Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Aingeal
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Posted: April 18 2012 at 5:51pm | IP Logged Quote Aingeal
Hello everyone,
I am such a newbie as a Catholic (only two years!), and I would love some advice about how to begin teaching our faith to my children who are 5 and 3. Currently, we do blessings at meal times, prayers at bedtime, and we attend mass together. But we don't have many discussions about Christ or bible stories, not because I don't want to or don't know the material, but because I don't know how to break it down for little children and make it meaningful for them, without dumbing it down. I grew up as a Protestant, so my parents are no help:)
Any helpful suggestions about beginning to weave the faith more deeply into our life?
Angela
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guitarnan
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Posted: April 18 2012 at 7:07pm | IP Logged Quote guitarnan
Angela, I think you've made a great beginning. I would suggest a couple of things...to be implemented only as time permits (you don't have to be supermom to pass on our faith!). Find a children's Bible story book and some picture books about saints (maybe someone else can link to one of the many old discussions on these books). Try your library! Have cozy story time at home as your schedule permits and enjoy the lovely illustrations together.

The other thing I would do is talk about the seasons of the liturgical year as they occur (we're in Easter season now, for example) and perhaps do some activities, read stories or listen to songs that relate to that season. Again, we have many old threads here at 4Real about Easter, Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time and feast days - you definitely don't have to reinvent the wheel!

You can talk about the readings from Mass if your children seem interested, but you don't have to do that all the time. As they grow older, you'll want to be sure they know their basic prayers (sounds like you have that covered!) - Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...later you can add more prayers and teach them to pray the Rosary. There are great saint DVDs for kids out there (maybe your church has some you can borrow?) and you can't go wrong with Veggie Tales...we still watch those videos and my younger child is 14!

Take your time. Answer their questions at their level of understanding. Have fun with it all and take a gentle approach. It will come with time, I promise!



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kristinannie
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Posted: April 18 2012 at 8:53pm | IP Logged Quote kristinannie
My kids have really enjoyed The Catholic Treasure Box books. They are a wonderful introduction to our faith. Also, we do some things according to the liturgical calendar.

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KauaiCatholic
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Posted: April 23 2012 at 4:07am | IP Logged Quote KauaiCatholic
best way to weave the faith more deeply in your life? come here and check out what others have done! I am a cradle Catholic who received what I thought was a fairly well grounded faith education and I am CONSTANTLY learning things here from these wise and creative ladies! each year that I've been on here my kids and I find and celebrate new feast days and prayer forms and traditions galore ... and there's apparently a craft for just about everything! not to mention a recipe or three! who knew? we don't do much of what I read about but I love seeing what other folks manage to accomplish.

like Nancy, I highly recommend checking out the liturgical planning threads. but prepare to dip your toe in cautiously ... you might get swept away by the flood of options. and seriously, your little ones will love the simplest things you do. you have such precious ages to work with!

have fun exploring!

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