Holy Learning
A week with Mister Rogers Neighborhood
Gathered and partly written by Rev. Kathryn Dianna Craven
Welcome to a week where Mister Rogers will guide us in how to learn while the scriptures join us in the joy of learning more about God and our faith.
Brief background:
I realized one day that Mister Rogers was the childhood minister for at least three generations of children, teaching us how to live more enriching and, frankly, Godly lives. He taught us how to love and be responsible for ourselves and love others while looking at the world with great curiosity and compassion. I want to share this with another generation. The focus on learning in this week has a lot to do with what episodes were commercially available to use. Much effort has gone into finding scriptures and activities that work with the themes of the episodes.
The Outline for the Week
The week is planned to be 4 days long with sessions lasting four hours - specifically here from 8 a.m. -12p.m. The dynamic of children at this church is expected to be half 3-5 years olds while the other half elementary school up to grade 6. This curriculum has been formed to work specifically with that characteristic. Most of the time all of the ages will be together with the older children acting as mentors to the youngest, but there is time towards the end of the morning when they separate and the older children work more specifically on in-depth comprehension and teaching and leading skills.
Daily Schedule
8:00 - 8:15 Registration along with imagination and free play time at different stations in
fellowship hall (ex: legos, coloring, balloons to toss, dress-up bin)
8:15 - 8:45 Welcome in Sanctuary with prayer and introduction of the Bible Story with some
initial questions for the whole group
8:45 - 9:15 Watching episode of Mister Rogers in Fellowship Hall
9:15 - 9:45 Station one
9:45 - 10:15 Station two
10:15 - 10:30 Snack
10:30 - 11:00 Station three
11:00 - 11:30 Divided ages
11:30 - 12:00 Closing in Sanctuary
The three different stations will be a rotation for three different groups of all-aged children between the three following stations: indoor activities, outdoor activities, and music.
During the "Divide ages" time, 3-5 year olds will have a storytime with a craft and playtime. The older children have questions about the day's readings to think about. Then the Bible story shared at the beginning of the morning is re-read and the children are left to their own ingenuity to create a dramatic re-telling of the story to act out at the closing session to continue teaching the younger children.
The Goal of the Week:
Instead of teaching various stories or a theology, this week is focused on enhancing curiosity, fascination and even awe in our God and the stories we have from scripture. In each of the Biblical stories people are themselves in the process of learning, and we come across many different ways of learning. The week is one of learning how to grow as disciples and be ready and willing to pick up on the lessons that God is putting before us at different stages of our lives. Sub-goals of the week are increasing compassion, sharing, diligence in the face of hard work and the importance of caring for and giving to others.
