First Day School Has Big Plans for This Year!

We hope to offer in-person FDS every week, meeting outdoors when weather
and activities permit, but otherwise indoors.  Children must be
vaccinated, and those old enough will need to be masked while indoors;
children should have no symptoms of illness even if they have tested
negative for COVID.  We will sing a couple of songs, share our news and
thoughts, read a story (we have a great new collection of books on our
themes!), do an activity related to the theme, do a centering exercise,
and then join the adult meeting for worship during the last 10 minutes. 
The 2nd week of the month there will be a First Day School Hike at 2pm,
usually along with First Day School at 10 am.  We may use the hike time
to do a "field trip" to a place or group associated with our theme.

We will start with several weeks of a Native American theme, learning
about the Nipmuc on whose lands our meeting house stands as well as
other tribes.  We will make "fry bread" after reading a story about this
universal favorite food.  We will visit the Nashoba (local band of
Nipmucs) stone structures in Acton's Nashoba Brook Conservation Area's
Trail Through Time, during a First Day School Hike.

After our unit on Native Americans, we will explore refugees, with help
from a Friend who works with refugees in Worcester, and with several
great new books for children.

We will spend some time learning about worship, and practicing centering
in preparation for "going quietly upstairs".  Quiet contemplative
activities and toys are provided as children go into the meeting room. 
We ask that children stay close to their families, and that you take
your child outside or downstairs if your child is unable to stay fairly
close or if your child is clearly not happy about being in meeting for
worship.

We have volunteers to take care of
our "littles" so we can focus our activities and discussion on our
somewhat older children.  When we have enough adults, we will try to
split off the middle-school age kids for more in-depth discussions and
projects.

Plans may need to change, but these are our hopes!  To pull this off, we
need volunteers.  If you would be willing to co-lead one Sunday "class",
where songs, story, theme-activity, and centering exercise are provided,
please let us know!!!  We will schedule two adults for each week, and we
are happy to consult with you as you prepare!

Framingham Friends Meeting First Day School Committee