Starting this fall, Shalom Ministries will offer a Godly Play instruction to preschoolers at God's Kids Early Childhood Center.

 

Godly Play is a Montessori-based multisensory method that nurtures children’s innate spirituality through storytelling, wonder, and play. Maria Montessori describes play as the “serious work of the child." It is the space where children make meaning of what they have seen, heard, and experienced in their life. It is where they gain an understanding of their relationship to themselves, others, and the world about them (both physical and spiritual). 

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Through this mutually beneficial initiative Shalom Ministries will provide preschoolers with high-quality Godly Play sessions led by skilled, faith-rooted educators and the families will participate in a mission that empowers at-risk children in Detroit to receive much-needed behavioral and emotional support. 

 

This Godly Play practice will be lead by instructor Lesley Koehn, who will be added as a new member of the Shalom Ministries team. Lesley is a certified Godly Play practitioner with extensive experience in children's ministry. She serves as the Children's Director at Hope Community Church and holds degrees in Elementary Education from Wheaton College and a Master of Arts in Teaching and Curriculum from Michigan State University with certification as a Reading Specialist. As a Children’s Minister, she has been devoted to creating spaces for children to explore their relationship with themselves, the world, others, and God through story, wondering, and play.