The first year

After I had observed how the catechists were frequently not using the book and creating their own activities to our first grade students, I decided that we would move to a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd based program for both Kindergarten and first grade the next year, despite the fact that I had yet to see the method in action! Sometimes bold action is called for and if I had know where this decision would lead me I sometimes wonder if I would have continued!

After some research I found the Home Catechesis Manual by Moira Farrell (scroll down to the bottom of the page) which is designed for homeschooling moms who don't necessarily have a background in Montessori. I also found a nice blog called Wildflowers and Marbles that had some good suggestions and further resources to check out. Finally, I found some great books through a friend (though they're not Montessori) that teach children about the Mass and about making little acts of love for Jesus. So, I began slowly trying to pull all these pieces together into something that my untrained catechists could teach comfortably, that the children would enjoy, and most importantly that would build devotion in the children.

This program worked to a certain extent, but since the catechists didn't readily grasp the idea of letting the children work on their own with the materials, they still continued to create their own curriculum additions for each lesson. I knew that I needed to get trained if I was going to better guide my catechists.

The Adventure Begins

A few years ago when I first became the Director of Religious Education for a Catholic parish I encountered the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Though I had no formal training in the Catechesis and as yet no clear idea how such a program worked I knew that the method being described to me was a more authentic way of handing on the faith to our youngest children (grades K and 1) than than the traditional model being used by our program. But, I had several problems:

- I wasn't trained
- I didn't have any trained Catechists
- I didn't have a dedicated space
- I didn't have any materials

But, being convinced that the Catechesis would better for the young children than anything else I had found, I didn't let these problems deter me. I started off on the long, arduous, and extremely rewarding adventure of being the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to our parish program. It is an adventure which is still in it's infancy, but which has already seen great fruit. I pray that as the program grows it will bear much more.

This blog is intended to chronicle my journey. I have received much help over the last couple of years from others and hope that I may offer the same assistance to those who may decide to embark on the same adventure.

May God bless our efforts to prepare an environment where "the mystery of the child meets the mystery of God."