Herndon Friends Meeting

First Day School

Introduction
If you are new to Friends, or to Herndon Friends Meeting, we hope that this brochure will help you understand our program for children. We are committed to providing religious education and a nurturing meeting home for our children. Children of all ages participate with adults in singing and the first part of Meeting for Worship. It is not surprising that this part of meeting at times includes some noise on the part of the children, but we have found that children who are brought regularly learn to enjoy the silence. After 10-15 minutes, teachers stand up and lead the children into their classes. At the rise of Meeting for worship, children and teachers are invited to return into the meeting room to welcome visitors and listen to announcements. At times, the children have announcements of their own to share.

Goals of Religious Education at Herndon Friends Meeting
We have four areas of focus in designing our First Day School program:

1) We desire to model the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, equality, peace and tolerance. We believe that the most important things we have to share are our lives and our experiences. By our behavior towards the children and with each other we hope to let the "light of Christ" shine, and to demonstrate that we believe that there is "that of God in everyone".

2) We hope that the children will develop caring, respectful relationships in First Day School, and carry those attitudes to the other parts of their lives.

3) Using appropriate materials and exercises, we want to expose children to some specific content which includes the following:

  • History of The Society of Friends
  • Friend's practices and testimonies
  • Contemporary Friends` work and organizations
  • Judeo-Christian beliefs and Bible studies
  • Other religious groups and paths to spirituality
4) We offer children opportunities to plan and participate in meeting activities that translate our beliefs into action. Activities over the last few years have included participating in a "Walkathon for the Homeless", collecting and delivering food to a local food bank, raising funds for a project that purchases healthcare insurance for needy children in Fairfax County, and working with Pedals for Progress to collect used bicycles for use in developing countries.

Our Philosophy on Bible Study
Among Quakers, there are many different ways of thinking about the Bible. In First Day School, we recognize the Bible as a record of religious understanding that communicates the wisdom of an ancient tradition, and points to ongoing revelation. We teach our children that interpretations of the Bible are rich and varied, from the literal to the poetic. We explore eternal Biblical themes such as human responsibility, love of freedom, speaking out against injustice, respect for the beliefs of others, love of one`s neighbor, forgiveness and the possibility of continues spiritual growth. Our hope is to instill in our children an appreciation for the biblical tradition as the source of much or our contemporary spiritual understanding.

Curriculum Materials
The Religious Education Committee draws on a broad background of resources in planning First Day School classes. Many of our materials are obtained from Friends' Organizations, but we also use lesson plans developed by other religious groups. Parents are encouraged to contact their child`s class coordinator with questions and suggestions.

Class Groupings
Because we are a small meeting, each year we review the ages of the children who are participating and organize the classes for that school year. Our groups continue to change as the numbers of children and their ages change. Currently we have 4 regularly scheduled classes that divide up our children from 3 years old through high school. Though the numbers of children vary from week to week we generally have no more than 10 children per class. We do not offer a nursery for younger children due to space considerations. Parents of children less than 3 years of age often bring them into singing and the first part of Meeting for Worship, and stay with them in the First Day School area during the remainder of Meeting for Worship.

During the summer we offer supervised activity without a formal curriculum, and often combine groups due to less regular attendance. We encourage our parents to consider sending their children, ages 9-18, to one of the four summer camping programs organized by Baltimore Yearly Meeting.

Helping your child feel comfortable going to First Day School
Children learn to become independent at varying ages. As you may have experienced when leaving your child with babysitters or at pre-school, most children will be happy on their own if you encourage them to stay. Many young children are unhappy as their parents leave, but are quickly drawn into an interesting activity. By the age of 3 years most children will be able to stay in class without their parents.

Volunteering
Our First Day School uses no paid or permanent teachers. We rely on parents and other meeting adults to teach our classes. With four classes for 9 months of the year, and activities requiring at least two adults per week during the summer, First Day School provides over 200 opportunities to spend time supervising and teaching our children. Those of us who have taught First Day School find that teaching an opportunity to get to know our children and learn more about Quaker history and traditions. We try to provide an assistant teacher in the two youngest classes, and we suggest that those new to teaching take on this role until they become confident in planning and teaching the lessons themselves.

In addition to teaching, many other jobs need to be done. These include planning curricula, teacher recruitment, and planning special events such as social events, holiday programs, retreat activities, and social action opportunities.

Attendance
We accommodate occasional attenders in all of the classes, but we believe that your child will get the most out of First Day School if you put a priority on regular attendance. Children will enjoy First Day School and look forward to attending if they expect to come every week. Bringing children in time for the singing and the first part of Meeting for Worship is encouraged. Over time, children who are given regular opportunities to be in Meeting for Worship learn to appreciate and settle into the silence. Regular attendance at First Day School allows children to get to know their teachers, make friends with the other children in the class, and begin to feel that they are part of the meeting family. In addition they have chance to build upon the material studied the previous week. We encourage you to make a commitment to bring your child to Singing, Meeting for Worship and First Day School regularly.

Discipline
Our classroom discipline follows Quaker principles of respect for others, tolerance, and nonviolence. We urge parents to communicate clearly to their children that the purpose of First Day School is primarily educational, and that classroom manners and participation in activities are expected. Because we usually have an assistant in the younger two classes, a child that has difficulty will be helped by the assistant while the teacher continues with the class. We believe that gentle but firm direction works most of the time with a child who is having difficulty following instructions, but if your child if being disruptive despite our best efforts, we will inform you. Occasionally, we call parents out of Meeting for Worship to help with their child.

Religious Education Committee
Everyone is welcome to attend meetings of the Religious Education (RE) Committee, which meets monthly following the rise of a Meeting for Worship. Please contact the Clerk of the RE committee, or read the Meeting newsletter, the Herndon Light, about dates and times of meetings. The RE Committee consists of a clerk and up to 5 other persons appointed by the Business Meeting for 2 year terms. The Committee assigns a Coordinator to each group. The responsibilities of the Coordinators include making sure that there are teachers are assigned for each week, and that lesson plans are available. The Coordinators or the Committee Clerk are the persons to contact if you have questions about your child`s First Day School class or to find out how you might best volunteer.

Special Needs
Some children have special needs due to physical or emotional problems both long term and temporary, or learning disabilities which may affect participation and learning in First Day School Classes. Any information that you feel comfortable sharing about special needs with the Class Cooridinator may enhance your child's learning and First Day School experience

Conclusion
We hope that his brochure has given you some helpful information about what your family can expect from First Day School. We encourage your participation.

Contacts

Debby Kirkman
Clerk of Religious Education Committee
Coordinator: 8th grade and up
Phone: 540-347-6079
E-mail: dkirkman@mitre.org

Gwen Zanin
Coordinator: 8th grade and up
E-mail: gzanin@chronicle.com

Jon Burton and Fred Cresson
Coordinators: 5-7th grade
E-mail: CGJon@aol.com
E-mail: cresson@boo.net

Kim Glazer
Coordinator: 1-4th grade
E-mail: jglazer@erols.com

Meg Wallace
Coordinator: Pre-school through Kindergarten
E-mail: mcdermott@ieee.org