Seventh Day Schools

Religious Education Committee encourages local Meetings and regional groups of Meetings to consider holding Seventh Day Schools, as described below:

A beginning proposal for Seventh Day Schools in Canadian Yearly Meeting

I have long had a concern for the development and education (used in their widest senses) of the children in our Meetings, expressed though many years' service in First Day School, on Home Mission and Advancement Committee and later on Religious Education Committee, during which time I initiated the Travelling Libraries for children and adults and the now defunct binders of ideas for First Day Schools. While serving on Friends United Meeting, I was often a member of its Christian Education Committee. I have written and/or edited various curricula, both Quaker and ecumenical. In recent years my time has been directed to other areas of Friends' life, but this primary interest has stayed with me and I am still asked to conduct workshops on children's spirituality in Canada and further afield.

A recent request by a member of Ottawa Monthly Meeting for a Committee of Clearness for her leading to open a "Friendly" school has encouraged me to prepare this document. The amount of energy required to begin and sustain a school is immense. If such a school has any links with a local Meeting, the energy drain on the Meeting will be significant. This does not reduce my sense that there will be great benefit to all involved, but this is stated in this particular way to give some context out of which the Seventh Day School concept might be initiated, either in its own right or as a stepping stone while the establishment of a Friendly school is in process.

If we look seriously at the words we use as Friends, "Meeting" is a focal term, and I believe this is not an accident. While usually used as part of phrases such as Monthly Meeting, Half Yearly Meeting, Meeting for Worship, Meeting for Business, etc., the commonality of each of these uses is based on the sense of the gathered community experiencing the presence of the divine. Less traditional terms such as Meeting for Learning, Meeting for Clearness, Meeting for Healing or Meeting for Eating continue this understanding. There are both "horizontal", that is person to person, and "vertical", person to divine, dimensions to "Meeting" in Quaker experience, with an overlap between the two.

Most Quaker children and young people in Canadian Yearly Meeting may be in Quaker community for a maximum of 1 1/2 hours per week. Considering the major blocks of time spent in other activities in children's lives and their influence on growing minds, this clearly places a heavy burden on the 1 1/2 hours. Community does not always happen in 1 1/2 hours and some children do not want to repeat unsatisfactory experiences.

If "Meeting" is so central to our life as Friends, why are we not taking it more seriously, especially in the lives of our children and young people? Why do we not seek to enhance both the quality and the quantity of time we spend together in Quaker community? If we consider how other "minority groups" maintain their culture, we will observe that they commit personal time toward building and maintaining community.

I want to explore the idea of Seventh Day School, and instead of leaving it general, will try an describe how this might look in practice, to give Friends a concrete model for consideration, recognizing that this is still a very preliminary proposal.

Premises:

that many parents investigate the Society of Friends as a way of linking their family to a spiritual community. (The in/out movement of young families is high. What are we failing to offer them?)

that adult members and attenders may not have experienced Quaker community as children.

that Friends hold a concern that children and young people regularly experience Quaker community as part of their formation.

that First Day School does not provide enough time to build community and effectively transmit the values we hope our children will choose in their lives.

that if there is a concern for such community, parents and other adults in a Meeting will make a commitment of time and money to achieve it.

that without the establishment of active "horizontal" relationships, establishment of the "vertical" relationship is weakened.

Practicalities:

that one Saturday per month, for most months of the year, medium-sized and large Meetings in Canadian Yearly Meeting will consider holding Seventh Day School. The active months (following the academic year) will be:
September, November, December, January, February, March, April, June

The following Quaker activities occur during the other months:
October and May: Half Yearly Meeting/Regional Gathering
July and August: Camp NeeKauNis, Canadian Yearly Meeting, family vacations.

that Seventh Day School will start at 10:30am and continue overnight into Meeting for Worship on the Sunday morning. Pre-schoolers will be accompanied by parents and stay as long as practical. Children aged 5+ will stay overnight, once comfortable with the group.

that families will make a commitment to be part of this School for as many sessions as possible. This will mean looking seriously at family time, swimming, skating, music lessons, etc. Families will sign up for the season and will let organizers know if they cannot be present for a particular session. Once Seventh Day School is running, some parents might get 24 hours off from active parenting!

that families from small Meetings or those living at a distance from a Meeting will make the effort to come, as a family, to some of these schools, with parents being hosted by the Meeting.

that leadership will come from the whole Quaker community, not from parents alone. Ideally, a commitment from a team for one year will be sought. Not all members need to be present every time, but enough overlap is encouraged to maintain ongoing links.

that the time together will be based on community, living together and respecting each other and each other's needs. Out of this sense of community, active learning will take place, but the First Day School class may be the time when "formal" lessons are undertaken.

that activities will begin with worship, the length of which will depend on those present.

name-sharing games and songs will help establish community.
in the time before lunch age-linked activities can take place. One group might prepare lunch. Clean up could be undertaken by another group.
afternoon activities could be on site or could incorporate visits to museums, local sites of interest, etc.
community service for Meeting members or in the wider community could be an option. The option to be quiet and stay at the Meetinghouse should be respected.
supper could be another shared preparation meal or could be brought as a pot luck meal. Clean up would be shared.
evening sessions might be the showing of videos, or family entertainment by those present.
a time of quiet reflection before bed would signal the approved bed time, after which only quiet activities would continue.
Sunday morning could incorporate a brisk walk before breakfast and preparation for Meeting for Worship.
summer sessions might be held under canvas or at a Friend's farm or cottage.

that there are enough resources/curricula in print to prepare a work book with many ideas for this time spent together. A group of interested people can borrow a large selection from the CYM Travelling Library and prepare loose-leaf resource books.

that the Meeting will finance the purchase of appropriate equipment and supplies, rentals of mini-buses, etc, with some financial support coming from parents who are able to do so.

that if formal learning happens to break out--rejoice! (One Friend has challenged this seeming indifference to formal learning. People who know me, know that I do value each opportunity in community as one in which learning can occur, but in this context I am trying to emphasize the sense of community rather than the narrow interpretation of school.)

Some dreams:

that multi-generational links will be established which will continue over time and distance.

that children and teens will bring schoolroom and schoolyard concerns about violence, sexism, racism, values, etc. to Seventh Day School to be discussed and Quaker values reinforced.

that participants will look forward to this monthly event and seek further connections through Camp, Half Yearly/Regional Gatherings or Yearly Meeting sessions.

that parents will want to learn more about Quaker styles of parenting, conflict resolution, etc., and how to share these with the local school system.

that parents will find their children and teens encourage them to attend Meeting regularly.

that there is a recognition this is not an energy drain on a Meeting but is an energizing experience.

Anne Thomas
Ottawa Monthly Meeting

This document was shared with Meetings during 1996 and at least two groups have begun to experiment with Seventh Day Schools. We hope to add their experiences to this page.

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Last updated on November 26, 1997