The movie 300 tells the tale of the brave and elite Spartan army of 300 soldiers that went up against the Persian army of over a hundred thousand. Good movie. Tonight, I am gathering with another brave and elite army of 300…catechists, that is! Weather permitting, I will be in Naperville in the Joliet diocese, speaking about The Catechist’s Toolbox to 300 catechists from a number of parishes in that area. The DREs are treating […]
Here are some great thoughts from a contributor named Maura about how they get parents of older kids to attend a few RE events at their parish: Our solution to getting parents of older students to attend has been to build their participation into an opening and closing session for the Jr. High schedule. Parents are asked to attend the first and last class of the year with their child during which we do a […]
Last night, our religious education Open House attracted a number of parents of children in the lower grades, however, for the upper grades, the parents were nowhere to be found. I asked the young people at the start of class if any of their parents would be attending and they all said no, one of them saying, “My mom says it’s the same thing every year, so why bother?” That’s disappointing. I would have loved […]
The other day, I announced the publication of a Leader’s Guide for The Catechist’s Toolbox and indicated that it was free with a purchase of 25 copies of The Catechist’s Toolbox. I’m told by the folks in Customer Service and Sales at Loyola Press that, for those of you who made a previous bulk purchase of The Catechist’s Toolbox, you are welcome to call to request a free copy of the Leader’s Guide.
This coming Monday evening is our Open House for the School of Religious Education and we anticipate parents coming to sit in on their children’s sessions. Of course, we want to be sure that some very engaging things are going on that evening! I’ve decided to do a Bible activity with my group which is based on my book God’s Library: A Catholic Introduction to the World’s Greatest Book (this book is now out of […]
I am proud to announce that Loyola Press has published A Leader’s Guide for The Catechist’s Toolbox! I wrote this guide to assist catechetical leaders in using The Catechist’s Toolbox with their catechists. The guide consists of 18 brief inservices – one for each chapter of The Catechist’s Toolbox. Each inservice is designed to be 30-45 minutes in length. The Catechist’s Toolbox has sold nearly 40,000 copies already and this Leader’s Guide will now assist […]
I finished and turned in my report cards last night for religious education. Parents are invited this coming Monday evening to an Open House to visit their child’s class and they can pick up report cards on that night. I look forward to meeting those who will attend. Completing the report cards was not too difficult and it was made especially easy because I have such a good class of kids. Very few of my […]
The program I serve in issues report cards at the middle and end of the program. Tonight, I’ll work on these for the “1st semester.” They are very basic…I indicate their attendance record, provide a “rating” on some basic criteria and then write a comment. A grade (A, B, C, etc.) is not involved. These are to be ready by Wednesday so that they can be organized in time for next Monday when we will host […]
Victor from California sends along the results of an activity he did with his 8th graders. I’ll let him describe it in his own words: The lesson was on Anointing with Chrism. Following some content and context, I had them divide into groups and do an acrostic with the word “anointing” on poster paper. They got more exposure with oil as I had each of them dip their finger into some fragrant oil and anoint their […]
I had the pleasure of sharing lunch with Connie Rakitan, the coordinator of a program called Faith and Fellowship – a ministry of faith formation for people who suffer from mental illness. Statistics reveal that one in four American families are affected by mental illness. As catechists, we need to realize that 25% of those we teach are affected my mental illness, meaning that they or someone they know suffers from a mental illness such […]
Copyright © 2006-2024 Loyola Press. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of Loyola Press is expressly prohibited.