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albeto
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| Posted: Aug 19 2010 at 1:52pm | IP Logged
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How do you teach prayers?
My kids mumbled along at school, but they don't really have any prayers committed to memory. I don't know that they've heard of the Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity. My youngest is ten and I'm afraid I might be too late. My home isn't really a faith friendly home in that my dh and oldest are outspoken atheists so my younger kids feel awkward talking about faith around them and I don't have much around the house as far as visual reminders (although my family is leaving tomorrow for a week and I plan to add some - I'd love some ideas!).
Is there any way to teach my kids these prayers in such a way that is relevant to teens and preteens?
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Aug 19 2010 at 2:07pm | IP Logged
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Prayers set to music? (My dd knows the Hail Mary in French, thanks to the lovely arrangement written by L'Angelus, for example.)
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Chris V
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One of my very favorite things to do is to put on our Sing Bible Prayer Songs by Carol Ann Fisher. I play this CD in the morning as we get up, rub our eyes, and take our time deciding what to eat for breakfast. Beyond the music, prayer is just a part of life in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I pray aloud with my girls (just talking to God), and we always say The Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Glory Be (often with O My Jesus, at the end) in the morning before we read our Bible stories, and at night before we read our bedtime stories.
I don't have any expectations for my little girls to have these prayers memorized, but just by the virtue of saying them aloud everyday in their presence, they have committed them to memory 
They also have prayers books and cards that they often ask me to read, and as the grow, I've no doubt these will also become treasured memorized prayers.
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Chris
Happy Wife with my Happy Life
Mama to My Five Girls ('04~'07~'09~'11~'11) 
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Amazing_Grace
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My first grade students are given 5 prayers to do by the end of the year. I make a “We Know Our Prayers” chart on a large piece of poster board with the names of students and prayers. It’s nice and colorful and I display this in my classroom where my students can see it. After the students say the prayer correctly, I have them put a star sticker in the appropriate spot showing that they have completed the prayer and they can pick a prize out of the prize bag (toys from the Dollar Store, McDonald’s Happy Meals, etc.). I also give them an award certificate with their name on it. This seems to work and my students learn the prayers quickly and go on and do others.
How about:
Activities, Games, & Coloring Sheets for Prayers and Scripture
Memory Activities and Games for Prayers and Scripture
Puzzles For Prayers
Worksheets For Prayers
Grace Before Meals Prayer Activities
Amazing_Grace
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Lacy
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Amazing Grace, your stuff rocks! (As always) 
This idea might be too "young" for yours, but we're using coloring pages to learn our prayers this year! (Many of them found at Amazing Grace's Catholic Toolbox). Here's a prayer book we made with all the prayers broken down into chunks:
Make a Prayer Booklet- Craft for Kids
Also, here's a site that has the entire Apostles' creed broken down sentence by sentence with a coloring picture for each part. Awesome!
Apostles' Creed Coloring Pages
Also, pray pray pray the rosary!
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Lacy
Catholic Icing
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florasita
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| Posted: Aug 23 2010 at 11:38pm | IP Logged
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do not sweat it if your children do not learn oodles of prayers  there are very common prayers even as an adult I do not know unless I have the words in front of me .
I learned by going thru my own formation you can also teach and help children to have that same formation .
In the ministry/order I belong to formation is offered to children as well.
In this way is it not such a blessing children can become aware at an early age of thier spiritual callings , gifts etc.
saints they have similarities with , causes etc. thru learning ones calling you will see the prayers that your children are led to they will have no problem memorizing them because they will be written in their hearts . It will be like second nature to them as if a long lost piece has been found .
Examples are say one child is drawn very much always to prayers regarding protection , st.Micheal and very much so has the struggle with discernment etc. This child/person is often called in some way regarding protection , healing therefore those prayers make sence to them etc.
we have a child he is drawn to the pic of the divine mercy he of course is also drawn to that prayer . I would love to be . I wish I could have it in me to pray the divine mercy chapley all the time as Fr.Pinto encourages this devotion . well I can try all I want this is just not the prayer Jesus has asked me to focus on .
There are a zillion prayers out there we are not called to know or prauy them all !
we all also pray differently . I am horrid at group prayer . I am a person who cannot focus on more then a single item at a time . so in church when everyone prays the rosary together I have to just do it silent I cannot pray out loud . The our father in mass . I am always one sentence behind everyone else because I'm listening then speaking 
for some choir is thier ministry and prayer . There are all forms of prayer as well we all will have a few methods of prayer we are most comfortable with .
Fr. Pinto writes about these different methods too.
He was a Jesuit before joining S.O.L.T and is now the head of this order in the states anyway .
You could look into seeing if they have a childrens program where you are or for yourself. I am the only member here in my province so I've had to teach the kids on my own .
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May I rise & rest with words of Gratitude on my Breath
May I have the Heart & Mind of a Child in my Depth
May I forever remember to be a Light
May Peace Love & Hope be My Sight
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mom2mpr
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My kids have learned their prayers at nighttime--I will say them for them every night when they are little.
Through the rosary.
At grace at meals. We learned the Angelus, the St. Michael prayer, St. Francis, and I am sure a few more.
I find, for my kids, it helps to piggyback them onto our other prayers.
I need to figure out which ones I we are learning this year.
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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pixilated_momma
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| Posted: Aug 27 2010 at 9:56am | IP Logged
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A little late in chiming in, but (in addition to the fab resources listed) singing does help. There's a reason why music is used so much in the early stages and why advertisers used jingles. Music is catchy and just gets stuck in your mind ... so might as well make the music be a prayer. Didn't St. Augustine say music is like praying twice?
I'm sorry about the strong atheist influence there ... Maybe put prayer songs in the car when you drive somewhere or just part of it as a ring tone on your cell. Sing the songs yourself, just humming as you do stuff at home. My kids know the lyrics of Harry Connick, Jr., ballads because they've heard me singing to myself. And no, I'm not a particularly good singer. 
A lot of the faith is spread like that ... little things here and there for the most part rather than one ginormous event ... and singing can be one of the ways that the faith is shared ...
Peace & blessings!
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Veronica Maria
Paper Dali, my art blog
Sometimes Bailey, my creativity blog
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DominaCaeli
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| Posted: Aug 27 2010 at 11:45am | IP Logged
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We learn one new prayer a month during our evening devotion time. The older children (4yo and 3yo) just repeat it with me, line by line, until they do it well on their own.
We then incorporate the ones they have learned over the last couple of years into our morning prayers so that they're reviewed now and then. We include a prayer each morning based on that day's traditional devotion (Mondays are for the Holy Souls, Tuesdays are for the Angels, etc.). So on Tuesdays, for example, they will sometimes choose to say the St. Michael prayer, or sometimes the Angel of God prayer. And so on.
Learning the prayers has really been effortless for the children worked into our day in this way.
ETA: I forgot to say that I know your kids are much older than mine and that you're dealing with a different home situation, but by sharing my experience I wanted to just echo the other ladies--a little each day goes a long way! 
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Blessings,
Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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Topic: teaching prayers
