Godly Play

[mija y mijo]

I've agreed to teach Godly Play at our church and was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with it. I love the idea of it, but after going to a training session it seems overly rigid... which is the exact opposite of what I was expecting it to be.

Has anyone here taught it? Or had their children attend classes? What are your thoughts on it?

[lilyka]

http://www.godlyplay.org/view.php/page/index

is this what you are talking about? it looks amazing!!!

[mija y mijo]

Originally Posted by lilyka

http://www.godlyplay.org/view.php/page/index

is this what you are talking about? it looks amazing!!!

Yes! That's why I was disappointed when I attended the training at my church... but after watching the video again I think it may just be the director at our church and her approach that I'm feeling conflicted about.

[lilyka]

it looked very structured and reverent and serious (and rigid) in the video to me but not in a bad way. I think "play" may be a bit off for choice of words.

[WantRice]

I don't know anything about it but I just happened to come across this book yesterday when I was searching for Montessori resources. There seems to be some kind of connection.

http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Godly...9710371&sr=8-1

[mija y mijo]

It is heavily influenced by Montessori. And is VERY structured and methodical.

I think what worries me is that there feels like there is no room for error, if that makes sense. There is a very prescribed way in which I am to tell the stories and facilitate the class... and the director of our church made it very clear that there is a "right" way and a "wrong" way to do it. All of which makes me a little nervous. I think there needs to be some flexibility in a room full of preschool children.

[Bluegoat]

Originally Posted by mija y mijo

It is heavily influenced by Montessori. And is VERY structured and methodical.

I think what worries me is that there feels like there is no room for error, if that makes sense. There is a very prescribed way in which I am to tell the stories and facilitate the class... and the director of our church made it very clear that there is a "right" way and a "wrong" way to do it. All of which makes me a little nervous. I think there needs to be some flexibility in a room full of preschool children.

We have used the program at our church. It works really well, the kids are fascinated by it.

Montessori has a very particular philosophy around how things are presented to kids. Godly Play follows that philosophy, and it seems to be a very successful method, so I would be hesitant to mess with what works. It might be helpful to read some more about Montessori methods and the reasoning behind them. I would also follow the method they suggest, for a while anyway, and see how it works, rather than trying to tweak it from the beginning.

[Tradd]

Is this related in any way to the Montessori-influenced program called "Catechesis of the Good Shepherd," used among Catholics and Episcopalians?

[wombatclay]

My Unitarian church introduced Spirit Play (the UU adaptation of Godly Play) for some of the age groups last year and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. There was a very clear order to events and a specific framework but the actual moment to moment activity seemed very child led. But I imagine that how the program is applied (the familiarity of the teachers, the goals of the RE directors, etc) could have a big impact on that sense of flexibility.

There is info on Spirit Play here and it may be worth browsing through just to see if there are instruction/application ideas that might make the program feel more flexible without compromising the underlying philosophy.