Parent-Servant meeting June 6 th , 2010

1. Parent-Servant meeting June 6th, 2010 St. Mary’s COC Sunday-School Grades 3 & 4

2.  Welcome!  • Goals of this meeting • To get parents & servants on one team & on the same page • Create a family & servant supportive network • Future: Establish a clear spiritual curriculum with the families • Frequency of meetings: • Next meeting in October, 2010; • Every 3-4 months thereafter. • Frequency of meetings important to follow-up matters • to ensure issues brought up by parents are addressed & to update on the progress of the service)

3. Brief Outline • Getting parents & servants on one team. (Rami F.Z. Henry) • The curriculum plan to September 2010 (Christ Habib & Marianne Hanna) • The Sunday-school point system (Paul Tokuda) • What the servants would like from the parents (Sohair Morgan) • Communicating with parents in the time between meetings (Christ Habib) • Q&A and ‘one-to-one’ Parent-Servant meetings

4. One team: One body, One spirit!A few words on the importance of getting parents & servants on one team. • “He who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Luke 11:23) • Vows during Baptism prayers • The head without the body doesn’t work, and vice-versa • Parents alone cannot rear the child in every way perfectly, and neither can the church alone • Every aspect of a child’s personality is critical to his/her upbringing (social, mental, religious, etc…All are interconnected • Our goal is common  What is best for the child. Parents and the Church TOGETHER can achieve this goal

5. The curriculum plan to September 2010 Schedule overview: • Pre-class songs • 12:00-12:15pm • G1-G3 in Baptisery • G4-G6 in the Church • Special weekly topic • 12:15-12:25pm • G1-G3 in Baptisery • G4-G6 in the Church • Sunday-school • 12:25-1:10pm • G3 in the men’s side of the altar • G4 on the right side of the Altar

6. Curriculum for Pre-class songsSongs – alternate between English & Coptic

7. Curriculum for ‘Special Topics’ Topics include: • Church etiquette • Prayer • Confession • Fasting • Current issues/news

8. Curriculum for Sunday-school lessons • To date: SUS curriculum (http://www.suscopts.org/ssc/ ) • As of June 13th: Mahragan 2010 Competition 3-month Lesson Outline as follows: • June 13th & 20th – The Jewel of my Heart • June 27th & July 4th - The Jewel of my Church • July 11th & 18th – The Jewel of my Talents • July 25th & August 1st – The Jewel of my Family • August 8th & 15th – The Jewel of my Relationships • August 22nd – Bible & Psalm memorization Confession Schedule • G3 with Ab. Barsoum– 1st Sunday of each month • G4 with Ab. Barsoum – 2nd Sunday of each month

9.  TRIVIA!  Win points for your children! Guess Who? – 10pts Guess Who? – 10 pts • I am a female saint who dressed as a monk and raised a child. - Who am I? • ANS: ST. MARINA

10.  TRIVIA!  Win points for your children! For 10 Points! For 10 Points! What did God create after creating ‘plants'? ANS: The Sun, moon and stars. • What 2 men in the Bible never died? • ANS: Enoch & Elijah

11. Sunday-school Point System • Goals of point system • Promote attendance • Encourage children to participate in the class • Provide positive reinforcement • Promote reading & memorizing Bible • Points distribution • Arriving on-time to Pre-class songs at 12:00pm (10 pts) • Song memorization (20 pts) • In Class Participation (10 pts) • Bringing their folder to class (10 pts) • Reward system • (Help needed!) • Completion of homework (20 pts) • Memorizing a verse (10 pts) • Memorizing a Psalm (half=50pts; full=100pts) • Perfect attendance in a month (100pts)

12. What we’d like from YOU!Pretty please…  • Follow up with your children on every Sunday-school lesson • Ask them about the lesson and, if needed, read it with them from the Bible (even before the lesson!  ) • Help them complete any hand-out (word-searches, questions, etc.) • Help them memorize their weekly/monthly Bible verses and/or Psalms • Remind them to complete & bring their folders every week

13. What we’d like from YOU!Pretty please…  • Confession Sundays – please be patient with the timing • Help us practice what we preach! • Coming to church on time • Having communion every Sunday • Good behaviour during the liturgy & appropriate clothing • Daily prayers -- as soon as children wake-up, after school, and before meals • Fasting – encourage this as much as possible by providing suitable foods; also encourage them to fast from bad words , excessive computer/TV/video-game usage, etc… • Please make sure children arrive to SS on time (12:00pm)

14. Communicating between meetings We will communicate with families through: • Progress-reports at every meeting (3-4mos) • Weekly phone-calls to children • Handouts • Posters • Visitations • Reminder emails (supplementary method only)

15. Outline of next meeting Projected date: October 2010 • Follow-up on the progress made from May to October • Topics to be followed in Sunday school for the successive 3 months • Getting the children involved in church activities • Follow-up on the topics parents suggested they would like us to stress on in Sunday-school • In response to the paper questionnaire distributed at the end of the present meeting.

16. Q & A and ‘One-to-one’ Meetings OPEN FLOOR! ***Parents are strongly encouraged to provide us with feedback, comments, questions, suggestions, and/or concerns. • Suggestion box available just outside of the Baptisery to make comments and remain anonymous

17. Fair Haven Service http://copticservants.net/