About Unity Youth & Family Ministry
Links:
When:
Unity Youth class or "Sunday School" is held on Sundays from 10 a.m. until the end of service, which is usually around 11:00 a.m. If you would like to bring your kids to Unity of Madison, feel free to come on Sunday!
After class, kids are welcome to join parents in the basement for after-church snacks.
If Unity Youth Family Ministry will not be in session, we will share a post on Facebook (Unity of Madison) and in the Unity E-Newsletter.
Where: Unity of Madison is located at 601 Tompkins Drive, Madison, WI 53716. (Google Map link)
What to Expect at Unity Youth & Family Ministry
At Unity of Madison, we have one big classroom where kids ranging from ages 3-10 attend per week but would love to welcome older kiddos as well!
- Parents write their child's info on the sign-in sheet and teachers greet the children and give them a little information about what the lesson for that day is.
- Kids are welcome to explore the classroom, play with toys or boxes, create things in the craft area, or talk with the teachers while we wait for all the kids to arrive.
- Once the group is there, we share a book, short video, or song, then the group discusses it.
- After the discussion, the teacher guides a meditation based on the shared experience and the day’s spiritual lesson.
- The children engage in a craft or activity with educational elements that help them “see” the spiritual lesson in their lives. We focus on divergent learning, where thoughts can move freely without a concrete answer, rather than convergent learning, which brings thoughts toward one correct answer. The kids learn through movement, play, experience, conversation, and exploration, as opposed to the more traditional, convergent model of teaching in a classroom setting.
The “Living Curricula” model from Unity is followed, with the addition of science or storytelling in every class. Stories are shared, questions are asked, and conversations about spiritual lessons are encouraged. Unity Church believes that all children have innate wisdom and potential within them, and the role of teachers is to help draw out this inner knowledge and guide children in discovering and expressing their true selves. This approach aligns with the idea that spiritual education is about nurturing and supporting each child’s unique journey, rather than simply imparting information.
- We discuss things happening in kids’ worlds: a new school year, climate change, bullying, the changing seasons, or any issues they (or parents) are concerned about.
- We often incorporate the 12 Unity Powers: Faith, Strength, Wisdom, Love, Power, Imagination, Understanding, Will, Order, Zeal, Release, and Life.
- Unity believes that invoking all the senses helps deepen their understanding of the spiritual lesson and strengthen their relationship to God, so we try to incorporate as many senses during our activity.
- We focus a lot on topics of love, including how we show love for others, the environment, animals, and ourselves. Under the umbrella of love, we share practices for cultivating high self-esteem and ways to be in our power.
- If there is a holiday, we’ll discuss the spiritual symbol we can learn from that.
Some examples of our class spiritual lesson and activity:
At the start of the school year, we had a discussion about our fears. Some children shared their fears, and we talked about how these fears hadn’t ever happened, and were similar to a fear of the unknown. To illustrate this, we watched the “Platform 9 ¾” scene from Harry Potter, showing how sometimes we need to face our fears head-on, just like Harry did when he had to run into a brick wall. Afterward, we traced our bodies and drew ourselves as we envision in our minds. One child drew fire coming from his fists, while another drew flowers sprouting from her hair. The teacher then glued these images, along with a chosen affirmation, onto small wooden blocks that the kids could take to school.- In a recent lesson, we explored the concept that happiness is a constant within us even though it can be entangled with other emotions. To bring this idea to life, we invited the children to play with prisms in the sun. The kids learned how the light bends to form rainbows, and we drew parallels between the colors emanating from the prism and our emotional spectrum, recognizing that amidst the many of feelings we experience, happiness is always there. The kids shared moments in their life where they had more than one feeling at a time, one even saying that even though they were sad their grandmother passed away, he was glad she was no longer in pain. We also discussed how, like the light from prisms, feelings come and go.
- When learning about “inner peace,” the kids got to make their own Inner Peace Gardens out of dirt, grass seed, sand, rocks, and single-use items. They learned that their inner peace is made by their own imagination, and being able to smell the dirt, touch the grass, hear the animals they chose to include, and see their entire Inner Peace Garden come to life, they have something to visualize when they close their eyes and want to reach into their actual Inner Peace.
The lessons we teach dance around Unity’s 5 Basic Principles for Children:
- God is all good and active in everything, everywhere.
- I am naturally good because God’s Divinity is in me and in everyone.
- I create my experiences by what I choose to think and what I feel and believe.
- Through affirmative prayer and meditation, I connect with God and bring out the good in my life.
- I do and give my best by living the Truth I know. I make a difference.
Each class is taught with a teacher and at least one volunteer. Each member of our diverse, caring staff and volunteers brings their own special gifts and talents, which they freely share with the children. All staff and volunteers at the Unity Youth & Family Ministry must have current background checks.
Thank you to all the families and kids for enriching our community with your presence!
For More Information
If you would like to bring your kids to Unity of Madison, feel free to come on Sunday. If you have questions or are interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact Kate by email at youthed@unityofmadison.org. I look forward to speaking with you!
View the Unity of Madison Youth & Family Ministry FAQs.
Thank you to all the families and kids for enriching our community with your presence!