NEW BRUNSWICK MONTHLY MEETING
of the Religious Society of Friends

New Brunswick Friends Meeting (Quakers)
First Day School

Welcome to the New Brunswick Monthly Meeting’s First Day School

Currently we have from one to six children between the ages of five and fifteen attending on a regular basis. We operate from September through June. Children remain with their parents for the first ten minutes of meeting for worship (10:30-10:40), then may join two teachers in the First Day School classroom.

Most First Day School classes start with everyone together listening to and then discussing a book, and then forming groups based on age for an art or other creative activity related to the book. First Day School lessons are focused on the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and care for the earth. Lessons may include Biblical references, and a variety of Bibles appropriate for different ages are available for use at any time by teachers and students.

Explicitly and implicitly, our First Day School seeks to uphold the ideal of selfless service. Sometimes lessons culminate in service projects such as the collection of old cell-phones for environmentally safe recycling or litter pickups on the meeting house’s block. Other examples include collecting children’s books for a community group serving New Brunswick and participating in the international Pennies for Peace project. Through this work, we communicate to the children of the meeting that small acts of kindness and sharing can make a positive difference in the lives of people both near and far from us.

Occasionally the First Day School takes walks on the nearby Rutgers campus, looking for insects, birds, and other animals, visiting the duck pond and generally engaging in informal environmental education. The plantings and flower beds on the grounds of the meeting house also provide an opportunity to observe the workings of nature, including seasonal change.

Parents and their children consult with others at the meeting to decide when it is time for youngsters to transition to remaining in adult worship. While the most important factor in this decision is the maturity of the young person involved, most transitions will take place during the teen-age years.

Our First Day School does not discriminate on the basis of any worldly attribute, including but not limited to color, sexual orientation or gender. Though the First Day School space is currently accessible only to those who can negotiate stairs, the meeting is moving forward with plans for a building renovation that would provide barrier-free access.

Our First Day School staff consists of a rotating group of from four to five volunteers. Your children will be warmly and capably welcomed to the New Brunswick Monthly Meeting’s First Day School.

We are a small meeting and cannot provide instruction or daycare for children younger than two years old. However, in the past the meeting has responded favorably to the presence of infants in adult worship, provided they remain reasonably quiet.