It feels as though I have not taught my 4th graders for a few weeks now, because of guest speakers and Presidents’ Days, etc. Tonight, that all changes as I get back to the basics with my li’l ones and focus on the Ten Commandments one last time! As you may recall, back in January, we made a DVD of the kids doing mini-presentations on the Ten Commandments. For tonight’s class, I put together the […]
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! A big day for us catechists who are all about teaching LOVE! Tonight, the 4th graders will have an opportunity to spend the evening with Fr. Matt, the Associate Pastor, as he will help them to better understand the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I should have the recordings of the Roman Missal Webinars real soon…stay tuned! In the meantime, I’ll answer some more of the many questions that came in during the Webinars. […]
I had planned to be a “Grinch” last evening and skip taking my class to the Christmas pageant that the first-graders were putting on. I figured that my kids wouldn’t know about the pageant since I hadn’t said anything about it and I would have one more full session before Christmas break to complete the seven Sacraments. I forgot that many of my students have younger siblings! The first girl that came in asked, “Are we […]
This coming Monday, December 20, 2010, is our last class before the Christmas break. I’m going to use this session to teach the four remaining sacraments: the Sacraments of Healing (Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick) and the Sacraments of Service (Matrimony and Holy Orders). I plan to do 4 simple “demonstrations” to introduce each of the 4 sacraments before we read the text and discuss them. Here’s my plan in detail: Sacraments of Healing and Sacraments of […]
Except for an excessive number of requests to go the the bathroom, last night’s class was extremely successful! 🙂 Although I had informed the kids on the first class that they needed to go to the bathroom before coming to class, last night at least 5 kids asked to go at separate times! It breaks up the momentum and takes my aide out of the classroom. Other than that, however, the class was extremely successful. […]
Here’s what I’m planning right now for my class this coming Monday, September 27, 2010. Theme: God’s Plan of Salvation Big Idea: God, our Rock, can be trusted because he kept his promise. Although God gave us the wonderful gift of Creation, we sinned against him and one another. The story of Adam and Eve describes how this happened. Despite our sin, God promised to save us from sin and he kept his promise by sending […]
Last night, we had our end-of-the-year grade level meeting with Arlene, our DRE, and we talked about how things went this year and what we can do better next year. One of the main issues that came up was our concern over the kids’ behavior in church when we go over for prayer services or Mass. Each year, we go to the church probably five or six times: opening prayer for the year, Advent Reconciliation, […]
A couple of days ago, I put up a post asking if folks could help Nancy in Puerto Rico who was asking about fees/tuition charged for parish religious education programs. Your response has been very generous! Here are more comments that came in by way of websupport: Hi Joe – I am a DRE in two parishes at the East End of Long Island which is part of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and I […]
Tonight, our 8th graders will be celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the church. Advent is indeed an appropriate time to celebrate this sacrament, making straight the path to the Lord. I found the following examination of conscience which is based on the scripture passage of the Visitation and the Magnificat (Luke 1:39-56) which makes it quite appropriate as an Advent examination of conscience. Advent Examination of Conscience
Welcome to the 5th week of our online retreat focusing on the spirituality of the catechist. Over the last few weeks, we’ve looked at the unique openness that we catechists are called to incorporate into our spirituality: an openness to God, to the Church, and to the world. Thanks so much for all of your wonderful and inspiring comments! This week, we focus on the 4th aspect of our spirituality, what the Church refers to […]
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