Small Church School 2020: At-Home Christian Education

Beginning Spring 2020, most Sunday church schools paused in-person classes due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. That doesn't mean Christian Education was paused. Church school directors and teachers quickly mobilized to provide resources to families so that Christian Education could continue, now in the "original small church school" - the home. Their efforts evolved into a variety of programs, whether it be weekly emails to families with Gospel readings and printable worksheets attached, or live virtual classes, and even activity kits arriving in the mail with handwritten notes from the church school staff. The connection between educators and students was never lost, and as a result, the 2020 version of the small church school blossomed. 

A beautiful example of the new small church school is shared with permission from Kh. Destinie Winn, author of the Ascetic Life of Motherhood blog. She describes her family's recent experience with the Orthodox Christian Ed program "Rooted in Prayer" (Ancient Faith Publishing) as she and her two daughters attended virtual Kids Club during the Diocese of Miami & the Southeast Fall Retreat (Antiochian)

"This past weekend we tuned into Kids Camp for our Diocese’s Fall Virtual Retreat. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical of how the girls would handle 2-1/2 hours in front of a computer screen but we gave it a shot, and to my amazement... they LOVED IT! It was so engaging, hands on, developmentally appropriate and we learned all about intercessory prayer and the life of St Paraskevi.

One great benefit was the teachers provided us with a supply list ahead of time for both the craft and snack time. All of the items were things we already had at home so collecting them was easy.

A major highlight was “banana sushi” which Mrs. Caitlyn showed them how to make out of dessert items around the house and we talked about the origins of all those items and how we can remember to pray for people in those places all over the world! Then Mrs. Caitlyn showed us how to decorate a frame so we can keep a list on our altar of names of people we want to pray for. I will cherish those little frames forever! They turned out beautifully!

As I said, it was engaging, interactive and I even ended about learning more about a saint that I didn’t know very much about. I’m thankful for all the hard work that Mrs. Anna-Sarah, Mrs. Caitlyn, and Mrs. Sueanna put forth to make this program fun for my girls, and for other families in our Diocese (DOMSE). God bless you all!"