The PreK-1st Grade class had a lovely time on Sunday, with four regulars and one special visitor. We all enjoyed the book, “Stick and Stone,” talked about friendship and kindness and being a helper, colored some pictures, played a bit, and capped it off with a snack.

The 2nd-5th Grade class talked a bit about identity.  Asking questions about whether or not a question could not have an answer, or if every question could at least have a subjective answer.  We talked a little bit about what kind of person we might want to be, and the phenomena of “not feeling yourself”, and the disconnect that occurs from who you think you are and how you behave.  I personally talked a bit about how when I visit my parents and sisters at certain occasions, I seem to fall into very old patterns of behavior, whether I mean to or not, and how we behave when we were wearing certain “hats”.  Are we “ourselves” in those situations, or if we end up with a different hat?  We talked about paying attention to those times, and whether we were doing what we wanted, or fulfilling habits.  This also led to a discussion of taking things for granted, and segued into a discussion on gratitude.  We talked about other things we were grateful for, including the ability to perceive color, which led to a discussion of light sensitive cells, those unusual humans called tetrachromats (and the students who all happened to be boys today were disappointed to hear that there are no confirmed cases of tetrachromacy in men, and many suspect it is genetically improbable that there could ever be any), the existence of five such receptors in butterflies, and the whopping 16 in mantis shrimp. The students were very interested to hear about the mantis shrimp, and their various unusual qualities.

The 6th Grade class explored Awe by way of melting wax and creating candles all the while having a fascinating conversation about family, kindness, and Thanksgiving.

The 7 and Up group did an overview of the values covered in the UU Virtue Ethics curriculum. As we visit other congregations, we will likely see sermons or themes that can be related to these topics: Moderation, Integrity, Respect, Fairness, Responsibility, Compassion, Humility, Generosity, Courage, Forgiveness and Loyalty. Each student looked up a word, gave the definition that might best fit with religion and shared how they thought how it would be demonstrated in a religious tradition. It was a great discussion! Dec 1 we will do an overview of Catholicism in preparation for attending mass at St. Isadore’s on Dec 8 at 9:30. (Dec 1 is also RE crafting day so I’ll be brief and release them to have fun!)