Catholic moms-I just want a list

[Jennifer132]

We are new Catholics (actually we will join the Church this spring). The older children are in RCIA for children and the younger children are in the Pre K RE class. But I'd like to do something at home too. What do you all use for religious education at home with your children? Feel free to just list some programs that would work well at home that I can then look into! Thanks!

[Epicurean]

I'm not Catholic, but I thought might enjoy this blog: http://www.catholicallyear.com/ I think she's pretty funny. She mostly uses Mother of Divine Grace, but you could check out her homeschooling posts for more.

[barnwife]

First, congrats on joining the Church.

Second, I use way too much, if that's possible. We read Bible stories every night. (Currently, each kid - we have 3 - picks one. And then we are reading straight through a different kids Bible.) The Catholic Bible for Children is definitely the favorite so far.

We use the themes from the God's Little Explorer curriculum for PreK. The curriculum is not Catholic, but it's basically a letter of the week thing based on a Bible story.

Our parish religious ed program uses Faith and Life for elementary. It's very solid in what it contains, even if it has other things that drive me bonkers. In K I start reading through this story of Jesus. When done with that we will begin using the Our Holy Faith series from TAN publications.

That will be followed by other versions of the life of Jesus (ask if you the specific names). That's as far as I've gotten planned, as our oldest just turned 6.

Oh, we also work on prayers and the Baltimore Catechism for memory work.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[Vida Winter]

You might enjoy reading The Catholic Home by Meredith Gould.  Congrats on coming into the church!

[Beaniemom]

Welcome to the Church. I too am a convert.

 

Catholic Icing has a cute pre-k program that is letter of the week/arts and crafts type stuff. Other than that we read from a children's bible. We are about to start a program studying virtues using the rosary. The program is called The Rosary Quilt. It looks great but sometimes I'm not great at follow through.

[LMCme]

We use Image of God for our young children but will likely switch to Faith and Life as they get older.  We do bible verse memorization -- we live in a very protestant area so being able to rattle off bible verses is kind of de rigeur.  We talk about saints, read little kid books about saints as they come around, etc.  We do religious "stuff" around holidays (e.g., talk about Halloween as All Hallows Eve; make sure we do advent stuff during advent, continue Christmas through the Christmas season).  They go to CCD where they use "Seeds" for the littles.

 

For us it is less about doing religion class and just making sure it is something built into everyday life -- my kids know the sign of the cross because they make it multiple times during the day, not because they learned about it in "catechism class".

 

Best,

LMC

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

In general, I like to keep catechism, Bible, and saint stories going for each student.  Sometimes we have another book that we read as well.

My 4yo is using the Catholic Children's Treasure Box series, Little Book of Saints series, and The Beginner's Bible.

My 6yo is using the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism, a Catholic children's Bible, the Once Upon a Time Saints books, and 2 extra books (Just Like Mary and The Mass Book for Children).

My 8yo is using the New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (part 1 of 3 parts), A Life of Our Lord for Children, and Saints for Young Readers for Everyday.

My 10yo is using the New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (part 3 of 3 parts), Bible History by Ignatius Schuster, 57 Stories of Saints, and St. Patrick's Summer.

My 12yo is using Chief Truths of the Faith and The Story of the Church.  We haven't picked a saint story yet, but dh or I are reading through books written by the saints with her.

 

We get a lot of our ideas from Mater Amabilis:  http://materamabilis.org/ma/ 

[misty.warden]

We use the Seton Religion for Young Catholics series, a Loyola Press book of saints stories, and the Baltimore catechism. Our Holy Faith sounds more meaty but DS seems to retain well with Seton so far without the activities.

 

 

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[Syllieann]

My children attend faith formation at church. At home we use classically Catholic memory, which includes scripture and catechism questions. We study bible history/church history/ saints along with history. I normally use connecting with history for that, but this year we are doing American history, which wasn't yet available via CWH. I like making music praying twice as a music and movement program for the preschool crowd. If you are able to find a Catechesis of the good shepherd program nearby for your youngers, I highly recommend it. I can't say enough good things about it.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

In general, I like to keep catechism, Bible, and saint stories going for each student.  Sometimes we have another book that we read as well.

My 4yo is using the Catholic Children's Treasure Box series, Little Book of Saints series, and The Beginner's Bible.

My 6yo is using the New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism, a Catholic children's Bible, the Once Upon a Time Saints books, and 2 extra books (Just Like Mary and The Mass Book for Children).

My 8yo is using the New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (part 1 of 3 parts), A Life of Our Lord for Children, and Saints for Young Readers for Everyday.

My 10yo is using the New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (part 3 of 3 parts), Bible History by Ignatius Schuster, 57 Stories of Saints, and St. Patrick's Summer.

My 12yo is using Chief Truths of the Faith and The Story of the Church.  We haven't picked a saint story yet, but dh or I are reading through books written by the saints with her.

 

We get a lot of our ideas from Mater Amabilis:  http://materamabilis.org/ma/ 

 

This list may look overwhelming but in reality it isn't.  We only read each book 1-2 times a week.  I'm reading all of them to my kids and I'm loving the connections that I'm making between the books for the different kids and between our history studies.  I've read most of the books multiple times and *I* get something new out of them each time I read them.

[knitgrl]

Welcome! I came into the Church two years ago. It is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. :)

 

Lots of great resources have already been mentioned, so I won't repeat those, but if you want to approach it from a character development angle, there is PACE (Program for Achieving Character Education) which is designed for K-6. And there is also a free resource called Virtues in Practice, also designed for multiple grade levels.

 

I have taught my daughter the basic prayers (the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Guardian Angel prayer) and the 3yo is starting to pick up on them. We start the school day with Children's Daily Prayer, which is a mini liturgy of the hours for kids and we read the saint of the day from Saints for Young Readers for Everyday. We also take the day off for our name days. The feast day for St. Francis is a big one at our house, which is coming up soon. We have a big Italian dinner and set the table with his statue in the center.

 

 

[aaplank]

Holy Heroes is great! Especially for Church year resources. http://www.holyheroes.com/

[Syllieann]

I forgot to add friendly defenders when I posted before. I put a new card up each week and we role play it each morning during our circle time.

[LostintheCosmos]

I'm also a convert, and the book I really wish I'd had when entering the Church is The Little Oratory, a guide to living the faith in the home. God bless you and your family!

[Terabith]

I've always wondered:  what if you want to convert but your preteen/ young teen children do not? 

[barnwife]

I've always wondered:  what if you want to convert but your preteen/ young teen children do not? 

Then you call the local parish and ask about RCIA (class for adults who want to convert). 

 

You could insist/ask that your teen attend Mass with you. But...depending on ages and personality, that might also not be the best way to convince them of the beauty of the RCC. It might be best to start strewing things around the house to get them interested. Or you could enroll them in the parishes religious ed program. 

 

The answer to the question of the preteen/young teen is incredibly varied. If one parent is already Catholic and the other is now converting, you could make Mass a family event that there is no choice about ("it's just what we do as a family" type thing). But again, depending on the teen, that could backfire.

 

It is certainly possible for a parent to convert without teens. 

[Terabith]

Neither parent is Catholic, but they attend Catholic school and have attended a two hour a week religious Ed class weekly since the age of three. They have well-reasoned differences with the church that I even agree with. I just love the community and sacraments.

[barnwife]

Neither parent is Catholic, but they attend Catholic school and have attended a two hour a week religious Ed class weekly since the age of three. They have well-reasoned differences with the church that I even agree with. I just love the community and sacraments.

To me (a cradle Catholic, so I might be missing some things), I think the most obvious places to start as an adult interested in the RCC would be to start attending Mass and inquiring about RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for adults).

 

Some people attend Mass for a long time before venturing further along the path to join the church. Others head straight for RCIA. There are bunches of books and resources that could be helpful too.

 

If you'd like to ask more specific questions, feel free to PM me.

[Moonhawk]

www.massexplained.com and http://catholicblogger1.blogspot.com are both great resources for coloring sheets, and easily digestible intros to vocabulary, saints, etc.  

 

I grew up with the Baltimore Catechism, though I haven't used it yet with my kids -- I don't remember what age I started.  The kids are still young so I don't do too many structured activities. We do daily Mass and then after Mass (if the 3yo can handle it, lol) we go to a different part of the church (tabernacle, altar, sacristy, some of the stained glass windows) and review what it is, why it is important, and a few prayers if appropriate.  At home, maybe once a week on Sundays, I will do a coloring activity or something like that. They have kids bibles around and they read those independently time to time.

 

And, we celebrate our saints' feast days. 

[scholastica]

We do a lot of the things mentioned already, and we also use Family Formation http://familyformation.net. It is really well done. My dh is a cradle Catholic and even he has learned a lot. Welcome to the Church! I've been here 21 years now and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. 

[Violet Crown]

Welcome to the Faith!

 

As many have mentioned above, the best way to teach the faith within your family is to live it. Prayers before and after meals; the rosary; the Angelus at noon; domestic observance of holy days and the children's saints' days. In your community, going as a family (as available) to Benediction, Adoration, Vespers, regular confession. Reading Holy Scripture, reading saints' lives. The old Vision series is excellent.

 

As far as materials, sifting through the options over two decades, these things have proved the most helpful to our family. (Many of them cheaply had through bookfinder.com )

 

Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. "The Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact was a Catholic comic book published by George A. Pflaum of Dayton, Ohio and provided to Catholic parochial school students between 1946 and 1972. The digital collection contains twenty-seven volumes running from 1946 to 1972." From the CUA archives. I don't know why more people don't know about this fantastic free resource for younger children.

http://cuislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/cuislandora%3A9584

 

Vision books. Many of the Vision saints' lives have been reprinted by Ignatius Press, but many of the most interesting books are still OOP. My girls' favorites include Ursulines: Nuns of Adventure; When Saints Were Young; and St. Therese and the Roses.

http://love2learnblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/vision-book-series.html

 

The Year and Our Children (Mary Reed Newland). A gentle guide to living the liturgical year at home. (1956 version)

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mary-reed-newland/the-year-and-our-children/

 

Examples and Anecdotes Illustrating the Catholic Catechism (Francis Spirago). Stories for each question in the BC, taken from "modern" (19th century), medieval, and even ancient Greek and Roman sources. My kids literally beg for readings from this. Free online!

https://books.google.com/books/about/Anecdotes_and_Examples_Illustrating_the.html?id=AuwPAAAAYAAJ

 

Pictorial Lives of the Saints (John Shea) (also free online). Straightforward, traditional, compact saints' lives, suitable for adults as well.

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=MpGsXL1cPMoC&rdid=book-MpGsXL1cPMoC&rdot=1

 

My Path to Heaven (Geoffrey Bliss). An Ignatian retreat for children. Brilliant illustrations by the great Caryll Houselander; I scan & print the illustrations for coloring as we talk about each chapter.

https://www.amazon.com/My-Path-Heaven-Young-Persons/dp/0918477484

 

The Catholic Picture Dictionary (Harold Pfeiffer). A great resource for answering questions like, "What is that thing on that other thing?"

https://www.amazon.com/Catholic-picture-dictionary-Harold-Pfeiffer/dp/B0007DKV3Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474810867&sr=1-2&keywords=pfeiffer+catholic+picture+dictionary

 

For catechesis:

 

My Catholic Faith (Fr. Morrow). Based on the BC; my favorite catechetical resource ever. Note: post-1960 editions are substantially different from the classic 1949 original. You can see some of Part I online here: http://www.willingshepherds.net/Doctrine.htm

http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=morrow&title=my+catholic+faith&lang=en&new_used=*&destination=us&currency=USD&binding=*&isbn=&keywords=&minprice=&maxprice=&min_year=&max_year=1960&mode=advanced&st=sr&ac=qr

 

The Baltimore Catechism. Can't go wrong with the BC. Free online.

 

Our Goal and Our Guides (4 books). Solid 4-year high school course. Available from OLVS, or used.

http://www.olvs.org/shopcart/InvDtl.aspx?InvId=10366&GrdId=&InvCatId=

 

Fr. Laux textbooks. High school level series of 6 books; excellent for adult converts as well.

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/rev-fr-john-laux-m-a-.html

 

ETA: Adding links as I find them.

Edited September 25, 2016 by Violet Crown

[Ellie]

We are new Catholics (actually we will join the Church this spring).

 

Welcome home!

[Ellie]

We are new Catholics (actually we will join the Church this spring). The older children are in RCIA for children and the younger children are in the Pre K RE class. But I'd like to do something at home too. What do you all use for religious education at home with your children? Feel free to just list some programs that would work well at home that I can then look into! Thanks!

 

I have links for resources on my web site, Catholic Family Educators. You might find something there that you'll like. :-)

[barnwife]

Do you know of any place where I can see samples of the Our Holy Faith books?

Unfortunately I don't.

 

I bought the first one based solely on the description. 

 

It has been/is a good fit for us. I was looking for something to use alongside the Image of God preschool books (what our parish uses for preK and K). and Faith and Life in first grade. I thought Faith and Life 1 might be just a tad too wordy for our oldest (6 yo).

 

I wanted something between those 2 series to continue his faith formation at home. 

 

Our Holy Faith is working well for us. I plan to order the next book in the series when we finish "My Father and Mother on Earth and in Heaven."

 

Each page has a heading with probably 5-8 sentences further describing it, along with sweet, old-school illustrations. 

 

For example (if this isn't allowed, moderators please delete, or ask me to), one heading is "What We Do in Church." This is followed by 6 sentences ("We take holy water." "We genuflect." "We pray." are some.) with illustrations and then a question. 

 

Let me know if I can help more.

 

[barnwife]

Those sound loveky, thanks! What age do you think they're best for? Do you read a lesson daily?

Well, I am using the first one with our 3, 4, and 6 yo. The 6 yo tends toward the late end of the spectrum for things overall. The 4 yo seems slightly ahead of the game. The first one was designed to be used as First Holy Communion preparation in first grade. 

 

DS6 is in first grade religious ed this year, but I call him K for everything else. I'd say the first one is perfect for K or 1st grade

 

We don't read from it every day. Probably 2 or 3 times a week we read a couple pages. We also are reading from a book that has 36 stories/poems about the life of Jesus. So we alternate as we desire. We read Bible stories at night.

 

When we finish the first Our Holy Faith or the book about Jesus, we will probably start the New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism and another book about the life of Jesus designed for FHC prep. Hopefully, we will still have time for a study of the Mass before DS's FHC.

[egao_gakari]

Welcome home!! The Catholic Children's Bible is a great one, it's the only one I know of that is a full Catholic Bible rather than just stories. Mine are 9 and 11, so it's a **bit** young, but they love it.

 

I love The Great Adventure Bible study for Catholic adults, and they have a coloring book, game, and teacher's guide for young children. Provides the awareness that the Bible is one big story rather than a bunch of unconnected little stories. Mine were too old for it by the time it came out, though.

 

Christian LeBlanc has a one-year course designed for sixth graders called The Bible Tells Me So. Similar to The Great Adventure, but it's a bit annoying because it is highly scripted, in his personal (very Southern) idiom... I don't know how else to describe it. We like it, but it takes getting used to.

 

We love Tweeting With God as a very basic catechism. Answers tweet-length questions with 2-page explanations and a tweet-length summary; it's arranged under the same categories as the CCC and has cross-references with the CCC, YouCat, and other Catechism resources.

 

On standby for high school, I have The Catholic Spirit, which relates Catholic literature, music, art, and film to elements of the Catechism. Similarly arranged under the four CCC sections.

 

Theology of the Body for Teens Middle School edition--we haven't actually used it yet because I haven't figured out how to adapt it for homeschool and the 9-year-old isn't ready for it. But I plan to use it next year or the year after.

 

I also looked up a basic list of what Catholics should know by the time they are confirmed. We are using the

to memorize the creeds, 10 Commandments, Beatitudes, Gifts & Fruits of the Spirit, Precepts of the Church, books of the Bible, Spiritual & Corporal Works of Mercy, and relevant Bible passages. I certainly never learned all that before being confirmed--but I'm happy to have the chance to learn with them now!

 

We also read the Psalms and main reading from the Office of Readings every morning. Once they get older we'll start reading the excerpt from the Fathers of the Church as well, but it's too complex for their current attention spans.

 

I don't know much about Saints resources, though, so  :bigear:!