Resources

average students? Click picture for an interesting article from WAPO

1/9/2019

November 14th, 2018

11/14/2018

Safety at All Souls
"Over the past number of months, All Souls staff have been developing a comprehensive Safe Congregation policy, headed up by a safe congregation team. This initiative is designed to deal with a wide range of emergency situations, from medical emergencies and fire alarms to disruptive individuals and even active shooters.

We anticipate having a Sunday focus on congregational safety sometime after the first of the year, during which we will disseminate information and offer training to deal with this wide range of emergency situations. In the meantime, we are working on training our staff and key volunteers to help provide leadership should such situations arise.

I know these are difficult times and the incursion of violence into houses of worship is horrifically disturbing. Our goal is that All Souls will continue to be a sanctuary in all senses of the word for everyone who gathers here for worship and fellowship." ~Rev. Galen
Here are some resources for you and your family:
UU World- Security on Sunday
https://www.uuworld.org/articles/sunday-security

Child Care Aware- Mass Shootings and Your Children
http://usa.childcareaware.org/advocacy-public-policy/crisis-and-disaster-resources/caregiver-and-ccrr-tools-publications-and-resources/mass-shooting-and-violence-resources/

Parent Magazine- How to Talk to Kids about Gun Violence
https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/advice/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-gun-violence/

Child Development Institute- Talking to Kids about Violence
https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/how-to-be-a-parent/communication/talk-to-kids-violence/#.W-yX5ehKiUk

Know someone grieving? Here'S how to help...

10/10/2018

Raising Confidant Decision Makers

10/2/2018

Take me to the Article

Children, Cell phones and social media

9/14/2018

If your child has a cell phone, personal email address, social media account or internet-enabled device, we strongly encourage you to:

Consider when it is actually essential for your child to receive a smartphone. More and more families are waiting to give students a smartphone. In the early Middle School years, a flip phone can suffice if your child needs a quick way to communicate with you.
Set family rules for dictating when and where devices are used, including removing devices from bedrooms in the hours before sleep and not allowing them at the dinner table.
Ensure that appropriate privacy measures are taken across all platforms.
Regularly monitor your child’s text messages and social media presence. Nothing your child writes/posts in the virtual world should be something they don’t want you to see.
Our children have a hard time really understanding that nothing online is truly private. While students crave a space for speaking intimately with friends, they also sometimes need guidance in learning how to be their best selves. For example, arguments over text or social media can quickly become very divisive. Talk to your children about how to discern when speaking in person is a better strategy than using a digital platform.
Talk about the importance of privacy, kindness, exclusion, sharing and peer pressure as it concerns online communications. Our children need help understanding and navigating these dynamics. Don’t wait until there is a problem.
Remind your children (often) that photos of themselves and others should be regarded with special respect and care, not distributed without permission. Photos ought to be thoughtfully sent to friends and/or posted with consideration paid to how the photos appear and, in the case of a group photo, how not being in the photo might feel.
Review street safety as it relates to devices, including the danger inherent in crossing the street while texting, the importance of staying alert while traveling home and the need to be discreet while using devices in public spaces.
Communicate with other parents to support one another. Let them know if anything feels uncomfortable or inappropriate.

More Resources:

From the NYC Friends School Parent Memo- Thank you Laurie Jakobsen

Welcome Back!

9/1/2018

The care-free months of summer are fading into memories and the new year is fast approaching. There is much to tell you about the coming year- programs, improvements, and a few changes- all of which are below. It has been a busy and productive summer! But also, a lonely one, without you around. I look forward to seeing all of you on September 9th!
First, A few announcements:

The annual water celebration will take place on September 9th. This year, we will be in the Sanctuary sharing this lovely ritual with the whole congregation.
The first Sunday of the month, every month, families will begin in the sanctuary for a Story.
Please register for Our Whole Lives (OWL) through the website. We are opening up OWL to the community as well for $250. You must be a member or regular attender of the congregation for you child to take it for free.
The Teacher Dedication will be on September 2nd this year.

Other good news:

We continue to operate a separate website for our program, but at some point this year, it will be integrated into the new All Souls website. Stay tuned for more info on that. For the time being, go to www.allsoulsreligioused.org for up-to-date information about the All Souls Religious Education program.
We are now using KidCheck for registration. This new system also checks you in each week when you come to All Souls, allows us to better track your children while on site, and connect us to visitors and new families, too.
We will not be mailing out calendars or brochures this year. Please visit website at www.allsoulsreligioused.org for all the information you will need about the upcoming year including a Calendar of Sundays that you can print and hang on your refrigerator. Please also make sure we have your phone number so we can text you and your email so you can receive the email blast.
We have a new bulletin board and a brochure rack with parent resources to help you integrate your experiences at All Souls into your home life. This material includes Soul Matters and much, much more!
Chapel will continue to be only at 11:00 to 11:15 and all ages (including parents) are welcome!
A new chalkboard outside of the RE offices invites you to share on the Soul Matters theme each month. In September we ask, “What does it mean to be a community of vision?” Please share your thoughts on the chalk board when you are at All Souls.
We have a new Coming of Age program. More on this next month but just a teaser: adults are welcome to Come of Age, Again.
We are adding Faith Formation to our name this year as we contemplate our mission and goals as a program over the coming months. Stay tuned!

We Need OWL Teachers

6/26/2018

Summer 2018
This column is about sex. Did I get your attention? Well, stick around and read on:

Actually, this column is about Our Whole Lives or OWL, one of the best programs about sexuality that we offer as part of our religious education program here at All Souls. Our Whole Lives is a secular program that is taught in faith communities such as ours as well as primary and secondary schools, charter and home schools, colleges, correctional facilities, and other group settings (like youth or young adult groups). It is a secular program but gives clear messages about values we care about: self-worth, sexual health, responsibility, justice, inclusivity, and decision-making. As the description on the Unitarian Universalist webpage reads: “Our Whole Lives recognizes and respects diversity with respect to biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and disability status. The activities and language used throughout the program have been carefully chosen to be as inclusive as possible of this human diversity.”

There is a new awareness about sexuality and boundaries in our society and people trying to navigate a changing and sometimes confusing world in these areas need resources and education. Next year we will open our OWL program to the community. We plan to offer the Kindergarten and First Grade OWL, the Fourth and Fifth grade OWL, and the Junior High OWL and we will offer the Adult OWL if there is interest. We will charge a sliding scale fee and we will pay our OWL teachers, too. All OWL classes will be offered during the second hour (11:30 until 12:30 or 1:30 for the Junior OWL). Each class is 8-10 sessions and will be offered the first of each month. The Junior OWL will also have two half day retreats.

We are moving the time for OWL for a couple of reasons. First, we want people from outside of All Souls looking for a program such as this to find it whether they are looking for a church or not. Of course, it would be great if they join our community but if not we have at least given them valuable tools for their whole lives. Second, not every family is ready to take the OWL class when it is offered and so the family waits out a year or their attendance drops off in the religious education program. We want to be a space for everyone, no sitting on the sidelines for religious education!

If you have questions or would like to get trained in OWL, please email at tracy@allsoulsnyc.org. More information about the Our Whole Lives program is available at https://www.uua.org/re/owl.

It’s not just the border crisis: Our culture truly does not prioritize families

6/26/2018

Go to Rene Denfield's Article

Preparing your child for the changing work world

5/22/2018

Washington Post

Identity Theft- Child Safety

5/1/2018