Children & Youth Programs
Our religious exploration and spiritual discovery programs are not classes, they are encounters and opportunities. On a Sunday, you might find the preschoolers spending time with an elder from the congregation, elementary school students hearing and seeing sacred stories and experiencing ritual, and middle schoolers taking field trips to different faith communities and sites of spiritual importance in and around Boston.
As our children and youth grow up in our congregation, they will have the opportunity to participate in Our Whole Lives (known as OWL), a comprehensive, progressive sexuality education program. This program is offered for our children in K-2nd, 4th-6th, and 7th-9th grades.
We also have middle school and high school youth groups which meet for social activities several times a month. All youth will have an opportunity to participate in select adult programs that are intended to be multi-generational.
Our 2023-2024 Program Year will include a variety of offerings these age-specific opportunities:
Spirit Play
A Unitarian Universalist program of religious education that evolved from a long line of Montessori-based religious education programming, Spirit Play is based on story and ritual, play and creativity. This hands-on, interactive program gives children the tools to make meaning of their lives within the context of Unitarian Universalism. Many of the stories will come from Hebrew and Christian scripture as well as other stories that are resonant with our UU values.
Our Whole Lives (OWL) Sexuality Education
We continue to offer OWL and plan to provide it for the following cohorts: 1) Kindergarten and 1st grade, 2) 4th-6th grade, and 3) 7th-9th grade. It is possible we will offer the high school version due to high demand from the larger Newton community.
Middle School
We offer many opportunities for our middle school youth to spend time together and enjoy social connections and participate in justice work. They will learn about Biblical stories through the wisdom of the women who lived them, and spending time in worship at FUUSN, visiting other congregations, and taking special trips to a variety of historical sites in Boston and surrounding areas like King’s Chapel in Boston or Walden Pond. These opportunities culminate in one final Coming of Age year.
Pictured here: Our middle schoolers and their teachers and parents visit Walden Pond, October 15, 2023 – Photo by Devin Shmueli
High School
Our high school youth have paid opportunities to support our programming on Sunday morning and beyond. They will provide leadership and guidance to our middle schoolers who participate in justice projects like the Valentine’s Day Meal for our unhoused neighbors in Waltham, and they have their own opportunities for social connection and learning, such as baking pies for Thanksgiving. Youth representatives also serve on our Board of Trustees.
Pictured here: Coming of Age youth and their mentors ready to make lasagna for unhoused neighbors in Waltham.
