A letter from the Rev. Susan Richardson, fall 2008, to the parents and caregivers of the Christ Church community:
We’re all wired a little differently. And especially when it comes to our kids, those differences have everything to do with how they engage a class, teachers, and other children.
This year, we’ve been the honored recipients of a national grant from the Episcopal Church Foundation for our work integrating kids’ learning differences into our regular Sunday School and youth groups. The key pieces of our project are 1) understanding and supporting each child, 2) integrating the kids rather than segregating them, and 3) supporting parents and caregivers. We plan eventually to be able to share our learning with the church at large, so our kids are helping lead the way!
We realize your child’s learning differences may range from things like preferences for sound over visuals, or sensitivity to noise; to strength or challenges in cognitive development; to different kinds of autism, ADD, or ADHD; and even to the needs that come with accelerated abilities or what schools might call “giftedness.” And as we all know, a challenge and a gift are always found side-by-side in the same child.
There’s still a lot of building to do, but already this fall, we have teachers in the Atriums and youth group who are especially trained in special needs, as well as our regular teachers who are solidly trained and know you and your children. In short, we are here for you and for them. We warmly invite and encourage you to come to any of us to talk about how your child learns, any special assessments or differences you’d like us to be aware of, and how we can best support him or her in the program here. This will help our own program grow, will help our teachers in their effectiveness, and will help us better support your family. Also please let us know about feedback or interventions that would be helpful to you.
We’ll also open up these issues and our feelings around them in the Faith and Family series and other special offerings throughout the year.
We look forward to this year of deepening relationship with you and your family.