Sunday School and Godly Play™

• Our Sunday school program begins September 18, 2005 and runs through May 14, 2006 from 10:00-11:00 a.m.
• Each classroom has a team of 3-4 teachers who rotate every other week.
• The grade levels are divided by Pre-K, K - Grade 2, Grade 3-4 and grade 5-6.
• The class sies varies.  Registration usually is largest in the lower grades with 16 children and 8 children in the upper grades per classroom.

Godly Play™

The Sunday school program for Pre-Kindergarten through 6th grade offers curriculum using Godly Play™.  Godly Play™ is Jerome Berryman's interpretation of Montessori religious education.  It is an imaginative approach to working with children.  This approach support, challenges, nourishes and helps guide the children spiritual quest.  Godly Play™ assumes that children have some experiene of the mystery of the presence of God in their lives.  They will learn to understand and express their spiritual jouney.  We will enter into Parables, Sacred Stories, silence and Ligurgy in order to discover God, ourselves, one another and the world around us.

Stemming from a belief that our children can learn about God, the love of Christ and values that reflect moral fortitude in a playful and nurturing environment, 3-6 year olds are invited to come together with trained teachers to play and learn every Sunday, between services -- at the Sunday school time. The curriculum is based on "Godly Play."

Godly Play™ is a methold of Christian education and spiritual direction for children ages 3-12. The goal of Godly Play™ is to teach children the art of using religious language -- parable, sacred story, silence, and liturgical action -- to help them become more fully aware of the mystery of God's presence in their lives.

Godly Play is a different approach to the traditional Sunday school way of learning. It is a Montessori based religious educational program that follows the Episcopal Church year and Worship services. The children learn through stories. Using this method and style of teaching  nourishes and challenges children in their spiritual growth. Children are encouraged, intrigued and use their imagination through independent thinking.

The children enter the classroom calmly.  Once in the classroom, the children are greeted and sit in a circle to hear the story from the scripture.  The children begin to become closer and experience the myster of God.  Each child has an opportunity to reflect on the story through art and play.  The feast and prayer close the Sunday school day.

The classroom follows the structure of Christian Worship: