(book purchased by reviewer)

So, a month or two back I ran across a clergy person on Patreon and discovered that they were in the process of publishing a book. Specifically, “Kindling Sparks: A Religious Education Program for Young Pagans.” Many of the things from this book are on Rev. Jan Avende’s Patreon, but having them all in one book is quite helpful.

In short, this book starts in August, and gives one topic a week from one of several categories as the primary focus. It suggests a routine to follow with children for each week, including nature study, journaling, and learning about the topic of the week. It also gives other activities and resources for the topic at hand. It goes through the entire year, one week at a time.

It’s not super specific – although it has some values that it touches on (called “virtues” here), it’s broad enough that you can give each week more of the flavor of your own practice. When it talks about deity, it talks about making connections in the broad sense, not a specific deity sense. The routine for the week includes studying a God or Goddess each week, but which one is up to you.

As the author notes, anything that guides parents in the religious education of their students is rare in Pagan circles. This is simple enough that it could be applied to young children, even preschoolers, and could be applied to much older children as well.