About our Program

Goals:

In our Religious Education Program we seek to nurture children’s spiritual and emotional growth by:

• promoting a sense of individual self-worth
• teaching Unitarian values of community, social justice, tolerance, open-mindedness, understanding, co-operation and sharing, and providing opportunities to practice these values
• celebrating special days, events and people
• thinking about the “big questions” that people have always asked
• developing an appreciation for world religions and cultures and respect for religious diversity and freedom, through stories, crafts and music
• learning to make our own decisions and participating in group decision-making processes
• experiencing a sense of belonging to a religious tradition by being part of the larger Unitarian fellowship
• learning that we are an integral part of the great web of life

Religious Education for Children

The Elementary School program will be using the curriculum "We Believe: Learning and Living Our UU Principles," which engages the children in learning and living Unitarian Universalist Principles through stories, discussions, cooperative games and play, and worship experiences. The sessions will include following topics:

1. Inherent worth: What does it mean? 
2. Fair to everyone 
3. Inner peace 
4. Teachers and learners 
5. Deciding together 
6. It's a small world 
7. Who owns the earth?

The Toddler/Pre-School Program will focus on cooperative games and art
activities.

Sunday Morning Routine

Our church school begins in the main service. The children spend the first 15-20 minutes of each service with their families as a part of the whole congregation. Each Sunday, the children join a storyteller at the front of the church for a special story. After this the children and teachers are ‘sung out’ of the service and head off to their classroom. In the class the children follow a familiar routine – welcoming, lighting candles and sharing joys and concerns, class, snack and closing.

For more information, contact the Director of Children's Religious Education