Lisa, a DRE in New York, shared two great ideas that she used to engage the parents at their October meeting:

They loved the bingo game! After the power point presentation , I handed out the bingo cards and we answered the questions together. I asked the parents to take a shot at answering the questions out loud… assuring them that there are no wrong answers and that we are learning together. They were really getting into it! A few parents wanted bingo sheets that they could take home with them for their homeschooling time. We gave holy card prizes to those who said bingo.

Also , we asked for 3 volunteers to come up and recite the 7 sacraments ( memory verse) not letting them know at the time that there was a prize involved. The 3 volunteers answered and won $5 gift cards to Tim Hortons. Each time we gather we will ask for 3 volunteers to recite memory verse to encourage them to learn along with their children.

And remember, parents, catechists, and DRE’s – we LOVE to hear ideas that worked well with your students!  If you have something you would like to share, no matter how simple, we know others are encouraged by hearing it as well.  Simply email someone in the Family Formation office with the details, and let us know if we have permission to blog it!