Parents & Guardians

As partners in your child's religious education, the RG&L Committee asks the following of parents/guardians:

• We hope that your family will make church attendance a priority. Please bring your children as often and as consistently as possible (3–4 times a month). Children and youth learn better and form closer ties with their peers when they attend regularly, and it helps teachers immeasurably when class size is constant week to week.
• Parents of children attending the Sunday morning program must remain at church for the duration of classes (Sunday morning is not a drop-off program).
• Please help your children be ready to engage: bring them to Sunday school well fed, well rested, and dressed for active (and probably messy!) learning.
• Children/youth are the responsibility of their parent/guardians after programming has ended (during coffee hour, adult meetings, etc.)
• Please leave toys, including electronic ones, at home or in your car.
• Get involved in what your children are doing in Sunday school. Visit the classroom and get to know their teachers. Ask your children about the class and continue the conversation — look for emails from your child's teacher or the Director of Religious Education (DRE) about what the class is learning, or check the RG&L bi-monthly newsletter on the website.
• Meet with the DRE to discuss any concerns or ideas you may have — she is always ready and willing to chat!
• Attend adult programs that will enrich your experience and understanding of Unitarian Universalism.

Children & Youth

We encourage positive behavior by participants in all of our RG&L programs. Interaction, engagement, and participation are basic to a healthy program. Negative behaviors detract from the learning environment we work hard to create. Negative behaviors include disruptive activities, refusing to positively participate in activities, disrespecting others in word or deed, and rough housing. Specifically, we ask that children and youth follow these guidelines while attending First Parish programs:

• Use peaceful language and actions (no violence in word or deed)
• Encourage others (no "put downs")
• Leave weapons (real or imaginary) at home
• Treat the building and its furnishings respectfully (no rough housing or running in the building)
• Include others (all can play)
• Leave toys and electronics (including cell phones and hand held games) at home (there are phones available at church should an important call need to be made)
• The Common Room (adjacent to the Parish Hall) is available from 12:00 – 12:15 pm each Sunday for children/youth to play board games, talk, and have a light snack before heading home. They should not be wandering the building unaccompanied by an adult, or playing in a classroom after classes have ended.

Disciplinary Steps During Programming

Step 1:   Teachers/advisors will verbally redirect to stop negative behavior, and will state the desired behavior. If the undesirable behavior continues, the adult leader will take the child/youth out of the classroom for a deeper conversation about the need for positive behavior.

Step 2:   If the child/youth is unable or unwilling to change his/her behavior, a parent/guardian will be called on his/her cell phone and asked to come take the child/youth out of the classroom for the duration of the class. The DRE will be notified of the incident and she will call the parent/guardian within the following week to check-in and evaluate the situation.

Step 3:   When necessary, a "Positive Behavior Plan" will be developed after consultation with parents/guardians and the classroom teacher/advisor for children or youth who continue to struggle. Parents/guardians may also be asked to sit in the class to observe and to help modify behavior if necessary.