|
|
|
|
|
|
From Nancy Hilker,
Program Director for The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
At St. Mary we are blessed to accompany children as we encounter Jesus Christ through the proclamation of His Word, the experience of listening for His voice and in the contemplation of the beauty of the way He comes to us in the Eucharist. This method is known as the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd . In our school we have Level I for our 3-6 year olds ,Level II for children in first through 3rd grades and Level III for children in 4th -6th grades. The religious education program has Level I and Level II only.
The prepared environment for children is called the atrium, a term Maria Montessori adopted from the early church as the place where the catechumens were prepared. The atrium is a place of peace where children too are prepared for a greater participation in the liturgy.
We currently have one atrium dedicated to Level I and Level II children. Due to the size of the room and nature of the atrium experience we hold the number of children at each session to 12. At the school we offer 3 different sessions for the preschoolers, one session for kindergarten, one for second grade, and one for third grade.
The atrium for the Level III children does not exist yet on its own. We take our materials and use the library or sometimes the church for our sessions. During Religious Ed the Level I and Level II run concurrently on Sundays so we have worked hard to set up portable shelves in the library to be able to set up the Level II atrium each week. Hopefully, one day we will have a separate atrium for each of the 3 levels and possibly more so sessions can be run concurrently and class size can remain smaller.
As the school grows, we will definitely need more catechists. The training required by the National Association (CGSUSA) is extensive. Each catechist has 90 -125 hours of instruction for each level of certification. Courses are offered throughout the country and are a beautiful experience in themselves.
At St. Mary school we have 3 Level I catechists currently serving with 2 more in formation. We have 2 Level II catechists with no one in formation yet. We have one Level III catechist with one in formation.
In Religious Ed we have one Level I catechist serving with one renewing her training. We have one Level II catechist with no one in formation.
I am newly certified as a formation leader for Level I and offered a class for people who would like to become catechists but it has been interrupted by COVID 19 so we will have to resume in the summer.
The prepared environment for children is called the atrium, a term Maria Montessori adopted from the early church as the place where the catechumens were prepared. The atrium is a place of peace where children too are prepared for a greater participation in the liturgy.
We currently have one atrium dedicated to Level I and Level II children. Due to the size of the room and nature of the atrium experience we hold the number of children at each session to 12. At the school we offer 3 different sessions for the preschoolers, one session for kindergarten, one for second grade, and one for third grade.
The atrium for the Level III children does not exist yet on its own. We take our materials and use the library or sometimes the church for our sessions. During Religious Ed the Level I and Level II run concurrently on Sundays so we have worked hard to set up portable shelves in the library to be able to set up the Level II atrium each week. Hopefully, one day we will have a separate atrium for each of the 3 levels and possibly more so sessions can be run concurrently and class size can remain smaller.
As the school grows, we will definitely need more catechists. The training required by the National Association (CGSUSA) is extensive. Each catechist has 90 -125 hours of instruction for each level of certification. Courses are offered throughout the country and are a beautiful experience in themselves.
At St. Mary school we have 3 Level I catechists currently serving with 2 more in formation. We have 2 Level II catechists with no one in formation yet. We have one Level III catechist with one in formation.
In Religious Ed we have one Level I catechist serving with one renewing her training. We have one Level II catechist with no one in formation.
I am newly certified as a formation leader for Level I and offered a class for people who would like to become catechists but it has been interrupted by COVID 19 so we will have to resume in the summer.
|
|
|