At JUC, we are committed to offering foundational education and experiences
for youth and children that are developmentally appropriate for them.
The
Pillars model of Unitarian Universalist religious education explores UU history
and identity in the fall, the foundational stories of the Judeo-Christian
tradition in the winter, and the stories and practices of a different world
religion each spring. Each week, our children from Kindergarten through 6th
grade are studying the same story. However, for our younger children, we
begin with the basic stories that are the building blocks of the traditions
we are learning. At the older elementary ages, we begin to develop comparative
exploration until the 6th grade when we introduce critical analysis to the
same story.
The Slinky came out of a conversation with several parents at
a planning meeting. The Slinky is a flexible, if somewhat simplified, philosophy
of developmentally appropriate education. In the early stages of development,
young children do not differentiate themselves abstractly from their world
in the same way that adults do.
There is less awareness of “I” and more awareness of “We”.
As they get older, they begin to differentiate and even separate from the "We" and
develop or "possess" their own identity and beliefs. Our religious
education programs encourage our children to begin to develop their own identity
as they approach adolescence with the goal of incorporating their individual
identities into community as they prepare to enter adulthood. The Slinky
model is a spiral that acknowledges that this aspect of our identities from "We" to "I" to "The ""’ within
the "We" is an ongoing process that begin when we are infants
and continues into adulthood but never comes back to exactly the same starting
place as when we began.
The Way Cool Sunday School incorporates these philosophies into a program
of Religious Experience blending traditional classroom education with intergenerational
worship and experiential social action where we put hands and feet on our
Principles. Different Sundays are designated Classroom Sundays, Intergenerational
Worship Sundays, and Social Action Sundays. You will receive regular communication
from our YRE office to let you know what kind of religious experience is
planned for the coming weeks. Leadership of the YRE Program at JUC Our Youth
Religious Education program is guided by our YRE Advisory Group and our Minister
for Lifespan Religious Experience. The YRE Group is made of 8 to 12 members
or friends of the congregation that set policies for the program, advise
on curriculum planning, coordinate YRE events, and act as liasons to the
individual classrooms. Everyone is welcome to attend the monthly YRE Group
meetings.
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