Children's Work

Children’s Work in the Atrium

Our two main sources for the teaching of our Faith within the atrium are the Scripture and the Liturgy – the Liturgy representing the Church and the Scripture as the Word of God (the Holy Bible). The work options of the child reflect this two-fold nature of the full Deposit of Faith. All that we present, all that the children respond to, is found within the wideness of our Faith.

Within the atrium, the children are routinely presented new work routinely and the themes we explore overlap across groups and across children, according to the children’s needs and readiness. While we have a general focus at varying times of the year, we also look to meet the spiritual needs of the children each moment.

Within the atrium, most children receive a new presentation each week – something to learn a new concept, gain a new experience, or gain a new insight. They then have free time to choose their own work from previous presentations according to their spiritual needs of the moment. A child might choose to re-do a presentation on his/her own (or with a friend), may ask for a repeat presentation from the adult, might repeat the work but choose to illustrate a portion of it, create a booklet or chart or other creation, or combine it with another work. This is the time for the child to go as deep with a particular them as he or she needs, while still having received a variety of new learning experiences related to the depth of our Faith.

The adults observe the children's work choices and provide further new presentations based on those observations.

Within the level 1 atrium, the children’s work options include “observation” – they may observe the catechist giving a presentation to someone else or may observe another child working (with the other child’s permission).

In levels 2 and 3, this observation option is removed; however at this age, the children are doing much more group work, thus collaborating and exploring with other children. At this age, they are also much more likely to recreate the materials that provide them the greatest spiritual depths, add on to the materials and modify the presentations to meet their spiritual needs. They also have the additional options to plan communal prayer time, to set up the prayer table, and to explore areas of interest within the context of our Faith.

Within level 3, the children’s questions and conversations specifically prompt the inclusion of interest-specific materials, such as questions on the after-life, angels, and more.

Work that is always available:

• · Practical Life (polishing appropriate items, cleaning the atrium, practicing basic art skills)
• · Decorating the atrium (flower arranging, seasonal decorations)
• · Setting or otherwise decorating the prayer table
• · Praying at the prayer table
• · Artwork (drawing, painting, clay – booklets, charts, drawings, tracings, pastings, timelines, etc.)
• · Repeating or building on any previous presentation
• · Singing songs
• · Reading or looking at available books and other supplemental materials
• · Requesting a new presentation

LAST UPDATED: 10/20/2013