For children and families
First Day School
Children start in worship with everyone, then spend the rest of the hour in the porch room with two teachers, a story and something to make.
Porch room, 10:50 AM
Today's question: what would you never give away?
What happens in the porch room
Questions are the curriculum
We use Faith and Play stories, told on the floor with wooden figures, followed by wondering questions that have no wrong answers. Older children work on longer projects: last spring they built the bird boxes on the meadow fence.
Two background-checked adults are always present. Parents are welcome to sit in on any week.
- Ages 4 to 13, together in one room
- Toddlers welcome in worship or in the nursery corner
- Snack is fruit and crackers; tell us about allergies
- Older youth join the Lake Erie Yearly Meeting gatherings
Your child's first Sunday
Three things to know before you come
Step 1: Sit together first
Your family sits anywhere in the meeting room. Children may bring a quiet book or drawing.
Step 2: Follow the teacher
At 10:45 a teacher stands by the porch door. Children who want to go follow her out; you can come too.
Step 3: Collect at 11:30
Children rejoin the meeting for the handshake and introductions, often with something sticky to show you.
Last spring in the porch room
Contact sheet
Taken by parents, with the children's permission.
Key
- 1Painting peace stones for the meadow path
- 2Story circle with the wooden figures
- 3Outdoor First Day in May
- 4Planting the three sisters bed
- 5Building the meetinghouse in blocks
- 6Yearly Meeting junior gathering
Want a photo of your child taken down? Tell the clerk and it will be gone the same day.
Parents ask
Questions from families
Is it okay if my child is noisy in worship?
Yes. Babies and small children are part of the meeting. Step out to the porch if you need to; nobody will glare.
Do you teach a particular doctrine?
We share Bible stories and stories of Friends like Lucretia Mott and Bayard Rustin, and we ask children what they notice. We do not test them.
What about teenagers?
Teens can stay in worship, help teach, or join the Yearly Meeting youth program, which gathers four weekends a year.