk to Sadie or a member of the Religious Education Committee.
In faith,
Sadie Kahn-Greene,
Director of Religious Education & Interim Youth Programs
Coordinator
dre@uuchelmsford.org
Sunday Morning Religious Education
Our cooperative church school offers religious education programming children from age four through high school that is held at the same time as the church service. The children begin the hour with 15 minutes of worship, either in the chapel or with the adults in the sanctuary. A nursery is provided for children under four years of age.
Goals of our program include:
Parental and Church Involvement
The RE Program is a cooperative venture between the church and the home. Parents, members, and friends of the First Parish community are needed to give emotional and physical support by:
Our Curriculum
Our curriculum is grounded in and guided by the Unitarian Universalist Principles and Sources. We offer our curriculum on a 3-year rotating cycle. Each year a different theme is explored. Our rotating theme years include Unitarian Universalist Identity and History (2007-8), Jewish and Christian Heritage (2008-9) and Wisdom from World Religions (2009-10).
Age-appropriate Religious Education Programming
Our program is thriving and growing and we have number of children in each grade level that matches an appropriate size for a Religious Education class based on the age of the children in the class. As a result the RE Committee has decided to group classes this year based on each grade level for our 1st grade through 6th grade youth rather than group two grades together such as 1st & 2nd, 3rd& 4th. And 5th & 6th grade classes. Also, we have extended our nursery care to 0-3 year olds to give us more space for age-appropriate content for the older children in our program. Please read below about the age groupings for this year’s children and youth in our program.
Friendship Finders for Early Beginner (four and five year olds)
We will continue to offer our class that meets every Sunday throughout the year for the youngest members of our church school. This class is different from last year in that it is for 4 & 5 year olds instead of 3 & 4 year olds. We are trying this configuration this year to see if it is a better fit for our program. This class runs from 10:40 until 11:45 or when the service ends. Parents are asked to pick up their children before social hour.
Our Early Beginners will follow the curriculum "Friendship Finders" by Roberta Altamari. "Friendship Finders" helps reinforce the idea that church is a safe and fun place to learn. Children will play and learn through ritual, songs, stories, games and activities. Themes are repeated two weeks in a row and there is a lot of repetition in this class to create a familiar place to learn and be together at church. Some of the themes include the following: I Love Church, Everyone is Special, Families, Learning is Fun, and Working Together.
Since sitting through our monthly intergenerational services can be difficult for our youngsters, this class runs on those Sundays as well. Friendship Finders will be offered every Sunday from 9/9/07-6/8/07 with a few exceptions such as the Christmas pageant and Easter. Children in 1st grade and under that wish to join this class on intergenerational days are welcome to join.
Rainbow Seekers for Kindergarten
We learned last year that our Kindergartners needed more continuity and routine than our Workshop Rotation Model could provide. As a result, we are offering a new class for Kindergarteners that will use the "Rainbow Seekers" curriculum by Roberta Altamari. This class will gather in the same room each week with lessons that use ritual, songs, stories and activities to explore topics such as: Working Together At Church, Everyone Is Unique, Everyone Needs A Home, Families And Friends Are Special, It’s Fun To Wonder, and Making Choices. Children in this class will start in the sanctuary for the 1st part of the service or in the chapel with the rest of R.E. every Sundays and then attend their class until noon.
Workshop Rotation for Religious Education 2006-7 (1st-6th grade)
This year’s theme for Religious Education at First Parish and our workshop rotations is "Our Unitarian Universalist Identity and Heritage." Once a month, we start with a chapel service based on the theme of our current workshop rotation. On all other Sundays, children will start in the Sanctuary for the beginning of our congregation’s worship service and the "for all ages" story. Please review the schedule for exact dates.
The stories shared in our children’s chapel and the "for all ages" portions of the worship service serve as one component of our workshop rotation R.E. program. These stories focus on the themes that the children will explore in greater depth during workshops in their rotations. The "for all ages" stories also provide the whole congregation a chance to be included in what we are learning in our Religious Education program. Rev. Ellen also chooses to give a few sermons that relate to what we are learning in R.E. as well.
Rotations will consist of workshops that each class will visit over the course of six Sundays (except one rotation which is four Sundays). These workshops include Movement/Worship, Art, Cooking/Science, Multimedia and Games. There are five workshops and classes will attend the Movement/Worship workshop in the chapel twice. Classes attend one week and share the chapel workshop with the grade above and one week sharing the chapel workshop with the grade below. Except for the 6th graders who will share with the 5th graders one week, and also with the 1st graders as "big partners" one week. I encourage you to look at the enclosed R.E. schedules for a more detailed outline of the first two workshop rotations sessions for the year.
Sunday Morning 7th-8th Grade Junior Youth Group
Our 7th-8th graders will enjoy their own class and classroom this year to provide the opportunity to explore Unitarian Universalism and create community in a junior youth group setting. This class will use a variety of curricula that best fits the needs of the group. They will use the curricula "Traditions with a Wink", "Music with a Message" and additional activities and games pulled together and co-led by a Youth Programs Coordinator that we hope to hire by the beginning of the church year. If hiring takes longer than expected the DRE and RE committee will work with the teachers to structure the program.
High School Youth Sunday Morning Programming
High School youth will participate in a program tailored to their interests and needs as Unitarian Universalist youth. They will explore the 6 components of a balanced youth program: community building, worship, leadership, learning and positive youth adult relations. The class will continue to use the formats that best fit the group such as group social justice projects, class discussions, field trips and hosting guest speakers in addition to exploring new material and activities put together and co-led by a new Youth Programs Coordinator.
In an effort to try to give our high school more time for their activities we will try something new this year. Based on conversations with students and teachers that we had last spring, we will offer extended high school sessions twice a month. During extended sessions, the high school class will start in their classroom and participate in activities through 12:30 allowing for 1 hour and 45 minutes of program time. On the remaining Sundays throughout the year, high school students will start with the congregation in the sanctuary for the beginning of services before leaving for their class in the high school room that will meet until noon. This is a trial that we will use for this year to review and evaluate to see if it works. If you have thoughts or suggestions please let us know.
Updated September 1, 2007
Please print this form, fill it in, and bring or mail it to church anytime before Opening Day, or as soon as possible thereafter. The mailing address is:
First Parish Church, Attn: RE Registrations
2 Westford St,
Chelmsford, MA 01824
Registration Form (Adobe PDF Format - Free Reader Available)
Registration Form (Microsoft Word Format)