This week the older children continued their Bible lessons while the younger children learned about Valentine’s Day. Love was contemplated and/or celebrated by all.
In the 3rd-6th grade classroom, we discussed the story of Abraham and Isaac. I began the lesson by asking the students to write about love. What does it feel like? How do you know when someone loves you? Then we shared our lists and noted the similarities: genuine concern, respect, displays of affection, trust, and sacrifice. This last concept launched us into the Bible story. I read it aloud and then we discussed it. It’s hard to wrap your head around a father being willing to sacrifice his son for his faith. So, we did a trust exercise to understand the story a bit better. We stood in a circle with one person in the middle. That person locked their knees and allowed herself to be pushed around the circle. The goal was to see how long that person trusted us before catching herself. We did really well. Afterwards we came to realize that Abraham had trust in God, which allowed him to contemplate sacrifice and, ultimately, Isaac was saved.
This week the K-2nd graders discussed the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. After reading it aloud, the class was left wondering why Lot’s wife turned to salt. Hmmm…They talked through it the best they could. Then they made costumes and props to reenact the story. Unfortunately their artistry did not leave much time for reenactment so they’ll have to use the costumes and props for a different story. Molly promises the next story will be more peppy. As Nick announced when he got home, the Bible is really sad… 🙂
In the Pre-K classroom, the preschoolers talked about different ways they show they love and care for someone. Then they read a story about the unconditional love of a parent. As the story elucidated, because of the unconditional love of our parents, sometimes we are smelly, messy, clumsy, and naughty. J After the story, they made valentines. The lesson ended with lighting the chalice and eating valentine cookies as their snack.
In the nursery, the infants and toddlers had fun celebrating Valentine’s Day. Some of the kids chose to make valentines for their parents, while others liked reading the valentine stories. One was about a baby finding a Valentine hidden in her house and the other was an Elmo Valentine book! The infants and toddlers also had fun playing Ring-Around-the-Rosy and London Bridge is Falling Down.
If you would like to extend these lessons at home, here are some suggestions: for 3rd-6th graders, discuss how you conceptualize faith, trust, and sacrifice as a Unitarian Universalist. For K-2nd graders, discuss good versus evil. Are people all good or all bad? For preschoolers, discuss the concept of “unconditional love” and give them some personal examples. For infants and toddlers, continue the Valentine spirit by decorating hearts to hang in their bedroom or a family room.