on concentration

The first essential for the child's development is concentration. It lays the whole basis for his character and social behaviour.


The child who concentrates is immensely happy.


Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, pp. 221, 273

an ending which was also a beginning

With Pentecost, we reached the end of our Spring Godly Play experiment (which began in February, after a trial run for Advent). I'm happy to report that as far as I can tell nobody wanted it to end!

And it's fun for me to see how acclimated everyone has become. The children spotted new story materials immediately...

... and our pastor had taken on board how keenly the children were following changes of liturgical colors, and so showed off her red stole for them.

See-through faith organized a party/picnic last week, which she reports on in her blog entry, feasting Godly Play style. And I look forward to hearing about what parents and children (and other church members?) do in the coming holiday weeks.

on the child's advantage

Children lack knowledge about many things. ... Mystery is a close, mostly unthreatening, friend in childhood, and responding with awe or a search for meaning are everyday childhood games.


--Rebecca Nye, Children's Spirituality: What it is and why it matters, p.8

I just want to sit

Last Sunday after the lesson I asked what three-year-old wanted to do in the Response Time.

I just want to sit and play with my socks.

It took me longer than it probably should have to say, OK!

Over the next six to seven weeks, Vandriver and I will spend a little of our time on work, some on family-time, and some on vacation! So expect posting to be sporadic and short, and the moderation of comments to sometimes take longer than usual. I'll be back with longer posts again in a while. But for now I probably just need to take a page from three-year-old's book, and sit and play with my socks!

Happy Birthday Dear Church...

I'd guess that it's been over a year, maybe even a year and a half, since I started opening Junior Church with the song, "Thank you, Lord, for this fine day" by Diane Davis Andrew. Every week I ask if anyone is especially thankful for anything, and then we sing thanks, first "for this fine day", then by name for everyone in the room, and then for the special things mentioned. This year during Lent we left out the "Hallelujah" chorus and did not use it again until Easter Sunday.

This routine is clearly important. On Palm Sunday I was worried about time and so skipped the "What are you thankful for" part, intending just to sing "this fine day" and our names. One child interrupted the song in mid-flow to remind me, "You didn't ask what we're thankful for!" At our all-ages session on Easter Sunday we went ahead and sang through the names of every person present, just as we would in Junior Church. Although it took a long time, people seemed to find it welcoming and worthwhile. When we had another all-ages session on Ascension Day, this song went even more smoothly, and I felt we were really rejoicing and worshipping as we sang it.

And yet, when I say that we sing, the honest truth is that at Junior Church it's usually only STF and I that sing. The children either listen, rock back and forth on their mats, or bounce around. Sometimes the bouncing around leaves me really uncertain as to whether they're actually listening or even enjoying the song at all. Nor do they sing along with the "Go now in Peace" song (by Natalie Sleeth) that we use to close the session, although gradually some have started following a few of the hand motions that we use (we don't sign the song as some YCW folk do, but we have a simple gesture for each line).

Last Sunday, as we gathered for the feast, I explained that many people consider Pentecost to be the birthday of the Church. We served out little pieces of cake, each with a birthday candle in it, and (once I had delivered a stern warning about the potential dangers of candles), I went around the circle lighting everyone's candle and singing "Happy Birthday". We had time to sing it all the way through twice, and then we blew out our candles together. What a hit!

I think every child sang along.

Pentecost in Helsinki

Pentecost, a set by Pikku Arkki on Flickr.

Here's a beautiful and fun set of pictures from the Anglican Chaplaincy's child-friendly Pentecost Eucharist yesterday. These were taken by the talented and super-friendly Sarah.

(This is not "our" service, although we are affiliated with these folk. We had Junior Church yesterday, while Vandriver preached at big church.)