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Religious Education for Children

Why RE?

Religious Education brings young UUs together for friendship, fun, support and learning. We encourage all UU kids to attend often and to go through the year's curriculum. However, each weekly unit is self-contained and kids cannot "fall behind" by missing weeks! The content of the RE units is designed to provide a mix of discussion, reflection, hands-on activities, play and social time. We hope RE will reinforce each child's identity as a UU and to introduce UU principles and values.

RE Offerings

The Religious Education Program meets weekly during the Sunday worship service. Families attend the first 15 minutes of the service together, then the children go upstairs for RE. We begin each session with children's "Glads and Sads" (Joys and Concerns) and then move on to the week's activity unit, which are adapted from UU and other sources. We have snack time together, and then the children join their families again when the worship service ends. Each weekly program lasts about one hour. Childcare is provided for children too young to participate in the activities, however, even the youngest are encouraged to participate at their own level. That way, everyone can make "church friends" and get to know each other.

Teachers

The RE Committee Chair is Darla Muzzerall. We'll be in touch with all parents of RE students throughout the year. Please feel free to approach us with your comments, questions and concerns. We welcome all new and returning teachers to the RE Team, as well as our loyal childcare providers and weekly volunteers.

Curriculum

Our theme this year is Being Good to the Earth. We will cover this theme in a number of independent units. Each will consist of hands-on activities with no classroom lectures. Adults are welcome to visit the program both to learn from us and to share their knowledge with us. We will cover a wide variety of topics. These are listed below.

Child care

Parents can bring younger children (ages up to 5) to childcare upstairs throughout the whole service, if they wish.

Extras

In addition, RE students participate in events such as Intergenerational Services. We also take curriculum breaks for special events or theme projects. Since class sizes are small, we customize the RE content to the specific ages and needs of each group. We are quite convinced that all of our RE kids are exceptionally curious, creative, caring and resourceful.

Topics for Being Good to the Earth

· Pre-cycling and recycling: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do."
· Good dirt: soil and compost
· How our bodies get energy
· Where our food comes from
· Making food "from scratch"
· Where water goes
· Harbour Solutions 101
· How our stuff gets energy: batteries and electricity
· What did they do before electricity?
. Old-time skills: work and play
· Spending wisely: Kids as consumers
· Low-cost and no-cost, no-junk toys, games and fun
· Sharing the earth with animals
· Sharing the earth with plants
· Pets and zoos
· Habitats
· Our favourite places: What makes them special?
· Building a healthy city
· Cleaning up and killing germs
· Scents and chemicals
· Making paper
· Writing a letter
· Direct action: Social action and protest

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