Early Childhood Meeting for Worship Introduced for Beginnings Students

Beginnings teachers have collaborated with Chester Reagan Chair for Religious/Quaker Studies Melissa McCourt to introduce early childhood Meeting for Worship (MFW). This weekly meeting allows MFS’s youngest students to gain an understanding of the core tenets of MFW, as well as an opportunity to enjoy a period of silence, song, and sharing.

“Coming up with the structure was a group effort,” Ms. McCourt said. “It was kind of a design thinking approach to MFW that started off with researching what other schools are doing and sharing that with early childhood teachers. We examined what our goals were and what we wanted students to get out of it. It’s very student-centered.”

Preschool, prekindergarten, and kindergarten students currently meet in the D’Olier Room once a week for about 10 minutes. They begin by singing a song, “One Kind Word,” and Ms. McCourt then rings a Tibetan singing bowl to ease into three or four minutes of silent worship. At the conclusion of MFW, students share things that they noticed or thought about during the silence and end with a closing song.

“Something I really like is that it’s equipping young students to observe and articulate what happens when they get quiet and listen,” Ms. McCourt said. “My hope is that it’s helping them build a sense of identity, of what it means to be here, and to have a practice that helps them be in tune with themselves and the people around them.”

The structure of early childhood MFW will change and evolve as Ms. McCourt and teachers gauge students’ responses. Another major goal is a continued focus on intentional, mindful activities within Beginnings classrooms.

“Early childhood teachers are incorporating what we’re calling worshipful practices into the classroom in lots of different ways,” Ms. McCourt explained. “So it might be through using natural materials, or connection with nature, or taking a time of silence before eating, or before a morning meeting, which is similar to what other Lower School teachers do as well. A big part of what we wanted to do was make worshipful experiences really explicit with children, so they understand that this is what MFW looks like – this is a set-aside time that is important and special – and to bring them together as a community.”