| A Unitarian Universalist Adaptation of Jerome Berryman's Godly Play developed by Nita Penfold, D. Min. Rev. Ralph Roberts and Beverly Leute Bruce with grants from the Unitarian Sunday School Society and The Fund for Unitarian Universalism We see the purpose of religious education as helping children in living into their own answers to the existential questions: Where did we come from? What are we doing here? How do we choose to live our lives? What happens when we die? We use the Montessori approach and Berryman's morning as worship approach for the structure of the morning. As in Montessori, the key elements are the classroom environment and the teachers. These elements free the children to work at their own pace on their own issues after an initial lesson. The Door Keeper helps the children get ready to enter the classroom as parents drop them off. The Storyteller leads the circle in the story of the day, followed by the wondering. Children choose an art response or to work with a story previously heard, helped by the Door Keeper. Children clean up, followed by a feast (snack) with the Storyteller. Leave-taking is a formal process of saying good-bye to the Storyteller when parents arrive and children are ready. Stories have been developed in the following categories: Unitarian Universalist Lessons and Stories Promises (Principles) Sources Stories of the Mystery Beginnings and Endings Sacred Places Church Corner Ways to Pray Heroes and Heroines Montessori Philosophy: Based in a proven educational method whose values support Unitarian Universalism: Encourages independent thinking through wondering questions Gives children real choices within the structure of the morning Creates community of children in classroom of mixed ages Develops an underlying sense of the spiritual and the mystery of life Supports congregational polity through choice of lessons Volunteers were found to value the program as part of their own spiritual process Volunteers have commented on the low preparation time for weekly stories Dr. Nita Penfold, Director nitapenfold@aol.com for further information |
Spirit Play
| Training for teachers and DRE's Training of Trainers If you are already a Spirit Play Teacher or DRE with a Spirit Program and wish to join the Yahoo group, click here. |
| Trainers accepted: Emily Manvel Leite, Debbie Atkins, Nikevia Thomas |
| Save the dates: Spirit Play Conference August 1& 2, 2014 Training: July 31 Seattle WA Info to come. |