Pagan Sun Day School: Letter to Parents

The following letter is an intro to the Pagan Sun Day School lessons. It refers to the lessons being in a book or books -- which eventually be the case. For now, I offer them individually for your use.

Dear parents,

Welcome to Pagan Sun Day School.  I hope you find within this series of books a religious training system from which you and your child/ren will both benefit.  I have tried to make the curriculum easy to understand for student and teacher alike.  I feel that I have developed a comprehensive and comprehensible course that will introduce children to the basic concepts of Paganism that their parents hold so dear.

This series is not intended, however, to serve as a Book of Shadows or ritual handbook for Pagan families. There are currently several books available by very capable authors dealing with rituals for families with young children. There are also books available for teenagers that deal with magical practices, pantheons, etc. I suggest that the Pagan family reads a combination of these books for information regarding ritual and family magical practice. However, I can guarantee that you will not find another resource that is comparable to the Pagan Sun Day School series in dealing with educating young Pagans about the basics of the religion.

Pagan Sun Day School is not intended to be a substitute for formal coven training.  The series ends at roughly the same time as graduation from high school.  At this time, if the student wants to pursue this path further, s/he may chose to seek coven membership in order to learn the Mysteries of that tradition or to pursue further education on an adult level.  PSDS does not delve too deeply into concepts that a child’s mind is not ready to understand. Neither does PSDS demand that the lessons be followed exactly as they are written, in the exact order that they are presented.

Instead, the curriculum is relatively flexible, allowing for differences in each individual family’s style and principles.  The lessons begin at a very simple level and gradually progress into more complicated ideas and practices.  The premise is to prepare children to make their own decisions regarding Paganism when their times come.  With this in mind, they will learn the basics of ritual, magic, ethics, etc.  They will be presented with ideas regarding deities and pantheons, as well as the elements, the Wheel of the Year, the Spiral of Life, Death, and Rebirth, and more.  In addition to their studies within Paganism, they will also be introduced to other world religions in the hopes of having a range of information on which to base their religious decisions.

The series is divided into four books, which, in turn, are divided into three grades (four, in the case of the high school edition).  They are designed so that a family may start this education at any time during a child’s development.  Many of the lesson topics are presented multiple times over the course of the thirteen years these books span.  This helps to reinforce certain concepts while expanding on them year after year. 

There are at least fifty lessons for each grade level.  If a grade has more than fifty lessons, the remainder is considered extra.  Use the fifty that you feel are most appropriate to your child/family.  This will give you a few weeks away from Pagan Sun Day School each year.  As an alternative to spending so much time away from the lessons, you may wish to use all of them, or to repeat a lesson or two.  This is perfectly fine, as it either reinforces areas of particular interest to the child or introduces them to a greater number of concepts.

Each set of lessons is grade-appropriate.  This means that Kindergarten lessons have been written with the average Kindergartner in mind.  The concepts are kept simple; the time for each lesson is relatively brief; there is no writing or reading involved for the child; there are more activities than lectures.  As the years progress, so does the expected level of comprehension.  The lessons become more challenging; the activities are more complicated; the ideas presented are more complex.  Throughout the series, however, the focus is on activities and discussion, as opposed to lecture.

Throughout the books, you will find extra activities for you and your child/ren.  The end of most lessons will have “Supplemental Activities” that are related specifically to the topic covered in those lessons.  There will also be additional activities at the end of each book that can be used at the parent’s discretion.

The order of the classes/assignments is only suggested. Parents are given plenty of “wiggle room” to accommodate for the particular needs and interests of their children. Most of the lessons are organized within units that contain a particular theme – like “Deities” or “Tools.” These lessons can be taught together in a sequence, as shown here, or they can be separated to accommodate your family’s unique style or cycles. For instance, you may prefer to teach lessons regarding Air (the element, its tools, its Deities) in an Air sign, like Libra.

Of course, some units rather lend themselves to being separated to fit certain cycles. The units covering “Moon Phases” and “Holidays” are more or less dependent on their being taught at a particular time of the month or year. It might be a little silly to teach them all in a row, regardless of the point in the cycle where you are, because children would have a difficult time relating to the ideas of Samhain at Summer Solstice. (I know I would, too.)

At the end of each series, you will find a certificate and the instructions for a small ceremony.  This is included as a way for you to honor and praise your child for completing the previous three years’ study.   They have learned a lot over the course of those three years and deserve to be recognized for their work.

It is my sincere hope that this series is of value to you and your family.  May your children find love and happiness and enlightenment, no matter which path they chose.

Blessings,

Laurelei Black