Our Children's Religious Education Program
- Welcome!
- Mission
- Staff
- Programs
- Volunteer
- Classes
- Register
- Dates
Welcome!
What a joy it is to welcome you to our 2010-2011 Children’s Religious Education Program(CRE). Whether you are brand new or are joining us once again, we are pleased that you have decided to make our program a part of your family’s life.
Each year we strive to provide a nurturing community which will help our children grow spiritually, develop a sense of personal and social responsibility, determine their own beliefs and discover their own ethical guide for living. Our classes serve as a vehicle to build community, foster respect and bring our Unitarian Universalist principles to life.
This year we are waiving all childcare fees, but you must still register for childcare. We are also offering two new curricula in our program. For our 2nd and 3rd graders, we are introducing Free to Believe. This course explores UU principles and sources while nurturing their emotional, social, and spiritual life. Through hands-on activities, stories and games, the children will learn about our UU principles, values and beliefs.
Our new 7th grade class is Compass Points. It leads its participants on a year-long spiritual journey with opportunities to assume responsibility, make decisions, explore values, adopt the practice of radical hospitality and more.
Finally, our high school youth group has a new focus. Youth Group will spend their time learning about social justice issues in our congregation, community and wider world and learn how we can each put our UU principles into action.
It is an exciting year in our CRE and Youth Programs. We are thrilled that you will be joining us.
Yours in growing faith,
Kelly J. Crocker,
Minister of Religious Education
Kellyc@fusmadison.org (608)233-9774 x 112
Our Mission
The mission of the FUS Children’s Religious Education Program is to facilitate ethical and spiritual development in our children. They will be empowered to become free thinking individuals who:
• Know and respect themselves and others
• Contribute to their human and natural communities
• Make informed decisions regarding their spiritual paths
Our Goals
Create a feeling of community within the classroom and the congregation, as well as a sense of oneness with the larger Unitarian Universalist fellowship.
- Help children and youth acquire an understanding of the historical
roots of Unitarian Universalism. - Promote values that strengthen us to stand against racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, and other forms of prejudice.
- Help children and youth develop respect for the interdependent nature of all existence.
- Inspire an appreciation for our Judeo-Christian heritage and the world’s other great religions.
- Guide and support children and youth in the
development and expression of a personal faith. - Develop participants’ abilities to act with integrity,
responsibility, equity and love.
Meet Our Religious Education Staff
 |
 |
 |
Kelly Jane Crocker, Minister of Religious Education |
Leslie Ross, Director of Religious Education |
Deb Mies, Program Assistant for Religious Education |
 |
 |
|
Aiden Schmidt, Child Care Coordinator |
Abby Whisler |
How Are Kids Involved at FUS?
Child Care
We have child care available for infants and toddlers during each of our worship services and during many parish events. Our silent pager system allows us to contact parents if their child is having difficulty in the child care room. We also have Baby Haven, a soundproof room located at the back of the Atrium Auditorium that allows parents to enjoy the worship service while tending to their young children.RE Classes
We have a vibrant RE program, with over 550 children enrolled in our classes, over 120 volunteer teachers, as well as a classroom support coordinator for each class. Our classes begin with three year olds and go through 9th grade; they meet during each of our worship times. In the early years, we focus on building a trusting community, helping children to feel safe and secure at FUS, and introducing them to UU principles. During the elementary school years we learn more about our UU history and traditions, the beliefs of other traditions, our evolutionary history, and the stories of the Bible. In middle school, youth visit other places of worship, compare the basic tenets of the worlds’ religions, deepen their understanding of their own beliefs and Unitarian Universalism, and learn about relationship development and sexuality. Our curricular program culminates with our 9th grade Coming of Age year. These students explore some of the BIG QUESTIONS in life and develop and define their own faith beliefs. More detailed descriptions of class offerings are available on the Classes tab above.High School Youth Group
High School Youth Group provides opportunities for high schoolers to not only learn about injustice, but to engage in the community as they work for change.
Children’s Choirs
We have several children’s choirs (determined by age), offering a special opportunity for children and youth to use their gift of music to serve our congregation. Our choirs are a strong and vibrant part of our community. They meet at various times on Wednesday nights. Please contact Heather Thorpe, our children’s choir director, for details: heathert@fusmadison.org.Child Dedications
A child dedication is a uniquely Unitarian Universalist naming ceremony which offers parents the opportunity to have their child blessed by our congregation, their family, and our ministers. During this time, our congregation commits to help the child grow in ways of love, truth, justice, and peace. Child dedications are held four times during the year. Contact Rev. Kelly Crocker to discuss/schedule a child dedication: 233-9774, x. 112, or kellyc@fusmadison.org.Summer Fun
During the summer, concurrent with worship services, we offer Summer Fun. Summer Fun is for children ages 4 – 13. During our time together, children engage in arts activities, story time, and outdoor fun and games.Note to Parents
Our children paint, run, play on the playground, dig in the dirt, and do other things that may get messy. Comfortable and casual clothing is encouraged!About Parent Participation
Our RE programs could not be as strong as they are without the financial and human resources that our parents offer. Our programs depend on many volunteers, including over 120 teachers, as well as classroom support coordinators, committee members, summer helpers, and others throughout the year.
We also depend on pledging members to help cover the actual expense of running our RE programs (as opposed to the fees charged), which is estimated at $450 per child per year. This includes the cost of curricula, craft supplies, food, books, staff, and other materials.
Parents are welcome to sit in on their children’s classes (except 7th grade and up) and are asked to sign up to bring snack several times during the year. On those snack days, they are needed to serve as classroom helpers as well. This gives parents an excellent opportunity to learn more about the curriculum and the community of which their child is a part. When you register your child(ren) for religious education, we ask that you commit to one of several volunteer needs.
Our volunteer opportunities include:
Teaching
Most of our classes are taught by a team of four teachers. Each week, one teacher has the responsibility of leading the class, and one person has the responsibility of assisting that teacher. Our volunteer teachers are in the classroom roughly twice per month. We provide curricula that outline what will be taught from week to week. Teaching a class has many benefits, including…- It’s a wonderful way to spend time with your child.
- Being with children and youth, ministering to their spiritual development, can truly enrich your life.
- It’s a great way to meet other FUS families.
- It’s an excellent way to expand your own religious education.
- Many lasting friendships have developed between teachers.
- It’s a profound contribution to the FUS community!
Classroom Support Coordinators (CSCs)
CSCs assign families to bring snack each week in both the classrooms and the child care room. They make reminder phone calls to parents, alert snack bringers of allergies or special snack needs, schedule one or two potlucks during the year to encourage community-building among families, and occasionally help staff a classroom or organize transportation for a special event.Summer Fun Helpers
During the summer months, we need extra adults to help with our children’s activities. If you enjoy the intoxicating nature of children, we’d love to have your assistance. Summer Fun helpers help with story time, art activities, outdoor games, and more! You need only commit to helping one weekend per summer (both services).Committee Members
Parents can become a member of either the Children’s Religious Education (CRE) Committee or the Child Care Committee (CCC). The primary task of committees is to address policy and procedural issues, to help define the direction of future growth in our programs, to assist with the nuts and bolts of some program operations (e.g. cleaning the toys in the child care room, registering families for RE, etc.) and to help with special events, such as our Teacher Orientation and Appreciation events. Our CRE committee meets monthly and has an ambitious yearly agenda. Our CCC meets bi-monthly and occasionally helps provide child care if we’re in a crunch. They also help maintain the safety of our space.Special Events
During the year we need help with several special children’s and family events. This may include multi-age children’s activities, our annual Easter Egg Hunt, our Art in the Wright Place fund-raiser, or winter holiday festivities. We often need several extra hands to help make these successful.Gearing Up
During the summer, the RE Office needs a good deal of extra help to get our classrooms ready for students, our binders ready for teachers, materials ready for classrooms, supplies organized, and other tasks. We depend on parent help to get all our ducks in a row before classes begin!Note: you can volunteer at the same time you register your child, or call Deb Mies at 233-9774 extension 114 or debm@fusmadison.org
Class Descriptions
Our programs begin at the same time as worship services: 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and 9 and 11 a.m. on Sundays. Children in pre-school through 7th grade start out in the Auditorium for an intergenerational message that lasts about 15 minutes. Then they will leave for their classes. Classes end at 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Sundays. Parents of pre-K through first grade students are expected to pick up their children at the classroom.
Most of our classes are offered on a rotational system. What does that mean? Our one-year/two-year rotation offers one list of classes for kids pre-K – 5th grade one year, and another list of classes the second year. On the third year, we switch back to the first list of classes, and so on. Generally speaking, we have eight classes that we offer to pre-K through 5th grade students; students in grades 6 through 9 have the same classes offered each year.
Our Class Rotation
Year One
We Are Many, We Are One 3 and 4 year-oldsTreasure Hunting K and 1st grade
Free To Believe 2nd and 3rd grade
Exploring Our Origins 4th and 5th grade
Year Two
Celebrating Me & My World 3 and 4 year-oldsExperiences with the Web of Life K and 1st grade
Holidays and Holy Days 2nd and 3rd grade
Bibleodeon 4th and 5th grade
Below are short descriptions of the Religious Education classes we offer. Please click on the bar to reveal the information about each class.
We Are Many, We Are One offers preschoolers the grounding of a religious community and tradition, along with the freedom to discover and express their uniqueness. Children are encouraged to use their minds, bodies, and emotions to develop their sense of identity and confidence. The curriculum is based on the philosophy that young children learn about religion through relationships. Who am I? How am I related to others? How do I treat other people? What are my responsibilities? These are questions that young children begin to grapple with as they become acquainted with themselves, other people, and their environment.
Treasure Huntingis inspired by the fun and excitement of true treasure hunting. Students are sent off on creative hunts to search for understanding and meaning in their lives. Treasure Hunting focuses on the issues young children face every day while it introduces the basic ideas behind the Unitarian Universalist principles. At the beginning of the year, each child makes a treasure chest to take home. Each Sunday, children make or are given a special object representing a UU treasure that they may take home to keep in their treasure chest. Through games, stories, songs, and crafts, the treasures of self-esteem, individuality, family and friends, religion, the world community, and the world of nature are celebrated.
Free to Believe explores Unitarian Universalist principles and sources while nurturing the emotional, social, and spiritual life of children. The first two thirds of the class uses the UU principles as starting points for exploring values, beliefs, and what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist. The last third of the program examines some “big questions” through the perspective of our UU sources. The class offers a wealth of hands-on activities, stories, games, songs and discussions. Children address the conflicts they often face, and create an accepting classroom community.
Exploring Our Origins provides children the intellectual and spiritual space to develop a sense of their own place within the cosmic narrative of the evolution of the universe and life on Earth. Children use the vocabulary of both science and reverence to be able to express not only respect for nature but also wonder and awe found in the mysteries of the natural world.
EOO emphasizes the free search for truth and meaning using several methods, including hands-on science activities, videos, music, painting, and outdoor observation of nature.
It also draws from Native American spiritual teachings to convey the mysteries of the origins of life. FUS members Nancy Sheehan, Tamara Bryant and Paul Stephan developed this exciting curriculum.
Neighboring Faiths offers youth the opportunity to learn about the beginnings, beliefs and rituals of worship practiced by people of other religious traditions. It will include visits to different places of worship and interviews with people of other faith traditions.
The material covers Jewish, Christian (Catholic and Protestant), Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic traditions. It also offers an overview of UUs religious heritage. Enrollment in this course requires some flexibility in schedule to allow for visiting other places of worship.
Compass Points is a UU curriculum that leads middle schoolers on a travel journey to all directions. Traveling North looks at concepts of belief and authority; this “opens the diversity of UU belief and how it is formed.” Traveling East “ponders issues of transition, dying and living.” Traveling South is “an active look at Unitarian and Universalist history. . . and emphasizes the ongoing struggle for religious freedom.” And Traveling West “looks at how we, as Unitarian Universalists, act in the world and what the consequences of our actions are.”
Mind, Body & Soul is the merging together of two excellent curricula: Our Whole Lives and Love U2. In this class, youth explore issues related to relationships and sexuality. They learn to know themselves and their hopes better, to communicate with others, and to define their boundaries.
This class offers much more than a typical school health class by focusing on gender differences, emotional needs, stages of intimacy, gender orientation, sexual arousal patterns, sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy
options.
Our goal is to create a safe community of youth and adults where teens can honestly discuss sensitive issues that profoundly affect them – mind, body & soul. Regular attendance at this class is imperative to create and sustain a trusting bond and to most benefit from the lessons. A Parent Orientation will be held prior to the class. 
Coming of Age is a program, a passage, and a pilgrimage. It is the culmination of our CRE program, and is the most significant rite of passage we offer to our youth, celebrating their passage from childhood to youth.
During the year, youth will strive to define who they are and what they believe. They will grapple with some of the Big Questions in life: Is there a God? What happens after we die? What is faith? Why do bad things happen? What does it mean to live our UU principles?
Youth will meet regularly with a Council of Elders who will help them explore and define their own beliefs. Each youth works on the development of a personal faith statement and is involved in creating the Coming of Age worship service at the end of the year. In June, participants and their teachers will attend the UUA’s General Assembly, in Minneapolis, MN (attendance is highly encouraged but not required).
Participation in Coming of Age involves a significant commitment from parents and youth. In addition to requiring a commitment to regular attendance, the youth also participate in two weekend retreats (in the Fall and Spring), at least one service project, fundraising for their end-of-year trip, and several rituals and celebrations that fall outside of the usual class time. A meeting will be held with parents and youth to explain the class and the level of commitment needed to make it a truly meaningful experience.
Participation in Coming of Age involves a significant commitment from parents and youth. The youth spend time in class, in service projects, at overnight retreats, and in fund-raising activities to help defray the costs of the end-of-year trip. The estimated cost for the end-of-the-year trip is between $450 and $650. Scholarships are available.
Important Dates for 2010-11
- May 30 – September 5 Summer Fun! (4 – 13 year olds) at 9 & 11 a.m. worship services (no summer fun August 29)
- August 14 Teacher Orientation, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- August 29 Water Communion Services at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. for all ages
- September 11 & 12 CRE Program Begins
- October 2 & 3 Child Dedications
- October 23 & 24 Halloween Parade during services
- November 21 FUS Annual Art Fair, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- November 27 & 28 Thanksgiving Services for all ages – NO CRE CLASSES
- December 5 All Music Choral Festival at 9 & 11 a.m. – NO CRE CLASSES
- December 12 Holiday Decorating Party from 1 - 3 p.m.
- December 18 Winter Solstice Service at 4:30 p.m. – NO CRE CLASSES
- December 24 Christmas Eve Services:
- December 25 No Worship Service or CRE Classes
- December 26 NO CRE CLASSES; multi-age activities for children 4 years through 3rd grade at 9 & 11 a.m. (services in Landmark)
- January 1 No Worship Service or CRE Classes
- January 2 NO CRE CLASSES; multi-age activities for children 4 years through 3rd grade at 9 & 11 a.m. (services in Landmark)
- January 8 & 9 Child Dedications
- January 22 & 23 Banner Parade
- April 2 & 3 Child Dedications
- April 17 SMall Music Sunday, 10 a.m. Landmark Auditorium
- April 23 No Saturday Service or CRE Classes (Easter Weekend)
- April 24 Easter Family Service 9 a.m. Landmark Aud. - NO CRE CLASSES
- May 6 Teacher Appreciation Dinner, 6:00 p.m. Atrium Auditorium
- May 14 & 15 Coming of Age Services
- May 21 & 22 Last Weekend of Classes
- May 29 Summer Fun! Begins
