February 2012 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
When teaching about the Apostles and how they were called by Jesus, I assign each student one of the Apostles to research. Then we take potato chip cans and cover them with construction paper and cut out and color pictures of the Apostles and glue one each to a covered can. Each student puts the rolled-up report in the can that depicts the Apostle he or she researched. We take turns reading the reports and showing our Apostles to the class.

—Ruth Noelker, Washington, MO



January 2012 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
This is called “A Silent Prayer for the World.”
Children sit in a circle. In the center is a candle. It represents the Light of Christ waiting to be carried into the world.

The leader holds a small globe (I use a ball that has the world on it) and begins with a few brief comments about the need for world peace. The comments conclude with “We are untied in prayer and the promise that Jesus gave: ‘Wherever two or more are gathered...I am there.’”

Then the globe is passed to the person to the leader’s right or left. That person prays in silence for world peace, and persons in the group ask silently in their hearts for God to hear that person’s prayer. The globe is then handed to the next person, and so on.

When everyone in the circle has held the globe and prayed silently, the leader offers a closing prayer.

The prayer concludes with everyone singing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”

I tried this with adults as well. It was a beautifully reflective prayer that lasted almost 40 minutes.

—Jo Therese Fahres, DRE, St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church, Milwaukee, WI



December 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
I teach seventh-graders. Starting with the last class before the First Sunday of Advent, our closing prayer is a reading of the Gospel for the upcoming Sunday. Then I have each child write on a 3” x 5” index card a one- or two-sentence prayer or a bit of wisdom they learned based on the Gospel. I have students decorate the edges of their cards with a festive or symbolic border and then I arrange the cards on the bulletin board into the form of an evergreen tree. By the time we meet for the last time before Christmas, the tree is complete and we “crown” our Prayer and Wisdom Tree by putting a shining star (made of aluminum foil) at the top and blessing it as a class.

—D.F, Columbus, OH



November 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
Our parish religious education program runs September through May. Our parish is dedicated to Mary. And so every month of the learning year, I help catechists form a special experience that honors Mary. Here are the ideas I shared with them this year:

SEPTEMBER: September 8 is the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Make birthday cards for Mary and include in the greetings your own brief and original prayers.
OCTOBER: October 7 is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. As a class, pray at least one decade of the Rosary.
NOVEMBER: November 21 is the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As a class, pray the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).
DECEMBER: December 8 is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Establish a Mary Corner in your classroom and decorate it with a statue of Mary and artificial flowers, such as poinsettia.
JANUARY: January 1 is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Write short prayers of thanksgiving to God for giving us Mary as our mother. Write the prayers on bookmarks.
FEBRUARY: February 11 is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Share the story of Lourdes with your students.
MARCH: March 25 is the Solemnity of the Annunciation. Read Luke 1:26-38 and then invite students to role-play the scene using their own words.
APRIL: April 26 is the Feast of Mary, Mother of Good Counsel. Cut simple blooms out of different colors of construction paper and have students write on each one a word that refers to “good counsel” (patience, kindness, courage, gratitude). Then put the blooms on the door to your classroom to celebrate the good counsel that Mary offers us.
MAY: May 31 is the Feast of the Visitation. Read Luke 1:39-56 and then invite students to role-play the scene using their own words.

Maybe you and your class can do one or some of the ideas throughout the year.

—DRE devoted to Mary



October 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
Our parish campus does not allow lit candles in the learning areas. So for the one prayer service in which light (and dark) play an important role, I use a large battery-powered candle. And that one prayer service is the last class with my third-graders before All Saints Day. I plan a short lesson to allow a good 15 to 20 minutes for our closing prayer. At the end of the lesson, I have the students sit in a circle on the floor around a small rug on which I’ve placed the candle and a small bowl of holy water. I turn off the lights and lead a prayer about the saints as models of faith for our lives today. The dark pierced by just the light of the candle adds atmosphere to this solemn experience. Then I give each of the students a very small battery-powered tea-light candle and tell them not to turn it on. We then sit in silence for a minute and then I invite the kids, one by one, to reach into the bowl of holy water and bless themselves. Then I say, “You can be like the saints—whose lives brought light to the world in the name of Jesus—by being bright lights of love and faith to others. Let your light shine!” The kids all turn on their candles. That moment when all the candles are lit in that dark room is a moving experience. Then we sing “This Little Light of Mine.” I let the kids take their tea-lights home with them.

—J.T., catechist for nine years


September 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
There are so many things that have to get organized at the beginning of school. Thank goodness for CATECHIST’s Handbook & Planning Guide. That gives me so much helpful information and three key tools that help me get organized: the information chart; the attendance log; and the lesson-plan form. So I can learn things about my students, I tell them at the end of the first class to bring in any kind of pictures of themselves and/or their families and/or their pets that they would like to share with me and the rest of the class. As they show their pictures, I learn a lot about them and their interests and families.

—L. D., Riverside, CA


August 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
I’ve been a catechist for nine years and, truly, I am terrible with names. I used to ask students to please wear their nametags for at least six weeks; that’s how long it would take me to be confident in addressing each child by his or her name. Then several years ago, I realized that I am a visual learner. So I came up with this idea: Before the first class of the year, I cover the bulletin board with a cheap white plastic tablecloth, making sure it’s stretched tight so students can write on it with permanent markers. I draw large circles on the tablecloth, one for each child in my class. Using a permanent marker, I write a child’s name in each circle. During the first two classes, part of our opening prayer includes having students draw something in “their” circle that tells me something about them. Watching each child draw and watching what each child draws gives me the visuals I need to associate names with persons. I now have a firm grasp on names after the second class each year.

—Nancy A., Cleveland, OH


July 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
I’ve been the DRE here for seven years. Three years ago I had an idea for a different way to celebrate the closing Mass of our summer VBS program. I arranged a VBSR…Vacation Bible School Reunion. We celebrate this Mass on the Saturday evening after the closing of our VBS program the Friday before. All the children who participated in the VBS that week and their parents and the volunteer teams attend that Mass. Also, a special “invitation” (and an announcement in the bulletin the Sunday before) is sent to all those who would like to celebrate this special time for the parish or have ever participated in any of the parish VBS programs through the years or who have prayed for and supported the VBS programs through the years. After Mass, we host a cold-cuts carry-in meal, with cold drinks of juice and soda provided. Kids and parents and volunteers are invited to take the microphone and share their memories from that year’s or any year’s VBS experience. We put up posters of pictures taken of VBS activities through the years, and these pictures bring back wonderful memories. It’s a little bit like a home-coming event, but it takes on special meaning because it’s about VBS—past and present—and so all ages feel ownership of the celebration. I think this contributes to the many volunteers that come forward to help out year after year.

—D. F., DRE getting ready to celebrate



June 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
Our program ends the last Wednesday of May each year. To help catechize the children in our program throughout the summer—even to a small degree—I include a small word scramble in the parish bulletin each week, no less than five words. The words usually have to do with the Gospel that Sunday. I arrange the scramble in a coupon-like box with a dotted line around it. At some point during the week, the child or family “works” the scramble, cuts it out of the bulletin, puts his or her name on it, and drops it in a box in the back of church. Then, at the beginning of the learning year, when the program resumes early in September, we have a beginning-of-the-learning year celebration. I draw names from that box for special prizes (all of which are catechetical in nature). Of course, the more times you’ve completed the scramble and dropped it in the box, the more chances you have to win. This exercise keeps the kids engaged in a small way in religious education activities during the summer and brings some continuity from one year to the next.

—DRE in Dallas, TX

 

May 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
This is a variation of the May Altar that we would set up every year when I was a kid. I bring out the three statuettes of Mary and Joseph and the infant Jesus from the crèche and arrange them on our prayer table on a piece of blue felt. The students are delighted to see these familiar and dear figures in May. Then I put a small vase of flowers next to the statuettes. During the first class in May, the students work together to write a prayer to Mary, the Mother in the Holy Family. Then at the end of that class and at the end of every class during May, we gather around the prayer table and pray that prayer. This honors Mary as the faithful wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus—and our mother, too. Through the years, I’ve taught second, third, fourth and fifth grades—and this works for all those grades.

—Catechist in Aurora, IL

April 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
The week before Holy Week, I put a large basket on a table at the front entrance of our parish center where classes meet. In the basket are white strips of construction paper about two inches wide and six inches long. On each strip, I’ve written an Easter Act of Joy—something special that a person could do for another person. I position a sign next to the basket that reads PLEASE TAKE ONE. Each student takes an Easter Act of Joy home and is challenged to do that Act of Joy sometime during the Easter Season and then return the strip. No one is asked to report on or comment at all about what he or she did. But when (if) the strip is brought back, the child “hooks” it to other strips hanging around the front entrance of the center, forming a chain-link banner. Seeing the banner get longer and longer through the weeks of Easter brings joy to all who participate and inspires others to enter the joy.

—DRE in Cleveland, OH



March 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
This is a twist on an old-but-great idea. I’ve heard about pulling apart well-used and often-read Bible books for children to use the beautiful artwork in other ways. I found about 20 children’s Bible picture books at an auction last fall. I set up what I call Puzzle Peace Time—as a special treat to the students throughout the year. Here’s what I did. I let the students make puzzles from the pages. First, I carefully tore the pages out of each book. Then I photocopied reduced images of each page (down to about 20% of the original size). I glued each image onto a separate 6” x 9” envelope and set those envelopes aside. Then I put the book pages into a decorated box. During Puzzle Peace Time, each child could take a page from the box, give the image a title, glue the whole page to a piece of thin post board, and then cut up the picture into pieces to create a puzzle. When the puzzle was complete, the “title” that the child made up was written on the envelope that contained that image and then the envelope was put into the Puzzle Peace box. During Puzzle Peace Time, students can make new puzzles or “play” with the completed puzzles. I’m now ALWAYS on the hunt for children’s Bible picture books because this is a project that is easy to keep going and the children are always interested.



February 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I’ve been teaching fifth-graders for four years. The first year I taught, I came up with the idea of Holy Flash Facts. After I plan a lesson, I take 12 index cards—the 4” x 6” size—and write a question on the “front” and the answer on the “back” of each one. All questions relate to things the students learned in the lesson just presented. Then I use these Holy Flash Facts as a review exercise at the end of class and the beginning of the next class, before moving on to the next lesson. Each week, I include past Holy Flash Facts so there is a steady stream of review progressing throughout the year. I keep a collective score so that the class works together to get as many right as possible as a group (students do not compete against each other). During the next-to-the-last class before the end of the year, I use all the Holy Flash Facts as a full-year review. The students have a great time working together and coaching one another to get as many Holy Flash Facts correct as possible and so to always be topping their previous score. It’s a great way to learn, to review and to build community.

—A.J., Raleigh, NC


January 2011 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I am our parish DRE and I have found a great way to celebrate with our children who have just experienced the Sacrament of Reconciliation. After the communal reconciliation service, they each receive a treat: a large pretzel dipped halfway in chocolate. The pretzel is accompanied by a card that reads:

The pretzel is a symbol of reconciliation. It is shaped like a heart, which stands for God’s love for us. The arms of the pretzel look like a hug, which is often what we receive when we reconcile in our relationships. It is halfway dipped in chocolate. The part that is not dipped in chocolate stands for life before reconciliation—bland and dry. The part dipped in chocolate stands for the sweetness of our life when we ask forgiveness of others and when we offer forgiveness to others. From (our parish) family, we congratulate you on your First Sacrament of Reconciliation and look forward to your coming to the table of the Lord in your First Holy Communion in the spring.

Parents and kids love this simple symbol of such a meaningful Sacrament.

—Lori Crawford, Director of Faith Formation
Our Lady of Light Parish, Ft Myers, FL



December 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
When our program breaks for Christmas and New Year, class does not resume until after the Epiphany. So I take time during the class before the last class before the Christmas break to share with my fourth-graders the Scripture of the Epiphany. Then I tell the kids to bring to the next class—the last class before the Christmas and New Year break—a small symbol that represents a gift of themselves that they would like to place in the crèche during the next class. During that last class, we gather around the crèche and each child places his or her symbolic gift in or around the crèche and explains what the symbol represents. It’s a great way to close class, reminding the kids about the true meaning of the Season of Christmas.

—B.W., Denver, CO


October 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I teach third-graders. I use part of the last class in September to present a brief lesson on Mary, explaining that October is one of the months that we devote to Mary. I tell the kids that we’ll open each class during October with a session I call Mary Sharing. The kids are to bring in something from home that celebrates or represents Mary: a prayer card, statute, rosary, prayer book. Each kid who brings something from home to share about Mary gets a chance to talk about what he or she brought in. I don’t record who brings in what because, sadly, not every household has something about Mary. But during the last class in October, we make card-stock frames and glue them to images of Mary that I have cut from last year’s Christmas cards. The kids take these home—then every household does have something about Mary.

—R.V., New Jersey



September 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
One of the things that I suggest to the catechists in our religious education program is to consider having each of their students bring in a throw pillow (of reasonable size) that their students can use on the floor to sit on while praying, playing games, or sharing time. This seems to be an idea that the catechists of younger students especially appreciate.

—Rebecca T., DRE



August 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
It’s so important to make a personal connection with our students during the first session in the fall. So two weeks before the first session, I mail out Please Join Me invitations. I make it look just like an invitation to a special event and I make sure to mention a few of the things we’ll do during the year: learn about Jesus; explore our church; have an interview with Father; make special crafts and enjoy treats; play games. I’m specific as I can be, especially about some of the things I have planned for certain lessons. My Please Join Me invitation includes my contact information, including my e-mail address. Sometimes I start getting e-mails from students and parents even before the first class. Then, when I meet the students and parents the first time, it’s like we’ve already met—and so there is a great first experience.

—Fourth-grade catechist, Fort Worth, TX



July 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
I’ve been our parish DRE for six years—and during my second year I stumbled on something that has greatly improved the catechist/parent connections in our parish. Shortly after the close of the religious education program for the summer, I ask a parent, maybe after Mass one weekend, if he or she could come to the parish center for just a few hours one evening that week to help me with a specific chore: sorting, filing, cleaning, storing. The parent is always very willing to help for that specific chore during that specific time; no short-term or long-term commitment—just a helping had for a few short hours. As we work, we chat and share family stories. At the end of the work session, the parent never fails to say something like, “If you need more help, just let me know.” I make note of that and I do, indeed, call if I need more help. I do this with various parents all through the summer months. When the program begins in the summer, I’ve established a great rapport with many parents—and their investment in the program continues throughout the year.

—DRE in Savannah, GA


June 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month
To help my first graders develop spontaneous prayer, empathy, and an awareness of their surroundings, we would always stop whatever we were doing when we heard a siren. At the beginning of the year, I would say a prayer asking for protection and help for the people involved in the emergency and for the emergency personnel. But gradually, throughout the year, the students took over saying the prayer.

Many times, they would hear a siren before I did. They would all bow their heads and listen to their classmates saying their prayers. I heard from parents later that the children continued this practice at home.

—Jenifer Scheimann introduced this simple and effective way of caring and praying to her first grade class at the West Campus of Bishop Leibold School, Miamisburg, OH.


May 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I teach second-graders. My students and I use part of the last class of the year to write thank you notes to all the people who helped us during the year. We thank parents and siblings and other family members who helped us with projects and made sure we got to class; friends who listened to our stories about what we were learning in class; our pastor, who came to talk to us about First Communion; our parish secretary, who helped us keep track of all the things we might need to do; the people who plow snow and mow grass; the crew who keeps our buildings in good repair; the people who published our textbook and other stuff we used during the year; the parish community who prayed for us; the firefighters and police officers who were always ready to keep us safe; the trash collectors who keep our parish and city clean; etc. This is a good way to help young people think outside the box.

—Columbus, OH

April 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I learned in my first year as a catechist (nine years ago) that my fifth-grade students didn’t seem to come into the room that first class after Easter with much joy. So I devised a lesson that I now present during that class. I bought some old sheets at a second-hand store (white, light green, light pink) and cut them into narrow strips. I hang those strips all over the room, everywhere, so that there is a joyful atmosphere when the kids come into the room. Then for the lesson, I read the Gospel from Easter Sunday (John 20:1-9). Then we gather in a tight group (often on the floor) and act out the scene of Jesus’ disciples learning that he has risen. I have the kids express whatever they think they might have felt if they had been in that group: surprise, excitement, fear, confusion. Then we talk about how we might have shared that news with our friends in those days—and how we can share the good news of the Risen Lord today.

—B.D., Chandler, AZ


March 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I’ve been a long-time subscriber to CATECHIST. One thing that authors have suggested from time to time are words that kids can sing to a familiar tune. I’ve started doing that regularly. I write words that go with the beat of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star,” “Happy Birthday,” “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” It isn’t hard to think up words that go with the lesson, and the kids love singing new words to familiar tunes. They really like singing in rounds. We get some great joy and learning going.

—B.D., Maine
 

February 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
During the weeks that my class meets during Lent, I use silence as our opening and closing prayer. I don’t think that kids today have enough complete silence in their days. Before each opening and closing prayer, I remind students that silent prayer is a time to be with Jesus in a special way, to think about how much he loves them. I dim the lights and time the prayer for two minutes. Two minutes is plenty of time for youngsters. I teach second grade.

—Ellen, Washington, DC
 

January 2010 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
When my students return after the Christmas break, it’s hard to get them to focus on anything new. So I don’t introduce any new material. Instead, we open with prayer, during which I ask each student to share a memory from Christmas. I tell them to share about a special moment when they knew the true meaning of celebrating Christ’s birth. Then I use the rest of the class time to play a review game, to go over all the material that we’ve covered to that point. It seems like this helps the kids to get back into a routine, and then I move ahead with my year’s syllabus during the next class 

—Fifth-grade catechist, Chicago, IL


December 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
When I was young, giving someone a spiritual bouquet was common. I might use a store-bought card or make one by hand and write on it the specific prayers I planned to say for a person—like “a Rosary” or “a litany.” Then I would give the card to the person as a gift. I tell my third-graders about this old practice the First Week of Advent. I tell them to think about spiritual bouquets they might want to give people this Christmas. Then I bring in inexpensive, religious Christmas cards the last class before Christmas and the students make spiritual bouquets for whomever they would like. I have supplies and stickers on hand for them to decorate the envelopes. This is a big success.

—Cecelia, Nashville, TN
 

November 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
During the classes in November, I review prayers with my fourth-graders. It seems that they know the basic prayers but each year I find that few of the children have committed to memory or pray often the Act of Faith, the Act of Hope, the Act of Love, and the Act of Contrition. So we spend time studying the wording of each of these prayers. But in my eight years as a catechist, I’ve never had a student who knew the Act of Thanksgiving—or had even heard of it. So I teach it during the last class before Thanksgiving. The words are from a page that long ago fell from an old prayer book. The prayer is:
Dear Lord,
I thank you from the depths of my heart for your infinite kindness in coming to me. How good you are to me. With your most holy Mother and all the angels, I praise your mercy and generosity toward me, a poor sinner.
I thank you for nourishing my soul with your Sacred Body and Precious Blood.
I will try to show my gratitude to you in the Sacrament of Your Love by obedience to your holy commandments, by fidelity to my duties, by kindness to my neighbor, and by an earnest endeavor to become more like you in my daily conduct. Amen.
Maybe other catechists would like to introduce this prayer to their students during November.

—M.V., Philadelphia


October 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
Here’s what I do to help my fourth-graders prepare for All Saints and All Souls—as fourth-graders AND as fifth-graders. At the end of a class on All Saints and All Souls, I have each of my fourth-graders write a thank-you note (I buy the notes at a dollar store) to a saint or a friend or loved one who has died. The note thanks the person for something SPECIFIC he or she did that helped the student’s faith grow stronger. The key is “specific.” Each student has to mention something the person said or a specific act that inspired the student to grow in faith. Then I collect the notes. A YEAR LATER, I mail the notes to the students—now fifth-graders. I tell them that I continue to think about them and pray for them. And I remind them of the person who inspired their faith by sending them the thank-you note they wrote in fourth grade. This helps the students even further in understanding the Communion of Saints.

—Lenia M., Mesa, AZ

September 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
One of the suggestions in our catechist packet each year says to welcome each of the children individually when they enter the classroom. I’ve done that for years; I’ve taught sixth grade for seven years. But one year I started to handle dismissal with a little more order. I call each child to the door of the classroom, one at a time, and offer a handshake or a pat on the back. I thank him or her for offering so much to the class (I might even mention something specific) and I say to each student, “I look forward to seeing you next week.” With this benediction of sorts, I send forth each student with a personal exchange, not just a collective “See you next week.” I think it makes a difference.

—Dan, Omaha, NE
 

August 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I just received from our DRE the list of my students’ names for this coming year. So now I start making phone calls to members of the parish and to family and friends to invite people to be Spiritual Friends for my students (and their families) and me (and my family)—one for each student (and their families) and one for me (and my family). I will ask these people to pray for us by name and in very personal ways throughout the year. I will ask them to write beginning-of-the-year notes to us and to express love and support in any way they would like throughout the year. At the end of the year my students and I will talk about how much we appreciated our Spiritual Friends and how they helped us. Each of us will send our Spiritual Friend a Spiritual Bouquet. This is usually in May and so we usually send a Rosary.

—L.B., third-grade catechist in Portland, OR


July 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
Just say, "Is there anything I can do to help?" The DRE and I were exchanging family news after Mass several weeks ago and she said something about all that she has to do to prepare for this fall’s program. I said, "Is there anything I can do to help?" She was ecstatic with appreciation and asked if I could give her just one hour of help some evening in the near future. We arranged a day and time and I did a lot of filing and organizing for her. She said what a great help it would be if even just a few catechists offered one hour over the summer to help her with this kind of thing. I thought I’d mention that as a tip in case you might be able to offer an hour of your time to the DRE during these summer months.

—Alice D., catechist in Tulsa


June 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I love checking out these tips each month, so I thought I’d share one of mine—a summer tip. I know everything feels like it’s “over” about this time of year—but this is the perfect time to begin planning for next year. I send a “thinking of you” note to all the kids who were in my class this past year. I want them and their parents/guardians to know that the last class wasn’t the “last” of our relationship. I also begin to pay attention to bargain tables at discount stores and dollar stores. I find stuff there that gives me ideas for things I can do in the classroom. And I read Scripture during the summer. I just pick a book or several books that I’m not familiar with and I read them and do some research about them on the Internet.

—Chris D, seventh-grade confirmation prep program catechist, Birmingham, AL
 

May 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I arrange for a special Mary celebration during the month of May. I cut standard-size paper towels into fourths and give each student one piece. I have them decorate their pieces with bright, joyful, colorful images that symbolize Mary’s love. Sometimes I have stickers they can use. I encourage them to concentrate on decorating the edges and leaving the center of the piece plain. Then I have them pinch together the center of the pieces of paper towel and wrap tape around the pinched points. Around the tape, I have them tie pieces of ribbon. These make simple and beautiful blossoms to place at the foot of a statue of Mary during a Mary celebration or after praying the Rosary.

—M.C. first-grade catechist in Baltimore, MD


April 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
Here’s an idea that can work with any age group. (I’ve used it with third, fifth, and sixth grade). After the Easter Vigil, I get permission from the pastor to take home with me the small candles used by the assembly during the Vigil. I then use them in my first class after Easter to review the Resurrection and how we celebrate it at the Easter Vigil. I close that class with a prayer service in which each student cuts a flame out of red, orange, and yellow tissue paper and tapes it to one of the small candles. I stick
the candles in a Styrofoam egg carton and leave them on display in the classroom
until Pentecost.

—Pat M, fifth-grade catechist, Phoenix, AZ


March 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
I have found that one of the best ways for my learners to really get their creativity going is to look at “stuff” that might help them think of something. So we have a BOS in our classroom: “Box of Stuff.” I collect cottage cheese containers and lids; plastic milk bottle lids; cardboard tubes from paper towels; cardboard backing from tablets of paper; Styrofoam containers; the edge of a pretty greeting card; narrow plastic bags in which the daily newspaper arrives; coffee cans; empty prescription-drug containers. I also buy stuff at dollar stores that might be crafty in some way, and I visit the local fabric store whenever it has a sale. I just put these items in the BOS, and when we’re working on a craft or making props for a Bible skit, some learners go to the BOS to see if anything in there might be fun to use in some fashion. Over the years, I’ve found that some of the kids even get into this and have brought in their own unique pieces of “stuff” for the BOS.

—Delia W., a catechist for 12 years, Kalamazoo, MI


February 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
Having older students make things for younger students is a great way to build community. I teach second grade. We just started some of our final lessons that prepare the children to celebrate First Reconciliation. Imagine my surprise one afternoon when the DRE knocked on my classroom door and asked if she and some others could visit. I said “Sure,” and in came the seventh-grade students in our program. They each had a handmade bookmark with a small prayer on it—one for each of my students. My students were surprised and thrilled. The DRE and I then led a prayer that thanked Jesus for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and blessed all the children. It was a very sacred moment of community, one that my students and I—and those seventh-graders, I’m sure—will long remember.  |

—Renee S., second-grade catechist


January 2009 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:
Knowing how important it is to make connections with parents and the students’ households, I make sure that every student takes something home at the end of every class. I might hand out bookmarks, holy cards, notes to parents, stickers, or copies of a family activity or prayer. I will even send home that week’s parish bulletin with something highlighted if it’s relevant. I am confident that these items help get conversations started between the children and their parents—thus making connections between class and home.

—Dan W., fifth-grade catechist, Palm Bay, FL


December 2008 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:

Faith-Sharing Circle
Have the children form small groups of three or four. Ask them to move away from the other groups and discuss a specific faith topic. When each group has finished, they form a large circle and one person from each group reports what his or her group decided.

—Margaret T, third-grade teacher, Minneapolis, MN


November 2008 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:

My learning space on Wednesday afternoons is a classroom in our parish school. In sharing a space, though, it isn’t always convenient to leave up displays—like the children’s artwork. I bought a queen-size quilt (thin material with no patterns) at a second-hand store and I use safety pins to fasten the children’s artwork to the “quilt board.” I hang the quilt during class by using push-pins to hang it on a bulletin board. It drapes nicely over whatever display is already on the bulletin board. I take the quilt down at the end of class, roll it up carefully, and put it up again the next week, if we want to continue with the display. Depending on my lesson plan, I sometimes use the quilt board to make a display that will go with the lesson I’m presenting, the beginning of a new liturgical season, a special feast, or a celebrative backdrop to our prayer table.

—J.B., second-grade catechist

October  2008 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:

I use a simple exercise to help keep parents informed about what their child learns and does in religion class. Although I use e-mails, take-home handouts, and parent conferences to do this, I think it’s important for students to share with their parents as well—and parents don’t always take the initiative to start this kind of conversation with their child. So I give each student a 3” x 5” card at the end of each class and have them write down one thing they are going to tell their parents about that day’s class. I don’t collect these or “check” them; I just walk around to be sure each student is writing down something. Even if the cards don’t actually serve my intended purpose, this exercise is still a great moment of reflection for students.

—Melanie, fourth-grade catechist

September 2008 CATECHIST Tip of the Month:

Ask parents to come with their children to the first session for a five-minute prayer. Have students form a circle and have their parents form a circle behind them. Parents and children should face each other. Pray for a great year by offering simple intercessions. Invite all present to respond, “Lord, hear our prayer” and invite a community “Amen” at the end of the intercessions. To conclude your prayer experience with parents and children, ask parents to bless their children in any way they are comfortable.

—Rosemary Walker, seventh-grade catechist, St Henry Parish, Dayton OH

Share your experience with other catechists. Send your TIP to kdotterweich@peterli.com