Religious Education Topics

[superblue]

 I try to keep my 8th graders that I volunteer for engaged and informed, the basic program we have to go from, for me is beyond boring and I do not blame the kids for being disinterested either. The books we have to go from are to me more suited to children from 6th grade and lower, and perhaps even 5th grade an lower......

 

 

so I guess first thing is, does anyone know of any programs,,, teaching guides that are a bit more mature for 8th graders in teaching the faith. 

 

I question this semester what the kids in my class really know, we go over prayers, and the beatitudes and I have been going over Joan of Arc with them, but then out of curiosity  I asked what they knew about interfaith marriage, that basically we are to marry in the faith Catholics, and that if we decide to marry outside the faith, that it requires  a lot of consideration and possibly permission from ones bishop. And that is just what I could find in the YouCat,

 

It was rather amazing to see these three I have in my class and only three mind you, go bananas. you would have thought I had lite a fuse to a bomb and told them they had better run.

 

They had no clue, and neither did I at their age. Heck I didn't know for the longest time about interfaith marriage and the responsibilities that come with it, I figured anyone could be catholic and just marry whom ever in a catholic church.

 

which in turn got them jumping on homosexual marriages, and then next thing I knew Three 8th girls had me bleeding out the ears and I was sorry I ever mentioned anything.

 

Thankfully after the bleeding stopped I was able to recoop and refocus everything back on Christ and reminded them that we have guidelines, and choices to make and ultimately that those rules/ guidelines are to lead us to Christ and so should our choices.

 

 

So my question is , are these type of topics best left for someone else to bring up, I dunno in high school ?

 

I mean at what point does a Catechist if ever breach such topics, cohabitation even came up, and one of my students was like, well how are we to know if we get along if we don't live together !, An it just boggled my mind,

 

Are there books on these things to educate 8th graders, or are we as catechists just left flying in the wind to stick to the simple things, learn prayers, learn the basics, and figure everything out later in life when ever and how ever that may come.

[tinytherese]

I recommend pming BrotherAdam since he has experience as both a director of religious education and a youth minister.

[truthfinder]

On a practical note, never let them get the best of you.  I once had a grade 4 student ask me what a virgin was (it was related to Mary) - but the child had a glimmer in his eye which I knew meant he was up to no good.  The interfaith marriage is odd - kind of like the concessions now being debated about communion for the remarried. In an attempt to not lose people, no fuss is made.  I've come across that in some (maybe even many) places in the past would hold interfaith marriages in the sacristy.  Obviously, it was an extremely low key thing - everyone knew something was a little 'different'. 

 

When I was teaching Catechism, (7th grade) I inherited a list of topics from the parish and the previous teacher.  We worked hard making all the lessons ourselves and then tailored them to the students that particular year.  Because catechism has been so badly neglected over the last 50 years, we really are fighting against the current.

 

 

[Basilisa Marie]

Is there someone running the program? Have you talked to them? And your priest, if that doesn't work?  What series are you using? BrotherAdam is great, as well as Lil Red. 

 

YDisciple seems to be pretty successful around me, as well as the "Chosen" series. There are lots of series and curriculums out there, whomever is being paid to run the program (or the head volunteer, whomever is in charge) should help you with finding one. If they aren't being helpful, you should talk to your priest.  See if there are any other middle school youth ministers in the area and find out what they're using, too. 

 

Sounds to me like it's best if you left those topics for high school. Middle schoolers are tough to deal with, and if you don't feel confident handling their objections (they're bound to be many, frequent, and tricky), for your own sanity it's best if you don't deal with those topics unless you feel prepared. :) 

[Gabriela]

I have zero experience teaching CCD, and practically no contact with children. That being said, I don't get why one should avoid hitting the "tough topics" until high school. It would seem to me that, by the time they're in high school, they'll be confronting these issues daily, and so it will be too late. Better to get them clear on the Catholic perspective years in advance, so that they have a solid, long-standing intellectual background from which to approach these high school dilemmas.

 

No?

[veritasluxmea]

In general, I would suggest bringing up the topics as they begin to encounter and understand them. For example, I met a gay rights activist when I was four. Would that be a appropriate age to address that topic? No, because I didn't understand being gay or gay relationships, at all. Later in life I started to encounter gay rights, porn, contraception, abortion, and all that stuff more directly starting around age 12. I kind of understood it then, but not really. I don't think I truly, fully understood it until around age 15, maybe 16. 

 

So when they encounter it, usually around age 10, address it in a way that appropriate for them, that's on the same level as they currently understand it. For example, one class I had some fifth graders start talking about transgender people. They didn't really understand gender dysphoria or even the term "transgender," but they were still asking about "boys who dress like girls" and how someone's dad said Megan Fox was a boy (not sure where that one came from!). I couldn't really redirect the class because they were so fixated on the idea. So I sat down and addressed it, in an age-appropriate way, about how we will be happiest living the way God created us body and soul and always need to respect and love people like Jesus or something like that, can't remember now. No fifth grade program is going to include a class on issues like that, and it really shouldn't. I would never start that discussion on my own at that age. But you have to be prepared to address whatever comes up!

[superblue]

I appreciate the responses and insight, one thing I did learn out of this past nightmare, is to not go in off the cuff like I did, it really was a spur of the moment thing and yikes.... Thing is I got a feeling kids in the 8th grade are encountering plenty of these issues at a faster rate than say in the 80s or heck the 90s, and how sad that the 80s and 90s are now ancient history.

 

** sniffles , the world was so much simpler then **

 

I remember a boy in my class year had snickered under his breath about how he had already tried marijuana, I know I didn't let his comment slip but I forgot the remarks by either of us after that.... 

 

Which oh yeah now we can thank law makers for legalizing marijuana in certain states, and making it even harder to try an convince kids the dangers of it, while at the same time trying to explain why there are more anti-smoking ads ...

 

 

One thing i would like to see for my class in the years to come, is the Youcat and the study guide being given to students for us to work from, to me it makes much more sense to do, the Youcat is designed to be at their level, and the study guide i imagine is good too....

 

my problem is trying to get that through the directors, i actually did bring up getting youcats for the students, and maybe it isn't cheap is why,, lol but so far we at least got one to work from. the one i was originally given for free from a priest, i in turn donated it to another student at the end of the school year..