RE News from CLF: Introducing the new CLF curriculum plan
I frequently hear from CLF families who do religious education on a catch-as-catch-can basis, simply because they don't know where to start. What topics should they introduce to their children? What resources are available? Sometimes, taking responsibility for your children's religious education can seem a little overwhelming.

For example, one family who recently became CLF members had belonged to a UU church, but because of a job situation had to move to Europe, far from any UU congregations. Now they can't send their children off to Sunday school each week -- religious education has to happen at home, or not happen at all. Another family, living in a rural area of North America with no UU congregation nearby, is new to Unitarian Universalism, and they really aren't sure what to do for their children's religious education. Both families write that they want to provide quality religious education for their children. But where do they begin?

The new CLF curriculum plan offers a comprehensive structure for families doing religious education at home. The CLF plan offers lesson topics for every Sunday of the year, beginning with age 5 and going through age 12. It's designed to be easy-to-use and it's based on the experience of experienced religious educators and ministers -- follow the plan, and you'll have a high-quality, educationally-sound UU religious education program for your family.

Lessons are based on a variety of resources, all of which are available to CLF members through the CLF Loan Library. Many lessons are based on stories from UU story books, using the basic story-based lesson plan outlined in the CLF booklet, "RE at Home." Also utilized is the "We Believe" curriculum, developed by CLF in 1990 for use by CLF families, as well as other resources. Again, as a CLF member you can get everything you need to run this curriculum for your family with one phone call or email to CLF.

Best of all, the curriculum plan is specifically designed for family groups. Most religious education programs are for larger groups of children. Our lessons are designed for one or just a few children, and typically accommodate a wide range of ages so siblings of different ages can learn and have fun together. And while there's a lesson planned for just about every week, it's perfectly all right to skip lessons whenever you want, to accommodate your family's schedule.

Our new curriculum plan is also perfect for small UU groups looking to grow and become full-fledged UU congregations. It's clear that a strong religious education program draws new families and can be instrumental in congregational growth. But if your UU group is just starting out, chances are good that you can't afford to hire a professional religious educator to develop a Sunday school program for you. The CLF curriculum plan gives small UU groups the structure for a solid religious education program -- all you have to provide is children and caring adults!

I'm excited about the possibilities of this plan. I hope you'll check it out and give it a try in your family. When you do, be sure to let me know what works and what doesn't work in your family. Over time, we'll revise the plan based on feedback from families like yours.

Let me know how you like the new curriculum plan!
-- Dan Harper
Interim Director of Religious Education

For parents
My Boys in the Drugstore

So I said to my boys (aged eight and ten), "Well.... We can stop at the drugstore and buy some condoms so you can see what they are." I told them that I had never actually bought condoms before, and that I might feel embarrassed, especially if a lot of neighbors were standing around, and that people feel that way sometimes. We made a deal that if they felt embarrassed in the store, they could pretend never to have seen me before in their lives.

In the drugstore, one of my children said loudly, "Where would condoms be, Mom?" while the other headed straight for the pet food section and stayed there. There isn't much more to the story -- we bought the condoms, took them home, Chuck and I talked a bit more with the kids, and nobody seemed to think a thing of it.

I used to say that I'm most comfortable being open with my children about sex. "That's my way," I'd say. "You do what's most comfortable for you." But now, the world has changed. Now I will say to you that your children need to know details about sex whether you're comfortable with that or not. Sex for them will need to be "safe sex." That must always be a given. Whether we like it or not, our children need to know about safer sex so they won't die.

-- Jane Rzepka, from the UUA meditation manual A Small Heaven.
Copyright (c) Jane Rzepka

CLF members can borrow two excellent books on sexuality and related topics from the CLF Loan Library:

It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up by Robie Harris, for ages 9 and up, gives honest answers to kid's questions about sexuality. Best if read together with a parent or other trusted adult (some of the writing is above fourth grade level). Highly recommended.

Every adolescent should have his or her own copy of Changing Bodies, Changing Lives by Ruth Bell, et al. Designed to help adolescents make informed decisions about their lives, the book answers questions about their bodies, dealing with problems at home, sex, friendship.

The CLF Loan Library
Great books available to CLF members with North American mailing addresses through our Loan Library program.

Circle Round: Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition
by Starhawk, Diane Baker, and Anne Hill
Although this book was written for families who are pagan, if you're not pagan don't let that put you off. You'll find everything from planting a vegetable garden to saying grace at the dinner table. There are read-aloud stories, craft and cooking projects, songs and rituals for families to share. So while these are great home-based activities for earth-based religions, this is quite simply the best book in the last ten years that I've seen on doing religious education at home, with plenty of ideas for any religious liberal.
Now back in the Loan Library!

One Hand Clapping: Zen Stories for All Ages
retold by Rafe Martin
Engaging, thought-provoking stories from the Zen Buddhist tradition, beautifully retold by expert storyteller Rafe Martin, author of many children's books of folk tales. These are not the standard stories with comfortable morals that we think of when we think of Sunday school. As such, they are perfect stories for use in Unitarian Universalist religious education. They excite a sense of awe and wonder and can prompt excellent multi-age discussions. We liked this book so much, we have incorporated it as a standard part of the new CLF curriculum plan.

Newly arrived in the Loan Library!

Meditating with Children
Deborah Rozman
Here's an excellent how-to book that will help you introduce your kids to simple meditation techniques. Techniques in this book seem to work best with younger children, from about 5 to 8, although the exercises can also be used with upper elementary children. I have used this book with success -- children really enjoy the guided meditations, and it helps them become calmer while learning self-discipline. If you have younger children, I suspect you'll find yourself using this book not just on Sundays, but during the week, too.

Resources for religious liberal families
Here are some resources to supplement your home religious education efforts. Some of these resources have been recommended by CLF members. What books, music, and videos are you using in your home religious education? Let us know so we can share them with other CLF members! (We won't print your name unless you give us explicit written permission to do so.)

Books

A CLF member in the United States recommends The Chronicles of Er-Da, Book One and Book Two. Written by Jeffrey Redmond, a religious liberal, these books mix engaging fantasy and science fiction story lines with strong life lessons. Our CLF member says her teenaged children like reading these books, and the books have opened up good discussions about how people relate to society. Published by iUniverse, and available through online booksellers for about US$14 each book.

Other science fiction books that might interest both adult and teenaged religious liberals:

Fahrenheit 451 is the classic science fiction novel about a futuristic totalitarian society where all books have been banned. Instead of putting out fires, "firemen" in this world start fires, fires in which they burn books. At times, this futuristic society sounds a little too much like our own society. Ray Bradbury, who happens to be a Unitarian Universalist, wrote Fahrenheit 451 during the McCarthy era, and it remains a lyrical and engaging condemnation of censorship and narrow thinking. If you're wondering about the title, it refers to the temperature at which paper catches fire and burns. Widely available in libraries and used bookstores. Originally published in 1953, still in print in paperback.

Kurt Vonnegut is another Unitarian Universalist author who writes in a science fiction mode. Like Bradbury, Vonnegut often writes about issues of justice and human freedom. While some of his books are a little bizarre for some tastes, try his masterpiece, Slaughterhouse Five, or the Children's Crusade. By turns hilariously funny and terribly sad, the novel tells the story of the firebombing of the German city of Dresden during World War II, and includes strange aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. The teenagers in my life still enjoy Vonnegut's books. Widely available in libraries, used bookstores. Originally published in 1969, still in print in paperback.

Video and movies

While we're talking about science fiction and Unitarian Universalism, don't forget that the Star Trek television series was originally conceived by Unitarian Universalist Gene Rodenberry. If you want to look for Unitarian Universalist values on television, try watching "classic" Star Trek, or Star Trek: The Next Generation where you'll see (among other values) tolerance for alien cultures and beings who are quite different from us. The Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes concerning the "Borg" explore issues of totalitarianism and human freedom. Collected episodes from Star Trek -- The Original Series and Star Trek -- The Next Generation have been released on both video and DVD. Available at many video rental stores and through online booksellers. In many North American markets, these two series are still on broadcast or cable television as reruns.

Music
It's hard to find songs that both kids and adults like. It's even harder to find songs that both kids and adults like to sing together for family worship services. Nick Page is a song leader, composer, writer, and former elementary school teacher who has gathered together nearly twenty songs that are fun and easy to sing, and many of which are useful for family worship. Best of all, Nick has recorded these songs on The Nick Page Songbook CD, so you don't have to read sheet music in order to learn the songs.

Songs on the CD that are great to sing with all ages in a family worship setting include: "Paz Y Libertad," "There's Honey in the Rock," "There Is More Love Somewhere," "Kadima," and "Freedom Is Sweet." A booklet has full lyrics for all the songs on the CD. Available only online at www.cdfreedom.com/nickpage.

Meditations, prayers, etc.

Meditations

The old man sat in the garden and
contemplated the grass and the tree
and the bird in the tree.
And the small child contemplated
the man.
And the child asked, "Why?"
And the old man smiled and said,
"I was just about to ask you
the same question."
And he wondered:
"Is this child as old as I am
or am I as young as this child?"
--Patricia Bowen, from a 1987 CLF mailing to parents

Late Autumn
Towards the end of autumn, as days grow short
the sun never gets very high above the horizon.
Already the first snow has come, and all the trees
are bare, except for a few stubborn oaks.
If you haven't finished raking up the leaves
by now, it's too late. Give up for the year!
Late autumn is made for idleness: it's made
for sitting in the long, dark evenings;
for thinking of nothing and everything; for
memories. Do what's necessary, but nothing
more. Sit in idleness. Tell long stories to children.
This is how the long nights of late autumn
are meant to be used.
-- Dan Harper
Copyright (c) 2002 Daniel Harper

and for CLFers in the southern hemisphere, this meditation on spring...
The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said `Bother!' and `O blow!' and also `Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.

Something up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, `Up we go! Up we go!' till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.

`This is fine!' he said to himself. `This is better than whitewashing!' The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed his heated brow, and after the seclusion of the cellarage he had lived in so long the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing almost like a shout. Jumping off all his four legs at once, in the joy of living and the delight of spring without its cleaning, he pursued his way across the meadow....

Hither and thither through the meadows he rambled busily, along the hedgerows, across the copses, finding everywhere birds building, flowers budding, leaves thrusting -- everything happy, and progressive, and occupied. And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking him and whispering `whitewash!' he somehow could only feel how jolly it was to be the only idle dog among all these busy citizens.

-- from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Words for lighting a chalice
As we light this flame, so Unitarian Universalists around the world light a flaming chalice -- congregations from New Zealand to Romania -- CLF members in Siberia, on the Cook Islands of the Pacific Ocean, and in Boston -- we all recognize the flaming chalice as a symbol of our liberal faith.

Table grace
Loving spirit, be our guest:
dine with us, share our bread,
that our table may be blessed
and our souls be fed.
-- from an unknown source,
used by the family of Donna Dudley, CLF bookkeeper