International Environment Forum

“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”
Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 288

To the Children’s Class Teachers: Every child is a noble being with latent gifts and capacities that are valuable to all humanity. For a new generation to create a better world, however, those children require spiritual education to develop the beliefs, habits and behaviors that are conducive to the advancement of civilization. The curriculum used in Baha’i children’s classes around the world places emphasis on learning to think, to reflect and to apply spiritual laws to the life of the individual and society. To build on the groundwork laid by the curriculum, this document is offered as a resource for children’s class teachers seeking to plant the seeds of environmental stewardship and justice in the fertile soil of their pupils’ young hearts. One suggestion for using this resource is to integrate themes that relate to climate change, featured in a 2009 issue of Brilliant Star magazine, with four selected lessons from the Ruhi Institute curriculum. When possible, teachers may wish to accompany the lessons with an outdoor activity for hands-on exploration of the beauty and wonder of the natural world.

Objective: To integrate awareness about Earth’s changing climate into virtues lessons carried out by classes promoting Baha’i spiritual education of children, and to share ideas with children’s class teachers for earth-friendly activities and learning materials.

Included below are:
Highlights from four lessons in Level 1 of the Ruhi curriculum for Baha’i spiritual education of children: each lesson covers a spiritual principle that relates to how children can help protect the environment.
Highlights from an award-winning environmental issue of Brilliant Star magazine, a Baha’i publication for children.

Ruhi Book 3 lesson highlights:
The following citations of lesson materials refer to the book—titled Teaching Children’s Classes, Grade 1—used to offer Baha’i spiritual education to all children in the community. Based on the belief that the education of children is essential to the transformation of society, the materials seek to start small children on the path towards developing the spiritual qualities needed to draw closer to God. The book is available to order from www.bahaibookstore.com.

“Unity,” Lesson 1, pp. 37-39
“Justice,” Lesson 3, pp. 42-44
“Service,” Lesson 5, pp. 46-48
“Kindness,” Lesson 12 pp. 62-64

Brilliant Star magazine highlights:
These linked pages are extracts from the March/April 2009 issue of Brilliant Star titled “Caring for Our Planet” which won the 2010 APEX Award of Excellence for Green Writing. The issue was produced in observance of the “UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, 2005-2014.”

“Caring for Our Planet” March/April 2009 (Download pdf files)
p. 4 Happy Earth Day song (Pair with the lesson on Unity)
p. 5 How Big is Your Footprint (Pair with the lesson on Justice)
p. 7 Spring Fling Fun (Pair with the lesson on Service)
p. 10 Message in a Bottle (Pair with the lesson on Kindness)
p. 20-21 Forest Photo Expedition (Pair with the lesson on Service)
p. 28 Living in a Green House (Pair with any of the four lessons!)

Prepared by the United States Bahá'í Community for the Preach-in on Global Warming, 2011.