To Jesus Through Mary Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 So tomorrow I am teaching 3rd graders, who are preparing for 1st communion. None of them have ANY catechisis. Very culturally Catholic and poor neighborhood where the brokenness on a scale of 1-10 is an 11.. Most of the kids didn't know the story of salvation. So I am going back to the very very basics and starting from the ground up. Tomorrow I am covering creation 1. God the Creator of all things 2. The story of creation 3. Man made in the image and likeness of God. Here is where I am stuck. I was raised protestant, so we took the creation story literally. I know many Catholics do not. How do you approach this? Do you say definitively it is only meant in a figuratively and poetically? Or do you say we don't know? In your experience what has worked best for you? Any thoughts or advise is much appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 (edited) Well, they are 3rd graders. Tell them the story as it is: a story that illuminates the truths of the faith, not the truths of science. They may well be too young to understand the difference yet. Some precious little mind may actually grasp at the difference, and that would be my cue if it was me. I haven't taught much CCD, and not to 3rd graders, but it was this way with my 4th graders too. In other words, just tell the story, and see what they do. Edited September 29, 2012 by arfink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 If the only thing you get across to them is that Jesus loves them. You've won. The best way to teach them that is to demonstrate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groo the Wanderer Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I am recommending this book to all of you as an example of how to teach in the classroom, how to keep it fun and engaging, how to shift gears when things don’t go quite as expected, and to illustrate how to teach the faith and root it in Scripture, even for little ones who have not been churched. Here is a link to the book on amazon.com. Once there, please take 30 minutes or so to “Click to Look Inside†and read a free preview of the first chapters. [url="http://www.amazon.com/The-Bible-Tells-Catechizing-Scripture/dp/1475296657/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342636128&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bible+tells+me+so"]http://www.amazon.com/The-Bible-Tells-Catechizing-Scripture/dp/1475296657/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342636128&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bible+tells+me+so[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To Jesus Through Mary Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Thanks so much for all of your advise!! Arfink I think you are spot on. And Jaime although I agree knowing the love of God is the most important I really don't want to see another uncatechized generation that doesn't know their faith because all they got was fluff and warm fuzzies. I am sure you weren't implying that at all, but that is why I am taking what I teach so seriously. Groo- thanks for the recommendation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissyP89 Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 You can say, maybe, that the story is our way of explaining what we understand about God and life -- that He made everything, and us in a special way; that we chose ourselves instead of Him and sin entered the world; that He is sad about our sin yet always ready to forgive. I've never taught CCD before, but the one thing you can do for sure is convey the truths of that story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcePrincessKRS Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 [quote name='To Jesus Through Mary' timestamp='1349002527' post='2488380'] Thanks so much for all of your advise!! Arfink I think you are spot on. And Jaime although I agree knowing the love of God is the most important I really don't want to see another uncatechized generation that doesn't know their faith because all they got was fluff and warm fuzzies. I am sure you weren't implying that at all, but that is why I am taking what I teach so seriously. Groo- thanks for the recommendation! [/quote] I don't think that's what jaime meant. I don't teach CCD, but I do have 2 kids [b]in[/b] CCD, and I homeschool so I teach religion at home. Sometimes kids in that age range aren't ready to grasp what all the right answers mean. They might have the facts, but if all they understand from those facts is that Jesus loves them they can build off of that and begin to understand the other points a little better. My 7 year old has memorized numerous answers to her Baltimore Catechism book, but that doesn't mean she understands the ins and outs of it all. For her first few chapters when I'd ask her the questions half her answers were "Because God loves us?" I'd answer, "Yes, he does, but..." and then explain the actual answer to the original question. They have to start somewhere, and if they really know nothing as you say then "Jesus loves me" is an excellent place to start. Hopefully they walk away with a little more than that, but some of them might not, and that's not a failure on your part. Catechesis should start at home, and be continued at home after CCD is over. You need to teach them, yes, but if they don't learn [i]everything[/i] the fault doesn't rest on your shoulders. In my parish attendance more than doubles in the fall when CCD starts up, and we have families who just drop their kids off and skip Mass altogether (my pastor hates this and is very vocal about it), the teachers do their best but it's not their fault if parents are dropping the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Scott Hahn says in The Didache Series that "Genesis was not made to show us [i]how [/i]God created the world, but [i]why.[/i]" I would recommend giving this distinction, but I'm not sure since they are 3rd graders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To Jesus Through Mary Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 [quote name='IcePrincessKRS' timestamp='1349024127' post='2488423'] I don't think that's what jaime meant. I don't teach CCD, but I do have 2 kids [b]in[/b] CCD, and I homeschool so I teach religion at home. Sometimes kids in that age range aren't ready to grasp what all the right answers mean. They might have the facts, but if all they understand from those facts is that Jesus loves them they can build off of that and begin to understand the other points a little better. My 7 year old has memorized numerous answers to her Baltimore Catechism book, but that doesn't mean she understands the ins and outs of it all. For her first few chapters when I'd ask her the questions half her answers were "Because God loves us?" I'd answer, "Yes, he does, but..." and then explain the actual answer to the original question. They have to start somewhere, and if they really know nothing as you say then "Jesus loves me" is an excellent place to start. Hopefully they walk away with a little more than that, but some of them might not, and that's not a failure on your part. Catechesis should start at home, and be continued at home after CCD is over. You need to teach them, yes, but if they don't learn [i]everything[/i] the fault doesn't rest on your shoulders. In my parish attendance more than doubles in the fall when CCD starts up, and we have families who just drop their kids off and skip Mass altogether (my pastor hates this and is very vocal about it), the teachers do their best but it's not their fault if parents are dropping the ball. [/quote] Ah I see much more clearly what you and Jaime are saying. I have so much to learn about this. Thank you for this insight!! I really do want so badly to teach them as much as possible as I know they will most likely never learn this again. It could be the last time the come to church in their childhood. It happens far to often. But there is no way in an 1 1/2 hrs per week I would be able to teach them everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcePrincessKRS Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 [quote name='To Jesus Through Mary' timestamp='1349035692' post='2488502'] Ah I see much more clearly what you and Jaime are saying. I have so much to learn about this. Thank you for this insight!! I really do want so badly to teach them as much as possible as I know they will most likely never learn this again. It could be the last time the come to church in their childhood. It happens far to often. But there is no way in an 1 1/2 hrs per week I would be able to teach them everything. [/quote] I know you will do the best you can with the little time you have. I'll pray for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaPetiteSoeur Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 There are several great books I used when I taught family faith formation (Grades K-12) in an inner city parish. I love [i]The Catholic Youth Handbook [/i]. I still have it and use it now in the RCIA class I teach. It's from St. Mary's Press and discusses everyting from the creed to the sacraments to morality to prayer in readable terms. It's very easy to simplify the language for little kids. There are also prayers, saints' spotlights, did you knows, and Q and As in each chapter. Everything is related back to the catechism. YouCat is pretty good for explanations, and Ignatius Press has some good books as well. Good luck! Third graders are really sweet and are generally eager to learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 I don't know the answer to your question. All I know is that throughout grade school no one ever hinted that the creation story did not need to be taken literally. This led to a bit of confusion for me until freshman year of (Catholic) high school when we started with learning about evolution and some other kid asked something like "how can we learn this, I thought Catholics believed in the creation story?" Luckily our biology teacher was able to discuss this with us very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinytherese Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 The brains of 3rd grade kids aren't ready for anything other than a literal interpretation of the Creation Story. Don't go near other interpretations until they are at least in middle school or preferably high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmaD2006 Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 To Jesus Through Mary --- get Scott Hahn's book "A Father who Keeps His Promises." It goes through salvation history. Also see: [url="http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/lesson/genesis_creation_fall_and_promise"]http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/lesson/genesis_creation_fall_and_promise[/url] Hope this helps, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinytherese Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 (edited) I've been told that When Children Adore is the a phenominal First Communion preparation program and that Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is worth investing it. Brother Adam could give you advice as well since he's a director of religious education. Edited October 1, 2012 by tinytherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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