| Author | |
bayleyfamily
Forum Newbie
Joined: Oct 17 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 11
|
| Posted: May 04 2010 at 1:46pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
This year we enrolled our children ages 11, 9, and 7 in a "homeschool RE" program in our parish. Basically, they give parents the textbook and we have to teach it at home and then take a test at the end of the year. Our 7 year old had to be enrolled in order to receive 1st Communion this year or we would have passed on this program. We homeschool our children and have always tried our best to live our faith by receiving the sacraments frequently, celebrating feast days, bible readings, prayer, and learning about the lives of the saints. I guess I thought that our children knew their faith because we try to "live" it. However, today they took their practice tests and did NOT do well. The tests, just like the textbooks, are a bunch of definitions and alot of somewhat boring jargon that, to me, make our faith a chore instead of something beautiful to experience and love. Have I failed to teach my children the faith properly if they can't define "chastity" or "incarnation?" If they can't do well on an RE test, does that mean they are completely ignorant of their faith? How do you balance knowledge of definitions and rote facts with living the faith?
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: May 04 2010 at 1:57pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Define things as you live them.. don't just live them and expect the kids to pick up by osmosis.. I'm pretty sure that's what my dh's grandmother's generation did and dh's mom's generation is rather lacking in knowledge of their faith..
You need to live it but also teach what things are and why you do them.
But it doesn't have to be sitting down bookwork memorization.. but a continual dialogue with why you do the things you do and what things mean.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: May 04 2010 at 5:47pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
There is something to rote memorization regarding the catechism. It is sort of like multiplication tables. It isn't necessary to have the memorized to do math, but is enables one to move on to the "meatier" stuff. It is hard to adequately and deeply discuss one's faith without the proper vocabulary.
So, I think that is the key. You can read books, stories, and have discussions about chastity or the incarnation. God becoming man IS the cornerstone of our faith, but you don't necessarily have to incorporate flashcards or anything like it in order to emphasize important concepts. Adopting a pious custom like the Angelus (even for a specific time like the month of May) would be an excellent way to encourage everyone to meditate on the incarnation, thereby making it a "living" thing.
You might try using the materials from your church as a spine and create a checklist of sorts (for instance, I know that Faith and Life has a pdf chart of each of the levels which gives an outline of what is covered) and then find books, stories, prayers, or other "living" ways to incorporate those words and concepts into your education.
For instance, I like the Angel Food books and the chart that Jen (Mackfam) has coordinating them with the Baltimore catechism. (i'll try to come back with a link). I might not always read the catechism to the kids, but it helps to know what concept I'm trying to emphasize to ensure all the bases are covered.
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SuzanneG
Forum Moderator
Joined: June 17 2006
Location: Idaho
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5465
|
| Posted: May 04 2010 at 6:35pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
JodieLyn wrote:
Define things as you live them.. don't just live them and expect the kids to pick up by osmosis.. I'm pretty sure that's what my dh's grandmother's generation did and dh's mom's generation is rather lacking in knowledge of their faith..
You need to live it but also teach what things are and why you do them.
But it doesn't have to be sitting down bookwork memorization.. but a continual dialogue with why you do the things you do and what things mean. |
|
|
These are EXACTLY the thoughts I immediately had!!!!
If you asked your kids what INCARNATION was, could they explain it to you? If not, make a mental note to FOCUS on conversation about that aspect, read some stories, look a few things up in the catechism, USE the word often...incorporate some prayers that use the word INCARNATION, etc.
I do think it's important to have KNOWLEDGE about our Faith.....otherwise.....what happened to other generations will happen, like Jodie said.
But, it doesn't have to be boring book work ONLY! There should be some reading, writing, etc....but LOTS of discussion too. And, living the liturgical year and celebrating the sacraments lends itself to good discussions. It doesn't mean that it will all happen naturally....you may have to make mental notes and plan a bit, but it can be fun, interesting and exciting, as opposed to boring and "only for a test."
__________________
Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
bayleyfamily
Forum Newbie
Joined: Oct 17 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 11
|
| Posted: May 04 2010 at 7:10pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thank you so much for all of your suggestions! I definitely need to do a better job incorporating the vocabulary into our devotions and discussions. As a convert, i'm still a "child" when it comes to my knowledge although i'm always trying to learn as much as I can. I guess we never stop learning do we! 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: May 04 2010 at 8:20pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
To piggyback on some of these excellent responses, I had some thoughts.
Discussion is key. And the liturgical year is an unfolding of the catechism, of the mysteries of our Faith, and discussing and seeing how the Church celebrates these days are wonderful ways to illustrate, elaborate and reinforce our faith. There is also family life and popular piety that help reinforce matters of Faith.
For example, Incarnation: Father Hardon Definition.
The Baltimore Catechism #2 has these questions:
Quote:
68. Q. Was Jesus Christ always man?
A. Jesus Christ was not always man, but became man at the time of His Incarnation.
69. Q. What do you mean by the Incarnation?
A. By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man.
70. Q. How was the Son of God made man?
A. The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
71. Q. Is the Blessed Virgin Mary truly the Mother of God?
A. The Blessed Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God, because the same Divine Person who is the Son of God is also the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary. |
|
|
Catechism of the Catholic Church wrote:
| 463 Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God." 85 Such is the joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she sings "the mystery of our religion": "He was manifested in the flesh." |
|
|
So, how to reinforce or teach that we do live this or are touched by this all the time? We are remembering the actual moment when Christ became man, also His Birth, and also Christ being both God and man at the same time.
::The Angelus: prayed daily, is a prayer that recalls and celebrates that moment of the Incarnation. "The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Amongst Us." Who is the Word? Jesus.
::The Creed: prayed at Mass, Nicene Creed, at each Sunday and Solemnity, and the Apostles' Creed at the beginning of the rosary. On Sundays "By the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man." We are supposed to bow at these words, and on the Annunciation, we kneel. These words are reserved especially because this is a pivotal moment in humankind, in history.
In the Apostles' Creed: "Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary,"
::The Hail Mar: the first part echoes the words of Gabriel, remembering that moment of the Incarnation.
::The Holy Rosary: in particular, the first Joyful mystery, the Annunciation, remembers that moment of the Incarnation, but all the joyful mysteries focus on the beginning of Jesus' as both God and Man.
::The Solemnity of the Annunciation: March 25, is the actual feast of the Incarnation. This is the feast that celebrates when the Angel Gabriel came to Mary. When Mary said "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to They Word" that was the moment that the Holy Spirit came upon her and Jesus became man.
::The Advent Season: The preparation season for Christmas. We can use this time remembering Our Lady's maternity, as she carried Jesus incarnate. Although Jesus was already on earth, He was still in secret, within Mary's womb and it wouldn't be until Christmas that the whole world would share this wonderful moment.
::Christmas and the Christmas season: The Word, Jesus, was born. Jesus' nativity -- our God becomes one of us, shares all human traits except sin.
::Family Events: New babies, baby showers, baptisms, helping pregnant and new mothers, supporting pro-life causes, etc.
::Daily living: It is our daily life of suffering and joys that we realize we share this with Christ, Who was man. So everything -- tears, joy, laughter, temptation, hardship, pain, loss, hunger, eating, sleeping, family life and struggles -- can be a remembrance of Christ's incarnation. God became man shared all these human aspects.
::Time: Every day we can be reminded of the Incarnation just because we live in the Anno Domini, 2010 A.D. Time changed after Jesus became man, and our way we keep time has changed, remembering this with B.C. and A.D.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Barbara C.
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 11 2007
Location: Illinois
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 882
|
| Posted: May 05 2010 at 10:13am | IP Logged
|
|
|
bayleyfamily, I can totally sympathize with your concerns about the faith being turned into "another boring school subject" rather than a thing living in the heart.
This year my oldest was preparing for her FHE and as part of the hoops she had to take a test to "prove her understanding". Some of the questions on the test were so odd that the ladies here couldn't even figure out what the "right" answer was supposed to be. They were all tailored to one specific curriculum that we weren't using at home.
So don't completely beat yourself up over the practice tests. Most of those things are based on "schoolese" practices of right and wrong answers. As others said, use it as a spring board for filling in real gaps of understanding
__________________
Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
Box of Chocolates
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Children hate RE
