Children's Classes

Last updated: June 26, 2007

Children are the most precious resource a community has. Much like a young tree, children will grow and develop in whatever way they are trained and according to the influences they experience. Bahá'í children's classes are intended to nurture spiritually vibrant and healthy young people who will grow up without prejudice and with a positive, powerful sense that they are important to God and have a role to play in serving humanity.

The Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh form the basis of these classes and introduce the Bahá'í Teachings and those of other Messenger's of God to foster a fully united, just and peaceful world.

The Writings of the Bahá'í Faith affirm that spiritual education is at the heart of an educational process that leads to the elevation and transformation of the human spirit. It is through the conscious effort of loving families, combined with a systematic offering of classes based upon the guidance that has been given to humanity by a loving God, that the spiritual development of children can be nurtured and developed. Hundreds of communities offer children's Bahá'í classes in the United States, and many local classes are offered weekly throughout the school year. Children's classes are also offered at national and regional schools across the country.

[Excerpted from U.S. Bahá'í website on Bahá'í Education]

Resources (copied from Ruhi Resources)

The US Bahá'í National Education Office website. Lots of great resources.

A great site for Bahá'í lesson plan ideas for children's classes is the website on spiritual education.

The Varqa International Children's Magazine is a wonderful supplemental tool for children's classes published by Varqa Children’s Multimedia Productions, a Bahá'í-inspired, non-profit organization dedicated to the intellectual, moral, and spiritual development of children. Varqa, whose name means “dove,” the symbol of peace and good news, is a publication with inspiring and imaginative stories that demonstrate a distinctly international flavor and the principle of the Oneness of Mankind. It strives to instill in children a sense of pride for their Bahá’í identity and to introduce content that can be shared with children of all faiths. This bi-monthly publication is a wonderful resource for parents and children alike.

This Brilliant Star Magazine is designed for children ages six through twelve, is an excellent teacher’s resource and is a publication of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.

This website on junior youth brings together tools and resources to develop effective Junior Youth programs in a timely manner. The site includes: 1) a compilation of Writings and BIC documents on the topic of Junior Youth/Spiritual Education, 2) a summary of research done by various organizations on the condition of junior youth today (violence, suicide, health etc) 3) over 50 lesson plans developed by different people/organizations around the world (including a large number of lesson plans for non-Bahá'í junior youth classes), 4) courses/guidelines to train junior youth in public speaking, 5) documents/guidelines for creating junior youth programs, and 6) successful practices from different Bahá'í communities.

The mission of The Virtues Project is to provide empowering strategies that inspire the practice of virtues in everyday life through programs of excellence and simplicity which support people of all ages to cultivate their virtues -- the gifts of character.

Blessings in Teaching Children A freely distributed compilation on teaching children distributed by Juxta Publishing. Compilation available in PDF format. See their terms of use.

Baha'i Education for Children The first in a series of books by Hand of the Cause of God A. A. Furutan on teaching children. Freely distributed by Juxta Publishing in PDF format. See their terms of use. The other ten books in the series are distributed by various Publishing Trusts, see Juxta for ordering details.

Baha'i Education Resources by Linden Qualls - Wonderful resources including the New World Order Games Manual with 150+ games for children, and a Creative Dramatics Manual. Many other thoughtful articles on teaching children spiritual virtues. Freely distributed, see Linden's terms of use.

Tender Branches - An interactive program for parents and children (newborn to 5) designed to teach children about tolerance, kindness, responsibility, respect, generosity, and other virtues relevant to our world today. Using a multi-cultural approach, each weekly workshop explores a different virtue through music, puppet shows, stories, games, and crafts. Developed by a Bahá'í, Karen Eshraghi, and based on Bahá'í teachings. More information is available in addition to what is on the website, email Karen at tenderbranches@comcast.net . An excellent resource.

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