Ethics for Children this Sunday, 10/16 (+ Permaculture Festival, Sat 10/15)!

Hello friends and families,
We are excited to see you this Sunday at Ethics for Children!  Read below for info about this weekend and other updates…

THIS WEEKEND!!!
There is a weekend full of local family events to check out, including EfC of course..read on below!

Saturday, 10/15/16: Join us at the 5th annual Permaculture Festival at Old Stone House. This is a really nice family-friendly fall event and a great way to learn about permaculture and sustainability.  We are still in need of volunteers to help at our BSEC table, if you are available on Saturday morning or afternoon please let us know by filling the short form at: https://goo.gl/forms/wwNkPHA85MOcu8632 It is a fun opportunity to volunteer and meet others!

Sunday, 10/16/16: The weather is looking great for our Evolving/Living Ethics trip into Prospect Park with herbalist Teana David! We will leave BSEC shortly after 11 am and will be back on site by the end of platform (12:30).  If you are running late, text me at 917-586-0130for our location. A reminder that this class will be filmed for a BRIC TV segment about Ethics for Children. A copy of the talent release form is attached if you are a parent of a child aged 8 and up and want to look at it before Sunday (no need to print it, we will have copies on hand for you to sign).

Herbalist and plant expert Teana David joins Living and Evolving Ethics to give us an introduction to plants, herbs and basic botany. Class will include a Plant ID walk in Prospect Park while Teana explains the plant’s medicinal uses (and whether or not they are edible) along with some historical and cultural context. We’ll end by making herbal vinegars, honey and infusion oils together.

After platform/classes, there will be a raising of a Black Lives Matter banner on the front of the building. This will include reading a poem; singing a song and a speaker. Kids are welcome to join their parents for this if interested.

AND, if you are looking for even more to do after EfC this Sunday, this free science event is happening close by:
CITY OF SCIENCE this Sunday, October 16 at Park Slope Armory YMCA. This family-friendly event is FREE and open to the public:
City of Science Brooklyn
Sunday, October 16th, 2016
10:00 AM–4:00 PM
Park Slope Armory YMCA
361 15th Street (btw 7th & 8th Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11215

EMAILS
Starting next week, we will be using MailChimp to send EfC related emails. This email may initially get filtered into your “promotions” or “updates” folder on Gmail, so please look out for it by the end of next week. If it does get filtered, just drag it to the “Primary” tab and click “yes” when it asks: Do this for future messages? and Gmail will send it to your inbox going forward.

EfC REGISTRATION: Registration is available through our website.  In the interest of our environment, registration will be exclusively done online. Here is the link: http://bsec.org/sign-up-for-ethics-for-children-classes/ Please complete your annual registration by the end of October.

Best,

Lea

Ethics for Children Weekly Update – October 7th, 2016

Hi parents and friends,
As we approach our holiday weekend, a reminder that there are no Ethics for Children classes on 10/9.
UPCOMING: 10-16-16
We look forward to seeing you all at our next session on October 16th, when our Living and Evolving Ethics classes will head to the park with guest herbalist and plant expert Teana David!
A local TV producer from BRIC Media Arts will also be joining us to film our class for an upcoming segment about Ethics for Children. If you do not want your child to be filmed, please email Lea to let us know.

 

efcoct710-2-16 CLASS SUMMARY

This past Sunday, all of the children were together for a class led by Taty and Lea! We explored the universality of human emotions using art as the source for the exploration. We looked at images of paintings from around the world and examined what kind of feelings they depicted. The kids followed by creating their own artwork to depict a feeling. We also divided the groups for some more in-depth and age appropriate discussions on our personal feelings. Each group discussed the same questions (one example: What is something everyone wants in their life?). Then we joined together again to compare answers. It was interesting to see what answers the two groups had in common and how they differed according to age. We ended the class by watching the video of the song “Happy” being danced by people from all around the world ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MDReKsP3sQ ), and had a dance party!

REGISTRATION: Registration is now available through our website.  In the interest of our environment, registration will be exclusively done online. Here is the link: http://bsec.org/sign-up-for-ethics-for-children-classes/ Please complete your annual registration by the end of October.

Best,

Lea

EFC Update Sept 23, 2016

Hello parents and friends!

We are getting excited about this last Sunday of the month before we open registration and delve more deeply into our group classes and projects in October!

DUPREE VISITS LIVING/EVOLVING ETHICS THIS WEEK!
This week our Living Ethics (8-12) and Evolving Ethics (12-14) groups will be led in song -and other activities around the theme of music and activism- by our own DuPree. If you have not yet heard DuPree sing, she starts off the platform on the first Sunday of each month. Her voice is a treasure and her partnership with our children’s program this year is very exciting. If you child is joining our Living or Evolving Ethics groups this week, they are welcome to bring a song that is meaningful to them or to their parents or grandparents, particularly songs that speak to social justice or environment issues. If the song is available online, they can come with the title and I’ll pull it up.

TAG SALE OCT. 2
Also, a reminder that our tag sale is on Oct 2nd after platform, so please continue to set aside all that great stuff you are planning to get rid of and we hope some of you can stay after platform to help with it! I’ll send another update about it next week.

9-18-16 CLASS SNAPSHOTS!

Simba Yangala
Exploring Ethics (3-7year olds)
Celebrating the elders in our community was our theme this week. This Sunday after the funny laughter yoga with Phyllis, the children made a collaborative birthday card for BSEC member Anne-Marie who turned 94 years old! We went together to present it to her and sing her happy birthday. Also, taking turns in our circle, the children talked about their own grandparents and what they love and remember about them.

Lea Bender
Living Ethics (8-12 year olds)/Evolving Ethics (12-14 year olds)
We began with all ages joining together in a circle on the playground on a beautiful warm morning. Although I am a 20-year yoga practitioner, I’d never done “Laughter Yoga” before so it was fun to experience it with our guest Phyllis and our big circle of friends. Afterwards, our group headed to the Poly Prep library to join a discussion with BSEC members Cat Miller and Vandra Thorburn. This was the first in a series of adult member visits that we are trying out this year. What started as a chance for the adults to share what Ethical Culture means to them, turned into a discussion of what it means to be ethical in general. Other interesting topics around the circle included how to engage with people who have different belief systems with respect and curiosity, and the ways in which our own beliefs can change and evolve.

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Best,
Lea