Re-visiting Level 2

Towards the end of the school year, we had our First Communion weekend across the 4 parishes (yes, our local priest covers 4 parishes; alone).

Each parish has one Mass and the families chose the Mass they wanted to attend. Each parish has ONE Mass each weekend - two on Saturday; two on Sunday.

And it all meant that our religious ed attendance plummeted. Not to mention the presence of catechists ;)

Our level 2 catechist is what I call "the main music lady" - she covers it all at the one parish (arranges for rotating musicians so she doesn't have to do music every weekend; she does the music every other weekend at one of the other parishes; and she is the sacramental preparation catechist (and my life-saver, right-hand, God-send, blessing - you name it!).

WELL. Our religious ed class is after one parish's early morning Mass; and before the next parish's. With after-Mass photos, the level 2 catechist knew she wouldn't be in class more than 5 minutes (and then she went to the other parish); the DRE would be late; my assistant was out of town; the level 1 catechists all had subs; the level 2 assistant would be late.....

As the only "regular atrium catechist" present, I gathered all the level 3 and level 2 children in the level 2 atrium; monitored the level 1 children until their catechists arrived... and otherwise just observed what would happen.

With fewer numbers, it was really interesting:

My level 3 children were, at first, the only children there. Then one came in with her level 2 age brother. Then the others trickled in.

About half-way in, I called the L2 children for a presentation on the Maxims cabinet and Summary of the Law - I only had 1st an 3rd graders. The L3 children all came as well even though they knew they didn't have to. They did a remarkable job staying with the level 2 meditation and helping the level 2 children "understand".

Level 3 got right to work with items of interest from level 2
(none of these girls had been in level 2 before)

They don't even fit under the tables! 

These 4th graders miss the model altar! 

She thinks she's getting into trouble and trying to pull the innocent face ;)
She IS innocent! 

They don't believe me they are ALLOWED to get out this work! 

L2 boy who LOVES to decorate the atrium -
brought this HUGE bouquet of flowers for the prayer table.
Mystery of Life and Death in the foreground there. 

Close-up of those flowers - they shifted when we walked with them,
so he had to adjust them more beautifully. 

Happy to come back for a visit to their childhood atrium ;)
L3 boy in the back with the wooden Holy Bible
(note to self - the children still want this wooden work in L3 -
the paper version isn't cutting it)

Planning Communal Prayer - of their own accord

Busy working - mix of L2 and L3

Still working 

Still planning prayer :) 

One of the girls who planned prayer, needed to leave;
so her brother filled in. 

preparing for Communal Prayer
The boy holding the Paschal Candle - we were waiting for a couple of
children to come back with a solution for the wrong year.
The children noticed this and really wanted it fixed.
So they all shared ideas; some went to find a solution;
everyone else waited patiently....
because we MUST have an accurate Light!

I just LOVE how we can transfer atrium spaces and the children entirely respect one another, respect the space and truly desire to beautify the space. This shows me that they find something of value in this place - and they cherish it.

Thank you children!

Epiphany!

Yes, this post was from last January ;)

We reconvened our Wednesday/Sunday classes rather late in the month of January, but we had to celebrate Epiphany regardless - so level 3 planned and presented for the level 2 atrium.

We have two classes - different children in each class - these images are a mix of both.

Advent wreath is placed as a sign of our waiting -
for what are we waiting?
For promises to be fulfilled.

 I helped write the narration, which one child read; the other children took turns placing the Books of the Bible, the Advent wreath, lighting candles, reading the prophecies, the infancy narratives (just one particular verse from each one, along with a summary of the narrative), the light of Christ (the Paschal Candle), the baptism garment to show the light spreading throughout the world and the Parousia symbol.

TALK ABOUT A SYNTHESIS!

Level 2 children were each given a candle to place in front of a Scripture card as it was placed by the level 3 child doing the reading. These Scripture passages are a light - "Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet and a Light Unto My Path."

We also sang songs at intermittent points: "light one candle"; "the light of Christ has come into the world" (with corresponding verses to match the "light one candle" song - love, joy, peace, hope); and another I don't recall right now (I'll update the post if I remember to check my notes and do so ;) ).

We have eternal hope.

Genesis Chapter 25

This is not specifically atrium - I am adding it here because my son has been in atrium with me for 8 years. This past year being is first in level 3 (a year early) - and he reads the Bible a bit different from your average child. I'm not bragging there ;) He reads the Bible like a child has been in level 1 atrium almost continuously for 8 years (at least once a week; sometimes 4-6 times); in level 2 almost continuously for 7 years (at least once a week; sometimes 3-5); and level 3 for a year. Not to mention all the formation courses he has attended! and even assisted!

We have started a sequence of reading through the Bible in a year. At the time of writing this, we are still in Genesis.

Chapter 25 to be specific.

How many times I've read this passage and only THIS time did I really read it. And he picked up on it too.

We all know that Abraham had two sons: as Abram, he bore a son by his wife's maid (Ishmael); then the covenant was completed, his name changed to Abraham and Sarah bore him a son in her old age: Isaac.

DID YOU KNOW?

After the death of Sarah, Isaac took solace in his wife Rebekkah (Genesis 24:67b).

After the death of Sarah, Abraham took solace in a new wife: Keturah.

This one seems accurate - 9 brothers;
but what about their ages? 

DID YOU KNOW? 

Ishmael had 12 sons to rule over 12 tribes.

Isaac grandfathered 11 boys; one boy had two sons to replace him; making what we know as the 12 tribes of Israel.
Side note: Joseph had two sons from whom 2 tribes received their names; Joseph did not have a tribe named after him. Benjamin being the younger brother, this means that only 9 brothers (at most because perhaps some were toddlers!) participated in any way in the selling of Joseph to the Egyptians.
I wish those people who write children's Bibles would at least get the stories ACCURATE.

Keturah bore 6 sons to Abraham; their ultimate descendants as listed come to 13, so it doesn't fit above; all 6 original sons were given grants and sent away from Isaac (probably because of what happened between Isaac and Ishmael).

DID YOU KNOW? 

Abraham, therefore, bore 8 sons. Not 1, not 2. EIGHT.

8. That's an interesting number. 8th day of creation (Easter); 8 people on the Ark.....

Isaac and Ishmael were together at their father's burial. Ishmael was a legitimate son, if not the "first-born" according to the birthright, because his mother was given in place of Sarah - not as a concubine, but as a replacement for Sarah's own womb. When Sarah was then able to bear a child, Ishmael maintained his legitimacy as a child of the Abraham, but lost his birthright as first-born. The other boys were considered to be conceived by "concubinage" despite Sarah being deceased at the time.

Wow.


Just one chapter. And that's not the whole thing!



That same chapter contains the birth of the twins: Esau and Jacob. Interesting that we usually consider Rebekkah to be something of a brat in her preference for the younger son. But indeed -while pregnant with the twins, she felt them wrestling and went to the Lord - the Lord told her that the older would serve the younger; indeed that he would "surpass" his older brother. Hence, she was simply favoring the one the Lord told her would rule.

Hm.


And there's still so much more said in just a few words - the age of the parents involved; how many years would that have been praying for children? the selling of the birthright....


Your turn!


;)

Time to take posts out of draft!

The following posts are mostly going to be ones started as far back as January; a few sooner than that even.

Time to get them out of draft-dom!


This past semester has been busy - wonderful in many regards - but very, very full. And it only got more full as time went on. "No" has become a routine word around here!

I am so happy to finally have the opportunity to clear up older projects; catch up on the back-log in everything and start to close up projects that are (or will soon be) complete.

We continue to pray for all families striving to live out their faiths and all atriums sharing the faith with the young children and the adults alike!


God bless you all!

My beautiful newborn niece! I can't wait to meet her in person!
(blanket courtesy Aunt Jessica)

Images for 2000 Years and The Memorial

I have always been dissatisfied with the people images suggested or provided for these two materials. They are fuzzy to print out; too much color background on some.... I made our 2000 Years timeline with the black and white printouts and have s-l-o-w-l-y been hand-coloring them over the course of the school year. s--l--o--w--l--y... it's so tedious.

We are ready for the Memorial - I got the rest of the materials ready to go, with one card copy/pasted wrong. Oops. I'll just hand-write the correction on orange paper and tape it on with packing tape for now. Let's wait to re-print the whole page of cards for that one little one (4 fit per page on this section), until I find any other typos ;)   But I didn't have the people ready - the ones provided don't even line up right!

And then I found this:

The images are JUST perfect! Most pages have nice little rows of people from a particular time period (labeled); not much text... I bought two - one to cut up for the timeline and Memorial... and one for the children to use in their personal research.

(and I have realized that I have many-many-many draft posts. Oops. That time thing ;) ).

The True Vine

I have always loved this material, seen in an atrium in Cleveland.

Can anyone make one like it? (BIG SMILE!?)

If you can do it, but it will be a while, please contact me - but it would be nice to have something sooner rather than later....

UPDATE: I can make this myself; if I could find miniature grapes for less than $25 for 12 tiny bunches. And I thought REAL grapes were expensive!

Community of Catechesis

I am so grateful for the true community of Catechesis that I am able to be a tiny part of.

Like its Montessori counterpart, the Catechesis is not a program, not a club, not a cult, not a "method" (it uses a variety of methods, such as method of signs, method of parables...), not a classroom.... it is an experience. It is an approach to life. But not just life - Life (capital L). Faith life, that nourishes every area of life in general.

Academic Montessori, without these particular components that fulfill the spiritual needs of the child, brings the child's (and the adult's) soul to a brink - an edge - a precipice - of something greater than itself. The Montessori approach is already so rich, so fulfilling - it opens up the soul, enriching it, fulfilling it... and when religious expression is integrated into the whole (as it should be), the child's soul is truly fulfilled.

Education as an aid to life. To LIFE.

Those children with a fully integrated approach through Montessori and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd are not faced with a precipice hovering over nothingness - but complete fulfillment.

Within the atrium, for children who are not typically in what would be called a Montessori environment during the rest of their week, there is an opportunity to have needs fulfilled. To know that one's soul will be heard even without speaking a word.


Those adults who recognize these qualities of Montessori and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, recognize that there is a community - a community of the faithful. It is not "this atrium" against "that atrium", but a coming together of the entire community of the Faithful.

There is no competition of who is the best catechist or formation leader; whose atrium is better than another; whose children are learning more... When the adults set aside their worldly issues, we truly come together as a community - sharing what we have learned, assisting each other in our faith journeys and in our journeys as catechists, offering and accepting assistance to and from one another - and sharing with the greater community the joys present in an atrium experience for the children.

Sadly, there are those both within the CGS-trained community and outside of it who are not able to set aside their own prejudices (and wounds) to truly see what is happening in the atrium. Perhaps because of the way that CGS was first brought to them, they feel that the atrium is a bit "snobbish", or thinks itself better than other "programs." These are the same people who are not able to understand why we don't present the Scripture texts regarding the death of Jesus to 3-6 year olds, stating that we are presenting an incomplete picture of the Paschal Mystery, thus forgetting that most programs for 3-6 year olds focus on "I am special; you are special - God made me and everything in the whole world."

What we provide in the atrium meets the child's developmental needs which includes the development of their relationship with Jesus as the Good Shepherd. We do talk about His death, but it is not appropriate to get into the details with a 3 year old. At 6 and 7, we introduce particular texts and by age 8, they have generally read the full Scripture texts that cover the entire Way of the Cross from start to finish, including the steps that are left out of the devotional for the Way of the Cross.

We may not memorize the 10 Commandments during Sacramental Preparation, but when a child leaves the level 3 atrium (if he has had 2-3 FULL years in level 3), said child will know the full historical and theological context and significance of the 10 Commandments, how they relate to the maxims and the Greatest Commandment, how they fit within the life of the Church today, where to find the various "versions" within the Scriptures themselves (explicitly: twice in the Old Testament and once in the New; but implicitly in many other places) - AND be able to explain the significance of Moses BREAKING the 10 Commandments.
(what!? he broke them!? Yep. Every single one. God had to re-write them. So much for writing them in stone, huh? ;) )

Fulfilling the child's needs at the appropriate times, means that a child leaving a level 3 atrium (even leaving the level 1 or the level 2 atrium), will not be on the same page in another religious education class as a child who has never attended the atrium. It is SO hard for adults with deep wounds to understand and accept that it is they (adults) who may need to adapt to the needs of the child, rather than forcing the child (or the catechists who teach the younger grades) to adapt to the adult's expectations.



But I digress into two topics....

1) I am grateful for the communities in which I am currently involved, both face to face and online.

2) I continue to pray for those who are so wounded that they have caused harm to these current communities, to themselves and most of all to the children.