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