Choosing your child's religious education program is an important decision, just as important as choosing your own religious home. Yet making that decision can be confusing. What should you look for? Where will your child be happy, safe, and learning how to be a loving, spiritually literate person?

At First Unitarian, we take children's development seriously. First Unitarian offers age-appropriate classes that run during our worship services. We have a three-year thematic rotation of curricula, covering Unitarian Universalist identity, world religions and our Jewish and Christian heritage. This year we are studying our Jewish and Christian heritage.

Babies and toddlers are cared for during services by Carolyn Sander, an experienced and trusted child care provider. Parents are welcome to leave their small children or stay with them until they are comfortable being on their own. The nursery is wired for sound so that adults can hear the service while they are with their little ones.

Our youngest class is the preschool class, and they will be hearing stories from Hebrew and Christian scriptures, doing crafts, singing songs, and playing. Because preschoolers are just getting used to being in a real class, there is some unstructured play time each week..

The kindergarteners through third graders are learning about the stories and major themes of the bible. The curriculum helps students become familiar with scriptural texts, and helps them reflect on Unitarian Universalist themes..

Fourth through eighth graders get a bit more into the meat of the subject, working with two curricula, one on Hebrew scriptures, the other on Christian, that stress bible literacy and focus the themes of love, justice, and covenant.

We also have a small but vibrant youth group for high schoolers that meets after services.

One of the best aspects of our program is the love and energy for our young people that the teaching teams bring with them every week. As part of our commitment to the safety of every member of our community, each class and the nursery are staffed by two adults at all times.

In addition to our regular classes, we have many special events throughout the year that serve to enhance the experience of each child. Important yearly events include a Halloween party for all ages, Thanksgiving Seder, holiday pageant, intergenerational Kwanzaa service, “mystery friends”, Easter egg hunt, and many others. We also gather all of the classes together about once a month to learn about and get involved in social justice.

All of us at First Unitarian hope that you will find this to be a warm and inviting place for your whole family!

For more information, contact Danielle Gerrior, our Director of Religious Education. She can be reached online at dgerrior@firstuchicago.org, or at the church office, (773) 324-4100, extension 15.