Kathryn Bojczyk, Ph.D., identifies five strategies for including music, ritual, and drama in religious education for three- and four-year-old children. Watch the below video for a preview of the strategies, and then read the full article that inspired the video: The Role of Ritual, Song, and Drama in Religious Education for Preschoolers.
One of the centerpieces of Ignatian spirituality is the practice of the Daily Examen, a brief prayer exercise to help busy people recognize the presence and movement of God in their daily lives. Many wonderful books have been written to help adults practice this powerful prayer, with A Simple Life-Changing Prayer and Reimagining the Ignatian Examen being among the best. Previously, I have blogged about teaching young children how to practice the Examen. Now, thankfully, there […]
I’m sure you’ve seen little children opening presents on Christmas or a birthday and being more enamored with the box and the wrapping paper than the actual gift! Somehow, young children are able to look at a plain cardboard box and imagine that it is a car, an airplane, a boat, or a spaceship. It is that imagination that we must tap into when it comes to early childhood faith formation. According to Webster’s Dictionary, imagination […]
Welcome to the first installment in our series, Entering Through Their Door & Knowing the Age Group You Teach, in which we will look at developmental stages of our learners. St. Ignatius of Loyola said that, when teaching or speaking to a group, it is always best to “enter through their door, but be sure to leave through your door.” His advice is that we need to take learners where they are and move them to the […]
Among the many popular digital entertainment apps available today are those known as “interactive story” apps in which players “enter into” a storyline that is not predetermined and make choices that determine the story’s outcome. One such game, What’s Your Story?, invites players to choose from favorite movies and TV shows and to become a character in the story, making the story their own. The truth is, we all have a story or a narrative […]
March 25 is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, when we recall and celebrate the day that the angel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the Mother of our Lord (Luke 1:26–38). As I’ve mentioned here before, Marian feasts are ultimately about Jesus, since Mary seeks to draw attention, not to herself, but to her Son, Jesus, who brings us the Good News of rescue, restoration, and reassurance. Mary participates in […]
Whenever I would tell folks that my inclination is to teach older children—eighth grade or high school—some would remark, “Oh, I admire you for teaching the older kids. I could never do that. I teach the little ones.” In response, I would always say, “Oh, I admire you! I could never teach that age group!” And that’s the truth! I don’t have the gift of connecting with the “wee ones” of early childhood (pre-school, K, […]
Among my earliest memories are the assassination of President Kennedy, the Beatles appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, and my first day of Kindergarten. I think that says something about the significance of Kindergarten! I know that we sometimes can overdo these things, as if our children will not get into the prestigious college of their choice later on unless we get them into a world-class Kindergarten program now. On the other hand, studies continue […]
When speaking about the roles of parents, godparents, grandparents, catechists, and teachers in forming the faith of children, my friend and colleague, Tom McGrath, often emphasizes the need to “populate the imaginations” of young children with stories, images, signs, and symbols of our Catholic faith. At a very young age, children develop a “worldview”—a way of seeing the world. Some develop a positive worldview that recognizes truth, beauty, and goodness as more potent than that which […]
One of the hallmarks of Ignatian prayer and spirituality is, of course, the Daily Examen—a prayerful way to review your day to recognize God’s presence and movement in your everyday life. We tend to think of this prayer as an adult exercise; however, many catechists and school teachers have found that this prayer is easily adaptable to children and can serve as a great tool for introducing young people to the contemplative aspect of our […]
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