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 last updated 30
December, 2008
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 VISION, MISSION,
AND PURPOSE
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Our children will
not be able to live in peace until a majority of the people of the world
adopt an all-inclusive view of religion and spirituality. The increasing
turmoil in the world demonstrates that our lives depend on a unified
understanding of the concepts of God and religion that can offset the
rampant brutality and devastation caused by sectarian and religious
prejudice.
Just as the peoples
and nations of the world have come to recognize fundamental human rights,
so should they come to promote the harmony of all the world's religions.
The aims of the lesson plans on this site are to provide a systematic
means for building a foundation for understanding the nature and purpose
of religion and the common relationship that all of humanity shares with
its Creator.
The lesson plans
and supplementary materials on this site are the result of the on-going
effort of an independent and self- governing team of volunteers comprised
of parents, children, and educators. The core members of this ad-hoc team
were drawn together in 1999, inspired by a shared mission to create
self-contained sets of all-inclusive non-sectarian spiritual and moral
education programs readily accessible to parents and educators from
diverse religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
We continue to be
enlightened and inspired by our vision that bringing children and parents
from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds together to learn about
religion in a holistic manner fosters mutual trust, promotes community
building, and helps replace fear and fanaticism with empathy and
cooperation.
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LESSON PLAN OVERVIEW
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The lessons plans
on this site are designed so they can be used with little or no formal
training. They are also completely self-contained. Everything you need to
conduct a lesson, with the exception of some common household items, is
contained in the lesson itself. The lessons can be downloaded by clicking
on the lesson plan number next to the lesson plan description on the page
for each book of lessons (eg Book 2, Book 3, etc.).
We encourage you to
use the lessons plans in whole and in sequence. They have been designed
so that teachers can easily guide learners through a coherent and
interconnected sequence of topics. Each topic that the lesson plans cover
builds upon the concepts presented in the previous lessons and topics.
The first topic, "The Oneness of God" smoothly leads into the
second topic, "Investigating Without Prejudice", which then
leads into the third topic, "The Relationship Between God and
Man", and so on.
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MORE INFORMATION
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HOW TO USE THE LESSON PLANS
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The lessons plans
on this site are designed so they can be used with little or no formal
training. They are also completely self-contained. Everything you need to
conduct a lesson, with the exception of some common household items, is
contained in the lesson itself. The lessons can be downloaded by clicking
on the lesson plan number next to the lesson plan description on the page
for each book of lessons (eg Book 2, Book 3, etc.).
We encourage you to
use the lessons plans in whole and in sequence. They have been designed
so that teachers can easily guide learners through a coherent and
interconnected sequence of topics. Each topic that the lesson plans cover
builds upon the concepts presented in the previous lessons and topics.
The first topic, "The Oneness of God" smoothly leads into the
second topic, "Investigating Without Prejudice", which then
leads into the third topic, "The Relationship Between God and
Man", and so on.
For example, before
learners can properly understand the traditional significance of the
animal sacrifices that are sometimes made during the Muslim holy day
observance of the "Eid-al Adha", they must have been exposed to
the story of Abraham and His willingness to sacrifice His eldest son.
Likewise, before learners can truly grasp the pervasive import of the
concept of a covenant between God and mankind, they must first be exposed
to activities and stories that help them understand that the covenant is
an eternal truth that is renewed by each of God's prophets - whether in
the form of the rainbow that Noah saw when his ark landed aground, or in
the form of the Ten Commandments brought by Moses. In this way a solid
foundation can be laid that supports a deeper appreciation, in an
appropriate context, for the more readily applicable concluding topics
such as "The History, Laws, and Teachings of the Major
Religions".
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A SIMPLE APPROACH
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Each lesson follows
a simple three-part approach which ensures that children are engaged and
learning in various intellectual, emotional, and spiritual means. The
three main part of each lesson are:
- Direct use of the
Sacred Writings of the world's religious traditions (e.g. the Lord's
Prayer, Proverbs, verses from the Quran, Baha'u'llah's Tablet of the
True Seeker, etc.)
- Hands-on learning
activities to deepen understanding (e.g. How are spiritual teachings
like different colored dyes? How are our souls like paper airplanes?
How do religious difference occur - role playing with a simple
telephone game? etc.)
- Stories to deepen
perception and encourage eloquent expression (e.g. the Five Blind
Men and the Elephant, Mohammad and the Thief, Jesus and the Beggar,
Noah and the Rainstorm, etc.)
The learning
objectives listed at the top of each lesson plan are meant to guide
parents and teachers who would like to employ additional activities,
stories, or Sacred Passages that might enhance the students'
understanding according to their capacity. With the learning objectives
as an overall guide, teachers are free to use alternate stories, Sacred
Writings, and activities that may better suit the unique needs of their
students.
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HOW TO ACCESS AND DOWNLOAD THE FILES
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The lessons can be
downloaded by clicking on the lesson plan number next to the lesson plan
description on the page for each book of lessons (eg Book 2, Book 3, etc.). The lessons plans and
supplementary materials are "portable document format" (.pdf)
files. You need Adobe's free Acrobat Reader program to open them. You can
download Reader, or upgrade an old version (in case you get errors when
you try to open the files) for free at http://www.adobe.com/reader or by
following the "Adobe Acrobat Reader" on the links page.
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KEEP IN TOUCH WITH US...
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Your input
is crucial as we strive to continuously improve the materials available on
this web site. As the lesson plans are used, they will be appended, changed,
or refined based on feedback from teachers, parents, and children. You can contact us by e-mail
at info [at] spiritual-education.org or you can use the on-line inquiry
form on the contact page
to get in touch with us.
If you are using
the lessons, you can give us your comments by using the on-line form on
the feedback page.
You can receive news and updates
about these and other materials on this web site by joining our mailing
list. You can join the list by sending an empty e-mail to updates-subscribe@spiritual-education.org.
Your address will not be used for any purpose other than delivering news
of site updates, and will not be provided to anyone else under any
circumstance.
We have also
prepared a simple and colorful fact sheet. You can print them on separate
sides of a single piece of paper, fold the paper in half, and use it as a
brochure. Click on the desired size to download them.
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