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kristinannie
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I am trying to do as much as a family as possible (history, read alouds, art, music, science, etc). What about religion? I am tempted by the books that teach religion for each grade, but I am not big on workbooks. Right now, we are doing CHC kindergarten religion (Who Am I?). It is interesting and the kids are picking up on concepts, but it isn't perfect. They really aren't retaining much from it. They are getting much more out of Catholic Treasure Box books, saint stories and our nightly devotionals (Bible story and decade of the rosary). That is fine for my age group, but I am just wondering about when they get a little older. I obviously want to prepare them for the sacraments. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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kristacecilia
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We LOVE LOVE LOVE the books from Neumann Press as family read-alouds. We do them during our morning basket time (thanks to Jen/Mackfam for the idea!) We are just finishing up Their Hearts are His Garden now, along with the Catholic Children's Treasure Box series. They have the same flavor, and blend really well together. It has been a wonderful blessing.
For next year I have picked up a whole bunch of new ones:
(With my 3 year old in mind)
My Jesus and I (just the booklet)
The Saving Name of God the Son
A is for Altar, B is for Bible
An Alphabet of Catholic Saints
(With my 5 year old in mind)
Manners in God's House
I Believe
Illustrated Catechism for Little Children
Also, I purchased several books and enrichment items on the Mass plus a copy of the Baltimore Catechism No. 1 mostly for my seven year old, but we will all take part in the Mass lessons according to age and ability.
So in short, yes, we do religion together. My 7 year old's catechism lesson is the only thing that is individual and separate.
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Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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ekbell
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We have both family and individual lessons with the weekly family lessons receiving a higher priority.
The weekly lessons cover the readings for the next Sunday (all children receive their own copy of the Open Wednesday Sunday sheets), hands-on activities fitting the liturgical season and/or activities centering on the sacrament currently being prepared for.
The individual lessons center on catechism and devotional reading, mainly because the age range is too fairly wide (six children ages almost 13 to due late August) but also because different material are effective for different children (my oldest did really well with Who Am I, my second was bored stiff, my third was much as yours)
My oldest has done best with the Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechisms. My second and third like the Faith and Life series (we read and discuss the text with optional enrichment reading/activities, we don't use the workbooks). I've yet to see what my fourth will prefer 
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guitarnan
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With young children, family lessons work very well. You can integrate liturgical year activities, feast days, saint stories and basic prayers. This approach will work very well for quite a few years. (And I second the recommendation for Open Wednesday - you will learn right along with your children!)
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zookeeper9
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This year I am using RACE for Heaven. It uses the Stories of the Saints by Mary Fabyan Windeatt. I will be reading the story and having the children activities from the RACE to Heaven guide.
I am adding Baltimore Catechism once or twice a week to make the cathechism is hit too.
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Plus one saint in heaven Andrew 1/22-7/5/2005
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Erin
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Kristinannie
Mine mostly learn Faith together right through primary school. When it is time for Sacramental prep we may part a little, although often the younger/older sibling will listen in to the Sacramental lesson too revisting material too.
I love Kristacecilia's ideas and really that is pretty much what we do, growing with appropriate level over the years and adding in Baltimore Catechism sometimes, later.
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Erin
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Mackfam
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kristacecilia wrote:
| We LOVE LOVE LOVE the books from Neumann Press as family read-alouds. We do them during our morning basket time (thanks to Jen/Mackfam for the idea!) |
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Hey!! You're so welcome! I'm glad you can make this idea work in a unique way for your family! 
We do a lot of what Krista does, too! When it comes to studying religion as a family - we do! We read about a particular aspect of our faith - Feast or treasure of the Liturgical Year - during our common time, the Morning Basket. I'm also probably reading aloud from one of the saints after lunch (while the kids clean the kitchen). I find that this works well for us.
I have a pretty wide age disparity in my home, so individual work with Baltimore Catechism or religion/faith reading and living books are given on their lesson plans and they each work on individual age-appropriate work at some point in the day in addition to our common time.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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Heliodora
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I like that morning basket idea, too. I don't read to the kids as much as I used to- Now I usually delegate that task to the older kids so I can get other things done. I really need to get back to it- especially with the kind of books Krista listed. That's so important to how the little ones learn.
Kristinannie, I always used the St. Joseph First Communion catechism for First Communion and Penance preparation. These are the minimums for knowledge on those sacraments. With most five year olds, you can't expect much retention on the concepts of original and actual sin, for example. Eventually it will click, but for now, repetition with stories, and living the Faith in your family are the best ways to teach the catechism. Not much formality necessary.
After First Communion, I use the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechisms for formal instruction, but I take after MODG's model of repetition each year. After the older ones (like maybe 10 or so) have learned the questions for a couple years, I have them instruct the younger ones using the same text. This way, they gradually come to understand the questions that they memorized, but didn't necessarily comprehend. But that's a ways in the future for you, anyway.
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Prove all things, hold fast that which is good. -1 Thessalonians 5:21
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Mimip
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Ditto for family catechism here!
We use the Morning basket idea, I really don't know what my school day would look like without it 
We start with prayer, a decade of the rosary, saint/feast or bible reading and then our Catechism. I read from and the kids memorize the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism questions. We've been doing this for 4 years now and when we start the year my older kids can not only say the answers but the questions. 
Now that my oldest is starting Confirmation prep, she will be doing her own additional work but I still will be doing family Catechism each morning with the whole family.
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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Becky Parker
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We have always included studying our faith during our morning time here as well. It usually involves a study of the day's saint and the day's Gospel reading from Mass. I've always had my kids to their Catechism lessons seperately. I would really like to combine them for that this year though. I think they would all benefit from being together. Last year, I had my two older kids spend some time reading their Catechism lessons while I worked with my younger child on his. Then we'd all meet back together and the two olders would narrate what their lesson was about. It worked okay. I'm trying to decide on a different way to do it though. I also want them to memorize some of the Catechsim questions, but I'm not sure if having them memorize all of them, as MODG suggests, is working. I will have 3 kids in 3 different Catechisms this year: St. Joseph's First Communion, Baltimore Catechism #1, and Baltimore Catechism #2. I fail miserably at drilling them all with all their memory questions. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be enough to have them all do the questions in the BC #1 and call it good. Any thoughts on that? At one time I had also found an on line Catechism. It was interactive and I thought that might be a good thing to use, but the questions were different from those in the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechisms that I use.
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AmandaV
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Becky, have you seen Classically Catholic Memory? I am thinking of getting it for next year. It includes the Baltimore Catechism #2 questions for memorization, so I'm not sure how you approach that with the younger children. My son will only be in BC #1 next year, but I have heard the questions/answers are similar, just longer.. is this correct? Anyhow, a neat program to check out. :)
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Amanda
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Becky Parker
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Thanks Amanda! I'm headed there to check it out now!
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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kristinannie
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Can someone explain the morning basket to me? Thanks!
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John Paul 8.5
Meredith Rose 7
Dominic Michael 4.5
Katherine Elizabeth 8 months
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kristacecilia
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Here is a link to Jen's blog where she talks about the morning basket.
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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ekbell
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Becky Parker wrote:
| We have always included studying our faith during our morning time here as well. It usually involves a study of the day's saint and the day's Gospel reading from Mass. I've always had my kids to their Catechism lessons seperately. I would really like to combine them for that this year though. I think they would all benefit from being together. Last year, I had my two older kids spend some time reading their Catechism lessons while I worked with my younger child on his. Then we'd all meet back together and the two olders would narrate what their lesson was about. It worked okay. I'm trying to decide on a different way to do it though. I also want them to memorize some of the Catechsim questions, but I'm not sure if having them memorize all of them, as MODG suggests, is working. I will have 3 kids in 3 different Catechisms this year: St. Joseph's First Communion, Baltimore Catechism #1, and Baltimore Catechism #2. I fail miserably at drilling them all with all their memory questions. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be enough to have them all do the questions in the BC #1 and call it good. Any thoughts on that? At one time I had also found an on line Catechism. It was interactive and I thought that might be a good thing to use, but the questions were different from those in the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechisms that I use. |
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A while ago I did up flashcards Catechism Flashcards with questions from all three of the Catechisms.
I used the following colour code
Highlighted Yellow = First Communion Catechism
Black =Q&As from both St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism #1 and #2
Green =Q&As or additions from St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism #2
Red = supporting scripture
We mostly use the flashcards for simple quizz games. I start by pulling a card and reading the question to the youngest applicable child - if they don't remember the answer then the next oldest child gets a chance, if they do remember the answer they get to pull a new card and quiz a sibling.
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AmandaV
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Wow! Thank you so much for sharing, ekbell! I have been searching for something like this or thinking about typing them myself, at least for the First Communion Catechism, as we didn't completely memorize this year. Those look great, and help me to compare the books, too.
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Amanda
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ekbell
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AmandaV wrote:
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing, ekbell! I have been searching for something like this or thinking about typing them myself, at least for the First Communion Catechism, as we didn't completely memorize this year. Those look great, and help me to compare the books, too.
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You're welcome.
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Mackfam
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Becky - I've missed *seeing* you around! I hope that means you've been having some really productive planning days!!
Becky Parker wrote:
| I'm wondering if it wouldn't be enough to have them all do the questions in the BC #1 and call it good. Any thoughts on that? |
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This is what we do...sort of. We move slowly through the Baltimore Catechism. I DO NOT ask a child to memorize an entire Catechism worth of questions in one year...in fact, we spend years in one catechism which allows lessons to be very short and unintimidating. Over the years, it yields fruit in terms of knowing the catechism.
Kindergarten and 1st grade - Illustrated Catechism for Little Children - this is so easily memorized. Answers are short and we spend at the most 5 minutes a day working on them. It lays a fantastic groundwork!
2nd grade - St. Joseph First Communion Catechism - I don't require memorization of all of this Catechism because this is the only Catechism that we move through in one year. These catechism questions are taken from Baltimore Catechism #1, so this book is not necessary (you could just use BC #1), but it is a nice collection of q & a having to do with FHC so we use it.
3rd - 6th grade - Baltimore Catechism #1 - we spend 4 years in this Catechism, and therefore this is the Catechism that is memorized. These answers are extensions of the two previous catechisms so answers might be a little more detailed, but after FHC and the Illustrated Catechism, they are already off to a good start.
7th - 8th grade - Baltimore Catechism #2 - the explanations and lessons are a little deeper in this Catechism. We read the lessons together and it's often easy for the child to add the short amount of additional answer to their memorized Catechism but I don't require it. It's a good preparation for Confirmation.
9th - 12th grade - Baltimore Catechism #3 with commentary by Fr. Connell - this is an excellent Catechism. I do not require memorization of this at all, but I do ask for written narrations and these reflect the richness and detailed explanations Fr. Connell offers.
All of this really builds on those early years of memorizing Baltimore Catechism #1.
Hope this helps, Becky.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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kristinannie
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Mackfam wrote:
Kindergarten and 1st grade - Illustrated Catechism for Little Children - this is so easily memorized. Answers are short and we spend at the most 5 minutes a day working on them. It lays a fantastic groundwork!
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This looks like exactly what I am looking for. Can you guys recommend any other books from Neumann Press? I hate to just order one book. I am looking at Saints for Boys, Saints for Girls, Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls and Angel Food for Boys and Girls. I am open to any and all suggestions! Thanks!
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Mackfam
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kristinannie wrote:
| Can you guys recommend any other books from Neumann Press? I hate to just order one book. I am looking at Saints for Boys, Saints for Girls, Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls and Angel Food for Boys and Girls. I am open to any and all suggestions! Thanks! |
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I'm not sure you can go wrong with any of the Neumann Press books! They're all fantastic reprints of classics. My favorite Neumann Press books for the ages you have would be:
Manners in God's House
Jesus and Mary
I Believe
Their Hearts Are His Garden
All of the A Story of... books.
We love the Angel Food series by Father Brennan!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Topic: Do you teach religion as a family?
