September 2008 - Welcome Back

Welcome back to K'NeCT!  Please join us on September 7, between 10:15 and 11:15 for registration for this year.  We will be using a model for classes called "Godly Play", and I invite you to read the following notes to get a sense of the program we will be offering this year.

Godly Play, originated by Jerome Berryman, is a Montessori-based interpretation of religious education. It is an imaginitive approach to working with children, an approach that supports, challenges, nourishes and guides their spiritual quest.

Godly Play assumes that children have some experience of the mystery of the presence of God in their lives, but that they lack the language, permission and understanding to express and enjoy that in our culture. In Godly Play, we enter into parables, silence, sacred stories and sacred liturgy in order to discover God, ourselves, one another, and the world around us.


The Ten Best Ways for Parents

One Godly Play lesson tells children about the “Ten Best Ways” to live. This is the story of the 10 Commandments that God gave to God’s People. The ideas below will help you and your child get the most out of our Godly Play Lessons.

• Godly Play sessions take place on September 21, October 5, November 9 and for the Children’s Christmas Pageant, December 21. Lessons begin promptly at 11:15 and end at 12:10.

• Please help your children to be on time. They won’t want to miss a minute. Since each child needs to find ‘readiness’ inside him/herself, arriving a couple of minutes early to allow the children to socialize is a good idea (Also, adult social time is from 10:30 – 11:15, so please have coffee/tea with us!!!)

• The Godly Play circle is built slowly and lovingly, to welcome each child, one at a time. When children arrive, they wait outside the door while the teacher helpls them to get ready to join the circle.

• Please say your goodbyes at the door, and know that the teachers are ready to make the next hour a safe and welcoming time for every child.

• When you pick up your child, keep in mind that young children will not always be able to tell you what they learned, because what they learned was how to learn about the powerful language of the Christian People.

• Also keep in mind that children will not always be able to show you a physical product for theyir ‘work’ that day, because some of what they’ve learned cannot be put into words even by adults. In Godly Play, we focus on our relationship with God and the depths of relationships in the community of children.

• Please don’t come into the room during class because we want the Godly Play room to be a special place foro the community of children. Even the teachers keep their profiles low during a Godly Play session!

• We would be happy to welcome you on a visit to the Godly Play room outside of session time. Call me at (905) 873-8428 to arrange a visit or to ask any questions you might have about the program.

• We welcome volunteers to support the teachers and the community of children by preparing a ‘feast’ for a Godly Play lesson, taking care of the classrooms and materials, and by making materials for the teachers to use. Call Carol at (905) 873-8428 for more information.

• We hope you will attend a parent orientation class at 10:00 on September 21. This will be your opportunity to experience the Godly Play environment and process together with other parents.

The new time and other changes

Hi Everyone!

I can't believe it is April already! It is so wonderful to see the buds beginning to grow on the trees (finally...).

With our switch to 11:15 last Sunday we had a whole new crew of children in K'NECT. It was fantastic, and I look forward to getting to know and grow this new community. However, this has also presented a new challenge for us. The LIFE SCHOOL MUSICAL project we had planned is going to be postponed until NEXT year (we'll start working on it after Christmas). Many of the children have had a CD of the music since February, and it was clear to Dora and me on Sunday that 9 weeks of rehearsals is not enough to make this happen right now.

We will continue with the 'Seasons of the Spirit' curriculum for the remainder of the year at 11:15am. We will still be doing music and worship in our Sunday School class, but to pull the musical together is going to require lots of commitment on the part of parents and the kids.

To be clear, we will do it next year, and in the meantime, if you want to continue to learn the 9 songs on the CD that would be marvelous. If you don't think you will be able to keep track of it, please return the CDs and scripts to me so we can re-use these resources.

Thanks so much! I look forward to seeing all of you in the next weeks! I attended a wonderful workshop last weekend and have some fabulous ideas for a brand new way of doing our classes in the fall! I will share it with you soon.

Carol

Church School Time is Changing!

Please read the letter from Rob included below. The support for this change is overwhelming and I'm sure we will benefit from it with more growth. We are looking for any and all feedback.

There are two other notes I would like to add. Social time between the 9:30 and 11:15 services will still be happening - please come to have coffee with the members of the parish who continue to support the 9:30 liturgy. (Also, there is tag with Ron Greidanus and cookies!) The other note is that the 9:30 spot may be used by the principal cast members of "Life School Musical" for some dialogue rehearsals over the next few weeks, so don't move your alarms TOO far forward yet...

Thanks,
Carol

March 12, 2008

Dear Parents and Teachers of St. George’s,

Most of you have had the chance to consider and respond to the general question posed by Carol O’Leary about the possibility of moving the time of the church school to coincide with the 11:15 Contemporary Service on Sundays. The response to Carol’s inquiry, which included almost our all our church school families, was so overwhelmingly supportive of the move that we, together with the parish warden’s, have decided to give this change a try. On Sunday March 30th, we are planning to move the time of church school from the 9:30 service to the 11:15 am Contemporary Service time

I acknowledge that there are a few families for whom this change will be difficult to manage for very valid reasons and situations. I am sorry and hope that we can find a separate solution to meet your needs. For the majority of families who are supportive of this idea, I appreciate the commitment that both you the teachers and the parents are offering to both St. George’s and our church school program by being willing to make this change. I feel strongly, that with your support, it will be a positive step forward for our community in general.

The Contemporary Service has had a very successful beginning. With the support of our volunteer musicians and others helping with this multi-media approach, this service is providing a worship and Communion experience that follows the basic Anglican framework, but is more informal and relaxed in its presentation. It also offers contemporary Christian music that is both upbeat and meaningful. Now, with the proposed addition of our church school families our 11:15 service will be even stronger and importantly, it will provide church school for the children at a worship service that should have good appeal to the growing demographic of younger families in Georgetown.

I also expect that this change will not be without bumps on the road as you and I, and the parish in general, adjust to this change, but I hope that we will all be generous and understanding of each other as we work things out. I also encourage you to provide your feedback to myself and Carol as we try this new time for Church School.

Peace,
The Rev'd Canon Rob Park

Bake Sale adds to Support of our HopeChild

Thanks to everyone who made donations or purchased items at the Bake Sale on Sunday February 13th.

We raised $90.64 for Algeni!

This, along with the luncheon for vestry ($80.00) and the 3rd World Luncheon last fall ($213.00) brings us to a whopping total of $383.64 in special fund raisers so far since September for our HopeChild and his family.

Thank you so much for your continuing support for Algeni and for K'NeCT.