Comments About "We Believe" (for a description about this curriculum, click here)

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What we liked about the curriculum:
 This was a Web of Life lesson - I hope I have the number correct. The kids like this curriculum and it has more than enough activities to choose from.
Recommendations for other users:
 I was planning on ~ the same group as the last lesson I taught (four ages 3-6, but got nine ages 4-9). Fortunately, the lesson plan did not bore the 9 year olds. We made copies of the puzzle for each child to color, cut, and put together, pasting it onto a paper to take home. This activity took up a lot of time, but they were very engaged in it so no behavioral problems - some needed a little help with cutting and pasting. We the older children finished before the younger ones, they read their puzzles to the whole group. We talked about them a little bit while they worked. Then we played the game with the animal cards and yarn, we read the story about the cat during snack (I tried to find a picture book, but there wasn't one - the kids paid attention to the story, though, and could answer questions about it as we went), then we did the chalice lighting and song, and our church's traditional benediction ("From you I receive..."). We skipped everything else, like the riddles, since we didn't have time and several of the kids were too young any way. We felt this was fine since these few activities seemed to get the message across.

What we liked about the curriculum:
 Great songs! Good general ideas with a list of what you'll need and what do to ahead.
What we didn't like about the curriculum:
 I use it as a guide, but go through it a month ahead and schedule out what I think I'll actually do depending on the ages and personalities of the kids in the class. In this session I thought the Samatha Writes a Letter story was a little dated and the kids really needed a picture book story, so I chose Peace Begins With You; illustrated by Robert Ingpen. / Scholes, Katherine.

The kids were young (ages 3-6), chatty, and active. So we started with a colage using National Geographic magazines to cut out pictures of people around the world doing things - we talked about the pictures while we worked. Then we did the We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands song while playing catch with the globe ball. Then they had snack while I read to them - I asked them questions about the pictures and since they had finished snacks and were getting antsy, I skipped a couple of pages and just told them about a page rather than reading it toward the end. We lit the chalice for believing in peace. I had illustrated the One World chorus because I knew there would be non-readers and I sang the verses and then they joined me for the chorus. And then we all blew out the chalice together. Even though we didn't do a lot of what was recommended, it took 75 mins. and I think it worked well.
Recommendations for other users:
 See above.

What we liked about the curriculum:
 I, and all of our volunteer parent/teachers, have found the We Believe curriculum to be highly flexible. We have to adapt our lessons to several age groups in our "one room schoolhouse" environment and we've found "We Believe" to lend itself nicely to this format. I especially like the way the UU principals are reinforced in three separate, sequentially progressive lessons. This enables us to build upon previous lessons in a way that really brings the principals home to the children. The curriculum also features good masters and the lesson plans are well laid-out. The curriculum is also very easy (and reassuring) for first-time teachers to use. We've found the children especially enjoyed the UU histories and biographies in the curriculum, many told in a "first person" manner that captures their imagination and interest well.
What we didn't like about the curriculum:
 It's too short! It's not even a year's worth of lessons, and we've ended up recycling and readapting lessons with supplemental material to carry on the themes begun in We Believe. It would be nice if the lessons were looped around four or five times, instead of three.
Recommendations for other users:
 Overall, I think We Believe is a curriculum I'd highly recommend, especially in a small classroom environment with inexperienced teachers or volunteers. It's a great way to introduce the UU principals to young children, and a highly adaptable program.