Labyrinth for St. Clare's
The St. Clare's Daughters of the King Chapter has completed the labrinth. All are welcome to come and enjoy.
Godly Play
St. Clare’s is embarking on a wonderful, new method of teaching our children known as Godly Play. The heart of Godly play is to
* Create Sacred Space
* Build and work within community
* Learn religious language
* Use religious language to make meaning
The method of Godly Play is inspired by the work of Maria Montessori and developed by The Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman, an Episcopal Priest and Director of the Center of the Theology of Childhood in Houston, Texas.
On April 23-25, Dave Davis, Sunshine LaMunyon, Terri Taylor and the Reverends Karen and Dave Maurer attended Godly play training at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Pacific Palisades. We learned a great deal and are beyond excited about bringing this program to St. Clare’s. You might ask, “Why?”
Godly Play is first and foremost focused on the stories of the Old and New Testaments—it is Biblically based from start to finish. Second, the method of teaching is not one in which the teacher seeks to impart knowledge to the children while they soak it in. Rather, stories are told with three dimensional materials that encourage the children to manipulate, participate and “wonder” about the meaning of each story or parable. The children are given opportunities to “work,” which means that after a lesson is given and we all do some wondering about its meaning, they have the opportunity to handle the materials or to draw, cut, paste, mold with clay, write a poem…any number of creative outlets as they express what they have learned. This sort of learning is deeply spiritual, engaging and informative while remaining Christ focused and child friendly.
If you are interested in getting involved, either by helping us make the necessary materials or learning the method, or you just want to know more about Godly Play, please talk with any of the teachers or Fr. Dave and Rev. Karen.
