Understanding Learners: Understanding Children and Youth
What resources address child and youth development in the context of Unitarian Universalist faith?
There are two excellent resources from the UUA. The growth and development of children and youth who seem typical is described in Dr. Tracey Hurd's book, Nurturing Children and Youth: A Developmental Guidebook. The growth and development of children who have special needs is described in Sally Patton's book, "Welcoming Children with Special Needs: A Guidebook for Faith Communities." Both resources are available through the UUA Bookstore.
Nurturing Children and Youth: A Developmental Guidebook, by Tracey L. Hurd
Grounded in current research and theory, this book defines the typical paths of physical, cognitive, social, emotional, moral and spiritual growth for each phase of development, from infants to young adults. There is particular attention to developing racial and ethnic identity, gender and sexual identity, the meaning of friendships, community and family, and faith development. Each of the seven chapters is followed by key characteristics and ways to support the child in the context of Unitarian Universalism. Written for parents, ministers, religious educators, and teachers, this resource provides a roadmap for living and working with children and youth in our faith communities.
Excerpts: Full Chapter: "The Young Adolescent: Ages 12 -15" 
This is a complete chapter from Nurturing Children and Youth: A Developmental Guidebook, including the closing sections, "Characteristics of This Age" and "Ways to Offer Support" .
From the conclusion:
"Every child, youth, and young adult deserves to be held in love in the fullest, most active sense. As parents, teachers, clergy, and community members, understanding the typical path of childhood and youth can be a tool for making sense of the everyday extraordinary moments we share with the people we care most about. Our Unitarian Universalist faith provides a guide for values on our paths of mutual discovery. Nurturing requires an appreciation of the strength and fragility of each person's unfolding life. It is an intimate, joyful, stressful, and exhilarating process. But as we tend our children, youth, and young adults, we do nothing less than tend our own ever-enriched souls."
Welcoming Children with Special Needs: A Guidebook for Faith Communities, by Sally Patton
This is a thorough and empowering resource for accepting special needs children into congregations. It includes information on common physical, mental and emotional disabilities and disorders, plus teacher training guidelines and strategies and techniques for inclusion. There is attention to specifically designated special needs such as ADHD and autism. But moreover, Patton attends to the meaning of inclusion-and exclusion-for individuals and for faith communities. There are real congregational stories. For example, Patton tells us about a congregation that was struggling with how to include a girl with mental retardation in the Coming of Age group because she was having difficulty understanding and participating in the discussion activities, and how they handled the situation. This book is a valuable resource for religious educators, ministers, lay leaders and parents. A list of books, videos and web sites for additional information is included.
Excerpt: "As Unitarian Universalist religious educators, we should ensure that our focus is on what children with mental retardation can bring to our faith communities, not only on what we have to do to include them in our religious education programming."
Full Book Review: A full book review can be found in Faith Works.
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Curricula
