It’s never too late to start a collection of pictures with religious themes to make into Rosary books for your children or godchildren. I’ve done this in the past by simply using a three-ring binder and plastic sheet protectors. Back each picture with a sheet of solid paper to hide the distracting print on the [...]
Posted tagged ‘What Worked Well?’
Seeing the Mysteries
May 19, 2012Honoring Mary in May
May 15, 2012One of the natural activities to celebrate the Month of Mary is to simply pray the Rosary. I’m actually laughing a little as I use the word “simply,” because anyone who has tried to pray a Rosary with small children knows that it’s anything but simple! One mom in our program has found a way [...]
Adding “sparkle” to your program
February 1, 2012We love this idea from Cindy, a DRE in Illinois: Something I just recently started doing in order to help our families remember to do their lessons each week is send a ‘sparkly’ e-mail about the lesson of the week. I’ve had a few people tell me they really like the reminders because so often [...]
All vocations lead to heaven!
January 27, 2012One of our creative catechists made a very eye-catching visual of this truth by taping paths all over her classroom. She demonstrated that even though all the vocational choices are distinct and have certain overlaps, they all move toward the same goal of eternal life in heaven. What a great introduction to last month’s topic! [...]
Being the hands and feet of Jesus
November 15, 2011We were so inspired by the creative interpretation of one DRE on the November lesson of being the hands and feet of Jesus! Children were instructed in their classrooms that they would come back on site the next week for a Family Service Night where their grade would host a service station that corresponded to [...]
Taking the work out of learning the Works
November 6, 2011You can turn just about any lesson into some kind of game and this is an especially effective way to take the drudgery out of learning memory verses. If you’d like a simple (and fun) way to help your child memorize the Corporal Works of Mercy, try this: You’ll need 14 note cards. Prepare them [...]
Fun and games
October 20, 2011One of our creative catechists shared a suggestion for introducing November’s classroom topic, the Corporal Works of Mercy. Instead of just telling the kids what they are, have them discover for themselves through a fun and quick game of Charades! Each of the corporal works requires a giver and a recipient, so pair up your [...]
Casting the nets wide!
October 8, 2011A great idea from one of our distance parishes: This year we’re trying something new. Parents have enjoyed the parent teachings so much, we’re opening it to the parish as an adult catechesis opportunity. I’ve also restructured the home lesson explanation to work for this format.
A sticky situation …
October 1, 2011After today’s first Family Formation class, a catechist told me about a fun and effective way she used to help her young class remember the prayer we say silently before the Gospel at Mass. Each child got three small cross stickers – one to place on each of their foreheads, lips, and heart – to [...]
Motivating responsibility
September 20, 2011Over the years my five kids have had a lot of different catechists for Family Formation and I’ve seen many creative ideas. One of the best ideas to motivate them to think about the classroom requirements throughout the month is setting up some kind of reward system. On a simpler level, the catechist sets up [...]
Matt Brounstein
Sue Klejeski
Molly Koop
