Tag Archives Children’s Classes

Extra Features to ‘A Widening Embrace’: 3 New Short Films

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Photo courtesy of the Baha'i International Community

The Baha’i World Centre has announced the release of three new short films, companion pieces to A Widening Embrace, an innovative documentary film commissioned by the Universal House of Justice about the community-building efforts of the Baha’i world, as seen through the eyes of local populations. The three films are titled Nurturing Younger Generation, Exploring the Empowerment of Junior Youth, and Communities Learning to Advance Together. Their total running time is approximately 32 minutes.  Continue reading →

Azadeh & Mark Perry’s Book ‘Our Friend Mona’

Books, Interviews 2 Comments

Our Friend Mona is a new biography about Mona Mahmudnizhad, an Iranian teenager who was killed 35 years ago because of her beliefs, such as the universal spiritual education of children.

Mona was a remarkable young woman, known for her love of children, her dedication and devotion to the principles of the Baha’i Faith, her courage, and her sweet voice. She was arrested and eventually executed along with nine other Baha’i women in Shiraz; they were forced to watch each other hang in a final attempt to persuade them to recant their Faith. Mona, the youngest of the women at only 16 years old, asked to go last. She was killed on June 18, 1983.

Azadeh Rohanian Perry knew Mona and Our Friend Mona is a biography of this radiant lion-hearted young woman. Co-written with her husband, Mark Perry, Our Friend Mona shares poignant details of Mona’s story that you may never have read before. I remember watching Doug Cameron’s music video Mona With the Children when I was a child, and her story is etched on my heart. I am so thankful to Azadeh (or Azi, as she is affectionately known) and Mark to creating this book and for taking the time to tell us a little bit about it:

Continue reading →

The Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference in Phoenix, Arizona

Interviews, Resources 6 Comments

The Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference, held in Phoenix, Arizona (USA) around Christmas time each year, is an exciting annual event packed with great talks and workshops for all ages and with an average of 2,500 attendees.

The Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference has been going strong for over 30 years now, and this year’s conference (held from December 23-25) will feature an array of great talks by speakers such as Mr. Fariborz Sahba, architect of the Lotus Temple in India and the terraced gardens surrounding the Shrine of the Bab, Deborah Walters, Justin Baldoni, Sina Mossayeb and many others. There’s also a line-up of talented artists, like KC Porter, JB Eckl, and Eric Dozier, who will be performing.

I’m visiting Phoenix right now, and I was glad to have the opportunity to sit down and chat with Shahin Badiee, who is one of the conference’s organizing committee members, to learn a little about this annual conference.  Continue reading →

Education for Girls: A Personal Reflection

Baha'i Life, Human Rights Leave a comment

(Photo: courtesy Baha'i World Centre)

On July 12th, Malala Yousafzai celebrated her 19th birthday. This Nobel Peace Prize winner (the world’s youngest) caught the world’s attention in 2012 when she was shot in the face by the Taliban for attending school and for championing the right of girls to be educated. On her 16th birthday, Malala gave a speech at the United Nations — the first after the attack on her life — renewing her commitment to fight for the right of children to go to school. The UN dubbed that July 12th as “Malala Day” and some have celebrated it since.

Education is a universal right. Abdu’l-Baha states:

The education of each child is compulsory…. In addition to this wide-spread education each child must be taught a profession, art, or trade, so that every member of the community will be enabled to earn his own livelihood. Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship…

The education of girls is a principle distinctly upheld in the Baha’i Writings. It is a subject that I think of often, and it is a subject more complicated than a simple Baha’i Blog article can address. Here are a few of my thoughts about the education of girls and how this goal is linked to the equality of men and women and the importance of children’s classes.  Continue reading →

10 Steps to Starting a Preschool Children’s Class

Core Activities, Resources 9 Comments

As Baha’is, we know that education is of three kinds: material, human and spiritual. As a mother, I have always found the first two kinds relatively easy to manage. When it comes to their spiritual education however, I tend to feel a little more uneasy, especially since Abdu’l-Baha refers to this kind of education as the “true” kind when he says:

Divine education is that of the Kingdom of God: it consists in acquiring divine perfections, and this is true education…

The pressure is mounted with the following quote:

Training in morals and good conduct is far more important than book learning. A child that is cleanly, agreeable, of good character, well-behaved – even though he be ignorant – is preferable to a child that is rude, unwashed, ill-natured, and yet becoming deeply versed in all the science and arts. The reason for this is that the child who conducts himself well, even though he be ignorant, is of benefit to others, while an ill-natured, ill-behaved child is corrupted and harmful to others, even though he be learned. If, however, the child be trained to be both learned and good, the result is light upon light.

A few of the mothers in our community recently decided to start a children’s class specifically for those aged between zero and five. These preschool classes aim to encourage the development of morals and good conduct in our young ones, with each lesson based on a different virtue and featuring prayer, singing, stories and crafts.

Below are the 10 main steps we took when starting up the preschool classes: Continue reading →

4 Reasons Accompaniment is So Important

Baha'i Life 5 Comments

Participants of a Study Circle in Battambang, Cambodia (Photo: Baha'i World Centre)

The word “accompaniment” has become a quintessential part of Baha’i “jargon”. As the Universal House of Justice wrote in their 2010 Ridvan Message, “the growing frequency with which the word ‘accompany’ appears in conversations among the friends” is in fact a sign of the evolution of a collective consciousness emerging among the Friends. Accompaniment is, as the House writes, “a word that is being endowed with new meaning as it is integrated into the common vocabulary of the Baha’i community” and signifies no less than the strengthening of a culture that fosters the participation of more and more people in a united effort to apply Baha’u’llah’s teachings to the construction of a divine civilization.

Accompaniment, like everything in the Baha’i Faith, is a concept that needs to be translated into action if it is to have any effect in achieving the vision described by Baha’u’llah and laid out by the Universal House of Justice.

What then can accompaniment look like as we advance from merely talking about it to carrying it out? Continue reading →

22 Baha’i Blog Posts Related to the Institute Process

Baha'i Blog, Core Activities 1 Comment

Study circle participants in Biharsharif, India (Image courtesy Baha'i World Centre)

Study circle participants in Biharsharif, India (Image courtesy Baha’i World Centre)

Several weeks ago we conducted a Baha’i Blog survey, and many of the survey participants said that they liked the posts relating to the Institute Process and wanted more.

Of the eight articles we publish every month, we always try to have at least one of them relate to the Institute Process in some way, and so here’s a roundup of 22 Baha’i Blog articles we’ve published over the last few years which relate in various ways to the Institute Process. Continue reading →

Tiny Seeds – Children’s Book of Prayers and Colouring

Books, Resources 5 Comments

Parenting is a huge weighty responsibility and as Baha’i parents it’s important that we nurture and nourish our children spiritually. Since I am the very lucky and rather proud father of a nine-month old, I’ve been on the lookout for Baha’i materials for children. So I was very pleased to come across a gorgeous children’s prayer book called Tiny Seeds by mixed media artist Misha Blaise.

Tiny Seeds is a book of prayers and writings from the Baha’i Faith and comes with a 10 page colouring book on CD (so you can print it out over and over again!) It’s got some very bright and cute illustrations and is perfect for little ones the world over!

The book is up for sale on Etsy, a site where you can also find lots of Baha’i Jewellery and Handcrafted Goodies! If you’ve got a little one in your life or teach a children’s class, head over and Buy a Copy of Tiny Seeds and support this talented artist by buying a copy. Continue reading →