Religious Education Update: February 24, 2008
Sharron, where do pigs come from?
Last week, our three to six year children were discussing the beginning of the world with their new teacher, Sharron Belson. As any parent knows, young children are full of questions and intense curiosity. Some questions were easy. Sharron explained that pigs come from bigger pigs. This is the sort of answer that adults give with certainty. Little pigs always come from big pigs, and never from horses or black widow spiders. Some questions are a little harder. A child asked, “Did people evolve from apes?’ And then, there are the stumpers. “Sharron, if God created the earth, who created God?”
Children like to ask about the big questions, such as how the world was created, but they also like to be playful and silly. Sharron asked them to draw pictures illustrating their ideas about creation. The kids’ pictures were full of volcanoes, tarantulas, black widow spiders, rainbows and people. Then, one big question led to other big questions. Are the black widow spiders in Ben’s drawing a valuable part of the interdependent web of life, or are they just scary? The kids decided they like black widow spiders, though not too close.
In Religious Education, the kids feel safe to try out new ideas and ask questions. The adults are there to help children consider UU values: that the world is an incredible gift to be treasured and protected; it’s okay to have different ideas that other kids; and that all forms of life are part of the web of existence. This isn’t the Sunday school of my youth, with its definite answers proscribed by the church. It’s a happy, sometimes silly place, where kids are respected and valued as they figure their answers to the big questions, such as how the world works and how it was created so long ago.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
Last week, our three to six year children were discussing the beginning of the world with their new teacher, Sharron Belson. As any parent knows, young children are full of questions and intense curiosity. Some questions were easy. Sharron explained that pigs come from bigger pigs. This is the sort of answer that adults give with certainty. Little pigs always come from big pigs, and never from horses or black widow spiders. Some questions are a little harder. A child asked, “Did people evolve from apes?’ And then, there are the stumpers. “Sharron, if God created the earth, who created God?”
Children like to ask about the big questions, such as how the world was created, but they also like to be playful and silly. Sharron asked them to draw pictures illustrating their ideas about creation. The kids’ pictures were full of volcanoes, tarantulas, black widow spiders, rainbows and people. Then, one big question led to other big questions. Are the black widow spiders in Ben’s drawing a valuable part of the interdependent web of life, or are they just scary? The kids decided they like black widow spiders, though not too close.
In Religious Education, the kids feel safe to try out new ideas and ask questions. The adults are there to help children consider UU values: that the world is an incredible gift to be treasured and protected; it’s okay to have different ideas that other kids; and that all forms of life are part of the web of existence. This isn’t the Sunday school of my youth, with its definite answers proscribed by the church. It’s a happy, sometimes silly place, where kids are respected and valued as they figure their answers to the big questions, such as how the world works and how it was created so long ago.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
posted by Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma @ 7:04 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home