I am delighted to share that UUC will offer Our Whole Lives (OWL) for kindergarteners and 1st graders again this winter. Please join this meeting in person or via Zoom to meet some of the K-1 OWL facilitators, get the schedule, and learn more about the curriculum. You will also have an opportunity to learn about the concurrent parent group, offered with this class, using the curriculum "Parents & Caregivers as Sexuality Educators."

Childcare for this meeting will be provided in the Children's Suite. You can alternatively attend via Zoom; register here to receive a meeting link in your inbox.

Registration will open on Sunday, January 12, and is capped at 20 kids.

K-1 OWL will begin on February 2 with a mandatory Parent/Child Orientation. The class will meet weekly (with the exception of February 16) through April 6.

Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for Grades K–1 is an eight-workshop curriculum that helps five- to seven-year-old children begin the lifelong process of acquiring information and forming attitudes and values about identity and relationships, safety and health. Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for Grades K–1 is one of seven programs in the Our Whole Lives Lifespan Sexuality Education series published jointly by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the United Church of Christ (UCC). Other curricula in the series are available for grades 4–6, grades 7–9, grades 10–12, young adults, adults, and older adults. The title, Our Whole Lives, expresses the understanding that sexuality education is a lifelong process.

Our Whole Lives is an affirming, comprehensive, accurate, and developmentally appropriate sexuality education program that promotes sexual health. It is informed by the guidelines of the National Sex Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K–12, second edition, developed by the Future of Sex Education (FoSE) Initiative, a partnership between Advocates for Youth, Answer, and SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change. This curriculum is based on the following values and beliefs:

• All children should be loved and cared for, respected, and valued as unique individuals.
• Sexuality is a natural and healthy part of living. People begin to learn about sexuality at birth and continue to learn throughout their lives.
• Children learn about sexuality from how people treat them, talk with them, and expect them to behave. The messages that children receive affect their future attitudes, values, and behaviors.
• Information about sexuality, human development, and sexual health should be presented to children in positive, accurate, and developmentally appropriate ways.
• Parents and caregivers are their children’s most important sexuality educators. The larger community of educators, additional caregivers, and health professionals can also have a positive influence on children’s sexual health.

For more information about Our Whole Lives and/or this information meeting, please contact Director of Family Ministry, Aria Curtis.