| Author | |
JaysFamily
Forum Pro
Joined: March 30 2010
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 241
|
| Posted: Nov 16 2010 at 3:25pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I chose this folder because I feel that this is more about living the faith and passing it down rather than an academic level of teaching religion.
My son is 4 and is really not interested in the religious books I purchased last year. I bought An Alphabet of Catholic Saints, Little Acts of Grace, Manners in God's House, and the Children's Book of Virtues. So far, the only one that's really been a hit is the Children's Book of Virtues. He's using the Manners book to better learn his prayers at bedtime. I try to read to him to teach him the faith instead of turning it into a subject, but he's really not interested in anything except fun stories right now.
So, what things in your home have had the greatest success in making the faith more interesting for boys? I've looked into Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, but I just can't afford most of the items needed for that, and I'm a beginner when it comes to making things on my own.
__________________
In Christ,
Jaysfamily
wife to Jay
mother to DS(5)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: Nov 16 2010 at 3:43pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
JaysFamily wrote:
So, what things in your home have had the greatest success in making the faith more interesting for boys? |
|
|
Angels, swords, soldiers, and fighting evil... 
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: Nov 16 2010 at 3:46pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
MaryM wrote:
JaysFamily wrote:
So, what things in your home have had the greatest success in making the faith more interesting for boys? |
|
|
Angels, swords, soldiers, and fighting evil... |
|
|
Yes...just what I was going to say!
Martyrdom is very intriguing. The idea of courage, giving oneself to the point of death really appeals to a young boy.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JaysFamily
Forum Pro
Joined: March 30 2010
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 241
|
| Posted: Nov 16 2010 at 4:08pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
How do you explain things like death? My son is very confused and somewhat resistant to spiritual ideas. He doesn't like the thought of having an angel that watches him everywhere he goes-he thinks the angel is going to take him! I've tried explaining the Trinity, Heaven, death, etc., but he just doesn't get it.
Thanks, MaryM! We were actually planning on getting him a couple of swords and shields for Christmas, so that'll work out nicely!
__________________
In Christ,
Jaysfamily
wife to Jay
mother to DS(5)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Nov 16 2010 at 4:14pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Finding the exciting stories as above..
you can look at Blue Knights for ideas..
I like the not Catholic book The Squire and the Scroll because it's written as a fairytale and we can add whatever elements I want as we talk about it.
And "explain as you go" so telling about what you're doing and why
Oh and if you want some apologetics type question and answers.. Friendly Defenders Cards are fun even if you just read them together rather than using them like flash cards.
__________________
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 |
|
| |
Aagot
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 06 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 649
|
| Posted: Nov 16 2010 at 5:42pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
My 4 year old boy likes Treasure Box books and stories from the children's Bible by Fr. Lovasik.
I wouldn't get too stressed out about him not liking religious books yet. He is pretty young. Little Acts of Grace and the other books in that series are wonderful but they aren't really stories. I save them for 1st Communion prep. Sneaking the info. in as a story really seems to help with all ages.
Tomie DePaolo and other picture books of saints are usually a hit too.
My kids also liked the CCC DVDs. Like The Samuri's Lost Treasure about St. Francis Xavier.
HTH,
Aagot
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ekbell
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 22 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 747
|
| Posted: Nov 16 2010 at 10:15pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
My four year old son likes An Alphabet of Catholic Saints - as a looking exercise (making out which letter it is behind the Saint!). I'm not actually sure if he's actually bothering to listen to the little rhymes!
Personally what I've found best at this age has been reading bible stories and celebrating the major liturgical seasons (inviting and answering questions as we do so).
My son does enjoy listening to the Treasure box stories and the more exciting Saint Stories (we're fortunate as our local library has a large selection of Saint picture books- otherwise this could be expensive).
BTW the treasure box books might be good for his worries about angels as one of the serial stories focuses on how much a certain Guardian Angel loves, protects and worries about his charge.
As for the other topics you mentioned at this age I'm happy if they know that
-that God is the One who created the earth and everything and especially created us
-God loves everything He made,especially us
-God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all somehow God
-heaven is God's home (where we'll go some day)
I don't expect a four year old to have a good understanding of any of this, particularly death as he or she hasn't yet reached the age of reason.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ALmom
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 18 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3299
|
| Posted: Nov 17 2010 at 5:05pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
At 4, natural conversation in the midst of very active work. Short tidbits here and there - as they admire the bees or butterflies or ---- creation, God's goodness, etc. As they bounce exuberantly at play, thankfulness for the strong arms and legs that God gave them, etc. One liners work best. My young boys have tuned me out after the 2nd sentence usually (not intentionally or rudely necessarily but just because their minds have jumped on to something else). Come to think of it, big boys have built a longer tolerance but they just couldn't follow the same kind of gabby conversation I have with other women. Keep it short.
Making connections, living the liturgical year. They are very literal so it is normal for them to take a lot of things literally - offering something to God resulted in my youngest leaving out his hot dog for Jesus and then wanting to know why it was still there (just as I was about to fuss about what in the world it was doing on our buffet - where we had our statues, etc.) I'm glad I hadn't opened my mouth yet, so I could appreciate the depth of the sacrifice (hot dogs in our house are virtually unknown and very well loved so to not eat a hot dog was huge for this child). Don't worry so much, explain in short spurts as you go along, use teachable moments (the scraped knee becomes a meditation on the sufferings of Christ). The love is still in their hearts and though the hot dog sitting on the buffet may seem very impractical and cute - it was that child's love offering and it is the love in the heart that our Lord is looking for. We did have to explain why it wasn't being eaten by Jesus and that it really wasn't necessary to open a window so He could get in.
Explaining about the tabernacle left my son perplexed about how in the world Jesus fits in there - it is a mystery after all and it was good that he was trying to reason towards it but good to know at a tender age that we cannot understand everything there is to know about God and that is Ok too. Of course, we did explain that it was the most awesome miracle - how bread and wine chage and become Jesus himself without ever looking any differently.
Pictures - visual images and reminders, quiet times and lots and lots of patience with wiggliness which is part of toddlers and youngsters - but especially boys.
We would kiss Our Lords wounded feet on the crucifix, say hello to momma Mary as we passed her image on the wall, I would ask him to ask his guardian angel to help me understand him when he was getting frustrated with something in the day (my son wasn't too fond of thinking so much of someone watching over him all the time so we emphasized the protection of the guardian angel and how the guardian angel is always pleading for him before God and protects him from all kinds of harm), expressions of real wonder at how special it was to have a mother who loved him even better than I did as hard as that was to believe. This all comes much more naturally to the young and innocent (meditating and turning the heart and mind to God from all those little everyday, normal encounters and events, naturally responding to images). Looking at religious art - not academically, but having it on display and then sharing one word tidbits of inspiration (something that really touched you) in passing. My son would start to do the same when he was that age - sometimes he would share his thoughts with me and sometimes I would just notice him quietly pondering an image).
I was overwhelmed at the tender way Our Lord then touched those little hearts - to the point that the little guy could offer his suffering (stitches and ER visit) for a momma who had hyperemisis. That when his windpipe swelled, he could tell me very quietly and with hardly any ability to even speak not to worry because he loved me very much and loved God very much as we were bundling him into the car to make a dash to ER. He was very proud that he had a bleeding cut Just Like Jesus and told me so sitting there in the ER waiting for the doc to come in and stitch up his head - and we built on it.
Read the Bible and lives of the Saints. They will imitate what is read to them. Every little boy in this house absolutely wanted David and Goliath read and re-read. But then, whenever they were struggling with a particular fault or behavior, we could suggest that that was like his Goliath, a giant, unconquerable enemy without God's help.
Death wasn't quite as hard for my boys to grasp as they had real, living experiences of quite a few funerals of great grandparents, aunts, uncles and so on. They would touch the body at the funeral home and note how cold - but the person's soul wasn't there anymore. They were at the graveside and have always helped put dirt on the grave, and then lay some flower or loving token. (We can never leave a graveside prior to seeing the entire grave filled in so we usually have to let the workers know and they have always been good to let us stay and even offered to let us shovel some dirt - something our boys absolutely look forward to). I'm not sure how I would have explained death except that it just was a natural part of our experience. (We, of course acknowledge the sadness because we like to be able to sit in their lap or .... and we will miss that - this also helps if there are adults who are especially emotional and our children have really accepted the whole gamut of emotions and expressions quite matter of factly) and we pray for the soul and express confidence that God takes good care of them. One day God will raise up this body and re-unite it with the soul.
Actually, watching Our Lord work with our children, taught me so much and helped me to begin to examine my own responses, lack of effort, inattentiveness, ......
Sometimes they don't even seem like they are listening and then - suddenly you hear something repeated or taken to heart in some tangible way. Sometimes it is humorous (Like the 2 year old standing on top of a slide and shouting "I can talk till I'm blue in the face about vocations" which was something he heard at Mass in the priests homily but had been so squirmy I hadn't thought he heard anything at all) to the really profound.
Oh and at Mass - sit up front where they can see. I think that was the first thing we tried to explain - but really in terms of tangible ways for a youngster to participate. Mabye pointing out one thing before Mass and then letting that sink in, then pointing out one more thing another time after this has become habit. Oh, don't forget to tell God you are giving him your efforts today to come right away when called even when it is hard - you can pray quietly and tell God this when the gifts are brought to the altar. (Or whatever you might have noticed that was his special effort of the day - or if it was a bad day, letting them know that they can offer the sorrow they felt because mommy got mad at them and they were in trouble)
Do you have any special things you want God to help you with, that you are especially sad or happy about. Be sure to ask/tell him when Father lifts Jesus up high.
Don't forget to tell Jesus you love him by genuflecting when we come in the pew.
(With misbehavior in church, we would spend a little extra time after Mass asking the child if he thought God was pleased, was child showing God that he loved Him. Didn't he want to show God love. Then we would kneel down and pray a short prayer (very, very short) in our own words expressing sorrow for how we had not shown love, how we really did love him and please help us to show this love more. Of course we would not have the usual park/ playtime after Mass, but didn't make a huge, ugly deal about it. It was all matter of fact.
Using real down to earth analogies - Love expressed in doing what is asked, in giving little special tokens, how he would feel if someone threw a birthday gift down on the ground after he had picked it out specially for them. Use what you know is part of his regular experience to explain by way of example what he cannot see.
Celebrate in awesome ways. My boys were not big fans of cute crafts or such and anything requiring long listening or sitting spells - but a special food or pageantry for something. They needed to be doing something directly to make the connections - so I tried to make sure they had an idea of something they could "do" to participate. At one point my husband had all the young children re-enact the gospel on Sunday after we got home from Mass. But they would direct it to a certain extent and ask different ones of us to play differnt roles (If anyone in the gospel was ever riding an animal, daddy got to be that animal). It usually ended in a great rollick on the floor with dead once the play had been presented.
We mark Sunday right after Mass with a special meal and foods we do not eat any other time.
Saints movies. Straw in the manger (and when the 4 year old did it, honestly, he decided everything was a huge sacrifice and put straw in just because he cleared his plate (which he is always required to do) - but we just pretended not to notice as our good deeds are supposed to be in secret and well, we became the examples. (We had one big manger that we all filled quietly so it was a family effort).
Candles and fire - oh boy. Prayers were so much more beckoning when they could light the candle and snuff it out after prayers. (Boys will play with the fire - and we tried not to say too much unless it was very dangerous - but there was always the after prayer competition to who could devise the neatest way to snuff things out - using fingers, blowing, covering with something (not cloth). They also inevitably experimented with ways to make their own wicks, use toothpicks or other things to see if they would burn too. On at least a few times, we've had to pause the rosary to quench a flame and remove wicks and relight. You try to be as laid back as safety will allow for some of this).
Pray and see where God leads with the child and look for all those teachable moments every day.
If folks were getting into compiling lists of what they wanted for Christmas, we wouldn't act shocked - but would turn the conversation around. Did they ever think it kind of funny that they get presents on Jesus' birthday? It is the only birthday that is that way. The biggest and best present is Jesus himself ..... But I bet he would really like it if we showed him how much we love him and are thankful to him for the present of himself. (They will always suggest that we get Him a present.) What kind of present would our Lord like? .... This then leads to thoughts of showing love to someone else that Jesus loves and trying to do all that God asks of us (finding out what he wants by asking him and so forth). Then it becomes a great big excitement in the planning how to give something to Jesus.
Janet
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Lacy
Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 01 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 177
|
| Posted: Nov 19 2010 at 12:46pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have recently seen a lot of buzz about a book for this, but I can't remember what it's called. If I remember correctly it was written by someone with a really cool blog. Anyway, it's supposed to be sort of a home economics book that has saint stories where you cook things over campfires and stuff. I remember thinking it looked cool, but my son is only 2. Does anyone know the book I'm talking about? I can't remember where I saw it!
__________________
Lacy
Catholic Icing
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Nov 19 2010 at 1:01pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Is this what you mean Lacy? Thread about Tin Cups and Tinder
__________________
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 |
|
| |
Lacy
Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 01 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 177
|
| Posted: Nov 19 2010 at 1:03pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Yes! Thank you! 
__________________
Lacy
Catholic Icing
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: The Faith and Little Boys
