God created us all equal, but not the same. Each and every person is a unique and special creation of God and this week we need to celebrate all of the things that make us who we are and that make other people individual. We are told that being ‘different’ is bad and that we should be ‘normal’ but there is no such thing as normal!
This week take some time to find the things you love about the people around you and praise and celebrate them for their individuality. How can we make sure that we don’t hurt the feelings of others when we celebrate their individuality?
5 comments
In Year 4, we have been thinking about what makes us all individuals. We have discussed our similarities and differences and how we are all made in God’s image but are all still very different people with different beliefs and experiences. We listened to the story of Zacchaeus and discussed how we would have felt if we were him and if we were members of the crowd. The children were able to discuss how Jesus coming to his house made an impact on his life choices. He was accepted by Jesus even though he was seen as an outsider so we must try to do the same with others even when they are different from us.
In our Liturgical Prayer this week, we reflected on how God created us all equal – not all the same. We discussed how everyone is a unique and a special creation of God. During this special time, we focused on the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector who had no friends because he took people’s money to make himself rich. Jesus showed him love, and it changed his life. He chose to do something which nobody else did and act differently. Zacchaeus became a shining example because he chose to change from being a greedy and corrupt individual after being shown the righteous path by Jesus. Afterwards, we thought about a Saint, a holy person or a role model who we felt lived out the message of individuality like Zacchaeus. The children felt that St Catherine of Siena, Martin de Porres and Maximilian Kolbe all lived out the message of individuality through their actions and words. Finally, we reflected on this week’s mission and the ways in which we would celebrate the people we love for their individuality.
As part of our mission circles, we talked about times when we might have unkind thoughts about what someone was wearing or perhaps their artwork, but that it isn’t necessary to share this with those people and would hurt their feelings if we did. In one mission circle, they talked about the phrase ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.’ We also had a discussion about the fact that we should be honest and that sometimes we can help people to improve but liking different things is ok because we are all unique.
In class this week, Year 6 learnt about Black History Month and also ADHD awareness month. We know that we are all unique and that there is no such thing as ‘normal’.
In Year 6B, we have discusseed how we can make sure that we don’t hurt other people’s feelings. The children had some wonderful ideas – for example, thinking before they speak, keeping things that are unkind to themselves and paying attention to the person who is speaking. They also identified how they could build others up by paying them a compliment, encouraging them and showing respect for their ideas and beliefs. As it is ADHD awareness month, we also watched a video about this and discussed how ADHD affects some members of our school community. We celebrated the children in our class who have ADHD and how this is part of who they are and we love them for it. This tied in to our Circle Time where we identified what makes each member of the class individual – with some children sharing how they had celebrated Diwali and others sharing something in a language they can speak. Our Liturgical Prayer this week also helped us to reflect upon our individuality and what we love about others.
During Year 2’s Liturgical Prayer we gathered together and thought about someone we love who is special and what makes them special. We then listened to the Gospel story of Zacchaeus. This story teaches us that Jesus changes lives, Zacchaeus had a change of heart after Jesus showed him kindness and love. Jesus teaches us to love other people as well, whoever they might be. We responded to the Gospel by thinking of our class saint Blessed Jordan of Saxony. Some children have their ideas about how special he was to follow God and tell others how special Jesus was.
In our mission circles we have been talking about our theme of Individuality. We identified what makes us unique and how our gifts can be given to others.