Religious Education for Children

Children are welcomed during each Sunday's service, which typically includes a children's story - "Intergenerational Sharing." Folowing that, most children go to an adjoining room for religious education or supervised child care. (You may keep your children with you, but please respect the rest of the persons at the service.) Teams of parents from our Fellowship facilitate classes, which are based on UU curricula.

When children first visit the Visalia UU Fellowship, they are introduced to the basics of Unitarian Universalism with curriculum from the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), an organization associated with the national Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). They will go home with a bookmark describing the UU Principles and a “UU & Me” magazine (from UU World magazine). Two adults work with the children. Different modes of learning, levels of maturity and abilities are considered. Basic crafts supplies are stocked to encourage creativity.

The current 45-minute sessions are based on A Bucketful of Dreams, a book of stories written by a Unitarian Universalist for use in UU churches. Teachers prepare by asking themselves these questions: What religious or moral question(s) does this story address? How does the story deal with the big questions of life, the universe, and everything? Do you like the way the story answers the question(s) it poses?

The following stories are used in sequence with a basic lesson plan: “The Beautiful Tiger” “God’s Hat” “The Truth Crashed Down” “The Parting of the Waters” “Jericho” “Enemies” “Two Frogs” “The Beauty Contest” “Fruits” and “The Frog Prince.”

We also hope that all children will learn the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism. Here is a simplified version of our Seven Principles:

"We believe...
1. that each and every person is important
2. that all people should be treated fairly and kindly
3. that we should accept one another and keep on learning together
4. that each person must be free to search for what is true and right in life
5. that all persons should have a vote about the things that concern them
6. in working for a peaceful, fair, and free world
7. in caring for our planet earth, the home we share with all living things.

Members and visitors will also appreciate a simplified version of the Six Sources of Unitarian Universalism:

"These ideas come from many places:

1. the sense of wonder we all share
2. women and men of long ago and today whose lives remind us to be kind
3. ethical and spiritual wisdom of the world's religions
4. Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all others as we love ourselves
5. the use of reason and the discoveries of science
6. the harmony of nature and the sacred circle of life

Other UU Resources for Kids

• Children's Section of our Online Bookstore - We offer a variety of books for children (and parents) from a liberal religious perspective on our online bookstore.
• UU & Me - a magazine that helps kids think about what really matters
• KidTalk - Connecting Kids to Unitarian Universalism and to each other
• My UU ABC's - 26 key words of UU faith

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Other Resources

Before The Beginning, A Child's First Book of the Great Story
Written by a science teacher and lusciously illustrated by his students, this book is a poetic introduction to the birth of our wondrous universe. Honoring questions more than answers, Before The Beginning affirms the sacredness and mystery of all things, and the importance of each person's role in the Great Story. Not a science lecture, but not a romp into fantasy, either. For parents who want to give their youngest children a sense of the universe's story thus far.