Child Spiritual Development
At the Unitarian Society of Germantown, we encourage Wonder, Compassion, Mindfulness, Service… and Fun!
This Sunday, October 27
Join us for a multigenerational service lead by Director of Spiritual Development, Zoë Johnston. With the help of garlic (yes, garlic!), we’ll explore important lessons around long growing seasons and putting down roots. As we ward off the vampires, we’ll also create good protective boundaries that keep us safe and give us courage. The Wiggle Room will be open and staffed by Susan.
And come early to Sing with the FAMILY CHOIR! People of all ages are invited! It’s called a Family Choir because we’re forming a group that is like a family (like our USG fam), not because you have to participate as a family (although that’s a great idea too). Come as one or many! This is a great way to engage with the musical life of USG without committing to the choir, and when’s the last time you sang in a group of people across the lifespan? We’ll gather at 9:50am on Sunday in the Sanctuary to run through the two songs we’re going to sing, which are linked below. Questions? Email Stearns at musicdirector@usguu.org.
Spooky Scary Skeletons: video – lyrics – sheet music
Grim Grinning Ghosts: video – lyrics – sheet music
And come back in the afternoon to join us for a fun-filled congregation-wide celebration! This bewitching event is perfect for all ages. Put on your favorite costume to show off in our parade through the building and don’t forget to decorate your car trunk with goodies for our Trunk or Treat! Bring a pumpkin to carve or paint, and whip up your best (even if it’s store bought) pumpkin pie for our friendly competition. Join us for a night of laughter, treats, and Halloween fun!
Below you’ll find an overview of the current classes. You can also still register your kids for CSD using this link or sign up as a volunteer using this link.
Classes
Pre-K/Kindergarten will be doing The Rainbow Connection which uses story books to discuss the values inherent in Unitarian Universalism and crafts to spark their creativity. They’ll be in the Children’s Library, the nook behind the elevator.
1st through 4th Grade will be doing Lego ValUUes which introduces our shared UU values through storybooks, discussion, and play activities. There’s always at least one Lego build! They’ll be in Sullivan 1.
5th through 7th Grade will be doing Community Games which incorporates all kinds of games to guide discussion of our UU values and individual faith identities. They’ll be in Sullivan 2
And our 7th-9th grade OWL Class will be meeting in Sullivan 3 from 10:30am to 12pm. Registration is closed. For those registered, here is the schedule. Questions, email owl@usguu.org
And Susan, our childcare person, will be in the Wiggle Room, which is always open for tots and tot-minders.
Friday Childcare
As Rev. Hannah preached on September 29th, our children matter! And we’ll be hosting childcare with the help of our elders on some Friday evenings for two hours. This is an event that is still being constructed so please fill out this short form if this is something that you are interested in. This gives us a sense of how many members we need to recruit to our childcare squad to properly care for all of your children while you enjoy time to yourself.
If you have any CSD questions, please contact Zoë Johnston, USG’s Director of CSD, at dsd@usguu.org.
Join us here at USG for fellowship and fun!
Registration is always open for CSD* programs!
The Mission of our Children’s Spiritual Development (CSD) program is to:
- Provide developmentally appropriate education that supports the lifelong process of learning to cultivate goodness, compassion, empathy, and love for oneself and others.
- Offer safe and caring spaces for introspective work, connecting to nature, and building right-relationships in community across generations.
- Put into practice hands-on, experiential education for children, facilitators and parents that cultivates respect, stewardship, service, mindfulness, responsibility, justice, and the search for truth and beauty.
- To welcome young people into the UU community, help them find their way into becoming active members, and provide them opportunities to learn the rich history and guiding principles of UU.
We believe if the mission of CSD is fulfilled it will contribute greatly to fulfilling our overarching mission at USG of: Building beloved community with service, compassion and empowerment.
Please see the weekly enewsletter for the most up to date info.
Please Register your Children for CSD
By registering your child this year so that we have allergy and contact info.
Our program is a co-op. We hope you will consider how you can volunteer during the program year, such as assisting in Sunday’s Children Spiritual Development workshops, helping organize seasonal events, or even lending a hand with administrative office tasks.
As per new USG safety guidelines, all children should be fully vaccinated if eligible, and have a clean mask for our indoors, well-ventilated time together. All CSD volunteers are also fully vaccinated.
We are able to offer CSD because of our wonderful volunteers. Thank you for considering volunteering and click HERE for information and links to the required background checks for volunteers.