Want to learn how to introduce Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to your kids at home? Here’s my background: Over the past year I’ve shared about our family’s home atrium on Instagram (part 1 and part 2) and in my Holy Labor newsletter (here). After I completed Level I training in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS), I felt drawn to offer a version of this Montessori-based method of faith formation to my own children—as I hope to help start an atrium in our parish one day, too. Turns out the pandemic brought me that unexpected opportunity as our kids were home all the time! Over the past two years, I’ve been introducing our kids to the beauty of CGS, making materials, and learning about the joys (and challenges) of being a catechist for one’s own children. Readers have asked me to share about our experience of building a home atrium, so I wanted to compile this collection of ideas and resources that might help others. A few important notes before we … [Read more...] about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd: our home atrium
catechesis
faith formation at home: 4 favorite resources
The sign-up sheet from church stared at me for months while I hemmed and hawed. What was the best day and time to pick for their religious education classes? Which one of us would drive and pick up? How would we fit it into the rest of the weekly calendar? Nothing worked perfectly. We talked ourselves into one option. Then another. Frustrated, I picked two class times and scribbled out a check. Then one Sunday morning, before I dropped off the registration forms, I pulled everything out of the envelope again. Nope, I thought. This doesn't feel right. We're not cramming faith formation in as one-more-thing, one-more-pickup-and-drop-off. We're doing it at home. . . . Here is the embarrassed admission of the theologically-trained mother: I am terrified to be the primary educator of my kids' faith formation, as the Catechism so beautifully puts it. I am scared because I know how frightfully important this is. It is the ultimate truth, the faith that defines my life and … [Read more...] about faith formation at home: 4 favorite resources
book, bath, table & time: teaching at home
I recently read Fred Edie's Book, Bath, Table, and Time: Christian Worship as Source and Resource for Youth Ministry for my research on vocation and youth. Drawing from his theological work with teenagers at the Duke Youth Academy, Edie writes about simple ways to retrieve the holy things and practices of the church to engage youth. I'm not a youth minister. But I enjoyed this book, and not just because it's about empowering teenagers to explore their vocations. I loved this book for its title. Book, bath, table, and time. Most of my life as a mother of two little ones revolves around these four things, places and moments. We read books from sun up to sun down. We splash in the bath every night. We gather around the table three times a day. And we follow a rhythm of routine that gives gentle order to our time. Since I finished Edie's book, I've found myself musing about book, bath, table, and time. Each offers opportunities for teaching my children - not just about God or religion, … [Read more...] about book, bath, table & time: teaching at home
