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If you are Protestant or Non-Denominational?

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Tutor

Tutor

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Yes. Our whole family is memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism at home, and the kids are learning the Children's Catechism (based on the WSC) at Sunday School.

 

Funny story:

Our Children's Director at church decided to reward the kids with a pizza party if they learned X # of questions from the Children's Catechism (# depends on age of student). Our 6yo learned 19 of his 20 but was stuck on "What is God?" The answer is "God is a spirit and has not a body like man." I was trying to help him the other day:

 

Me: "What is God?"

 

6yo: "God is a.... a..."

 

Me: "Ssss.."

 

6yo: "God is a... sin?"

 

12yo: (quietly to me) "Ooooh... he's going straight to hell."

 

Then we all burst out laughing. (We figure he was thinking he had a 50/50 shot since the two big religious "S" words he knows are "sin" and "spirit.")

 

We kept working on it (obviously), and yesterday he didn't even wait until class to tell his teacher the answer. He ran up to her in the hallway, mouth full of doughnut, and yelled, "GodisaspiritandhasnotabodylikemancanIgotothepizzaparty!?" LOL!

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Daisy

Daisy

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We also do Awanas with our nondenominational church. I would easily say this is similar to a catechism. Basic doctrinal truths taught with Scripture memory and in a question/answer format.

 

We just happen to agree more with the Westminster Catechism.

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SonshineLearner

SonshineLearner

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We have Dana Dirksen's cds which painlessly teach aprox. 6 + questions and answers from a Catechism book. You can look at her site... at the sheet music to see what the questions and answers are. Something I think is funny is most of us are teaching the Catechism of many subjects. Science... Math..... etc... but we've just not been calling it Catechism. Once you get use to the term.... it's easier to see why we'd need the Catechism of the Bible..... These cds are very affordable... easy on the ears... and are real truth:-) http://songsforsaplings.com/index.php

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forty-two

forty-two

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Yes, we are Lutheran, and we're going to have the kids memorize Luther's Small Catechism (right now I'm working on it myself :tongue_smilie:). I'm just now, though I'm a life-long Lutheran, truly appreciating what a treasure it is. It is the framework for everything we believe - the simple truths expressed in the Small Catechism are applicable to just about any Scripture or life situation. I am always trying to find the fundamentals of each subject - the "big ideas" that form the essence of the discipline. For our faith - itself the core of everything we do - those fundamentals are right there in the Small Catechism. Everything else flows from it and is properly interpreted in light of the truths (a correct explanation of Scripture) expressed in it. It is amazing - and it is definitely the foundation of what we will teach our kids.

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Emmy

Emmy

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No. I had never even heard of a "catechism" related to non-Catholic Christians until my dc were all grown up.

 

:iagree: I have never heard of learning a catechism. The context in which I have heard the word catechism is Catholic friends saying "I have catechism on wednesday night".

 

Is a catechism a series of questions that kids memorize the answers to?

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forty-two

forty-two

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Is a catechism a series of questions that kids memorize the answers to?
More or less.

 

Luther's Small Catechism (you can read an older translation here) has six chief parts - Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and Communion - plus prayers, a Table of Duties, and Christian Questions with Their Answers. The first three parts are structured like this, e.g.:

The Eighth Commandment.

 

 

 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

 

 

What does this mean?--Answer.

We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

 

The rest is largely set up as a series of Q&As, with occasional examples. The goal is to teach the fundamentals of the faith in a simple way.
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JudoMom

JudoMom

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Yes. Our whole family is memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism at home, and the kids are learning the Children's Catechism (based on the WSC) at Sunday School.

 

Funny story:

Our Children's Director at church decided to reward the kids with a pizza party if they learned X # of questions from the Children's Catechism (# depends on age of student). Our 6yo learned 19 of his 20 but was stuck on "What is God?" The answer is "God is a spirit and has not a body like man." I was trying to help him the other day:

 

Me: "What is God?"

 

6yo: "God is a.... a..."

 

Me: "Ssss.."

 

6yo: "God is a... sin?"

 

12yo: (quietly to me) "Ooooh... he's going straight to hell."

 

Then we all burst out laughing. (We figure he was thinking he had a 50/50 shot since the two big religious "S" words he knows are "sin" and "spirit.")

 

We kept working on it (obviously), and yesterday he didn't even wait until class to tell his teacher the answer. He ran up to her in the hallway, mouth full of doughnut, and yelled, "GodisaspiritandhasnotabodylikemancanIgotothepizzaparty!?" LOL!

 

:lol::lol::lol:

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mom2att

mom2att

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I have done the questions from Memory Work Notebook by Paul G. Settle with my oldest, and am currently going through them with my youngest. My middle is not the question/rote answer type, but he still knows most of them by virtue of hearing his siblings recite. This book has the Catechism for Young Children (based on Westminster) for preschool - 5th grade, and moves into the Shorter Catechism after that. We have never gotten to that point.

 

Another good resource is Big Truths for Little Kids by Susan & Richie Hunt. It takes the same basic questions and adds to them an ongoing story about a boy and a girl who are learning the questions and answers. I find it a bit sappy, but it does sort of tie the loose ends.

 

I like the idea of learning the rote questions and answers in the grammar stage, sort of like memorizing historical figures or timelines. It puts the words in place, ready to be digested and understood later on.

 

I didn't do anything like this as a child, but I am finding it valuable for my children.

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Sputterduck

Sputterduck

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Yes. Our whole family is memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism at home, and the kids are learning the Children's Catechism (based on the WSC) at Sunday School.

 

Funny story:

Our Children's Director at church decided to reward the kids with a pizza party if they learned X # of questions from the Children's Catechism (# depends on age of student). Our 6yo learned 19 of his 20 but was stuck on "What is God?" The answer is "God is a spirit and has not a body like man." I was trying to help him the other day:

 

Me: "What is God?"

 

6yo: "God is a.... a..."

 

Me: "Ssss.."

 

6yo: "God is a... sin?"

 

12yo: (quietly to me) "Ooooh... he's going straight to hell."

 

Then we all burst out laughing. (We figure he was thinking he had a 50/50 shot since the two big religious "S" words he knows are "sin" and "spirit.")

 

We kept working on it (obviously), and yesterday he didn't even wait until class to tell his teacher the answer. He ran up to her in the hallway, mouth full of doughnut, and yelled, "GodisaspiritandhasnotabodylikemancanIgotothepizzaparty!?" LOL!

 

About like the time my son told a sunday school teacher "I peed on Jesus."

 

:glare:

 

He had a Jesus brochure when he was 3 that he loved so much he'd sleep with it. Well, he overflowed his nighttime diaper and soaked Jesus. Unfortunately, I was not there to explain to the teacher what he meant. :glare: I'm still rather embarrassed. It would have been nice if my boyfriend at the time's mother, who overheard the whole thing and then told me about it, had explained to the teacher why he said that. :glare:

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SonshineLearner

SonshineLearner

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What is Catechism anyway? I've attended a wide variety of churches and never heard of it at any of them.

"Catechism" just means..... Questions and Answers,

 

So... Teacher says, 1. "Who is God?"

 

Who is God?

God is the only living and true God. He’s the all-glorious, almighty, all-knowing

Sovereign Creator and Lord of the whole universe.

God is perfect and holy, infinite, eternal and unchanging.

 

Who is God?

God is perfect and holy, infinite, eternal and unchanging

Our mind can’t comprehend the glories of our God and King

Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and Glory forever and ever.

I Timothy Chapter 1, verse 17….. be honor and glory forever and ever Amen.

 

For example:-)

We use Dana Dirksen's songs..... So... it's easy:-)

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JoyfulMama

JoyfulMama

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Well, we own an ancient copy of Luther's Small Catechism, from my dh's family. My dh grew up Lutheran, and learned it. I learned about all the items, but not in the same way. I want my children to be familiar with the Small Catechism, but I don't "teach" it to them for memorization. Now, if my dh wanted to, I wouldn't stop him from teaching it to our kids, as it is important to him. But it's not my preference.

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petepie2

petepie2

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My DD5 and DS3 are learning the Baptist Catechism adapted by John Piper. DD is on question 87 and DS is on question 7. At their age, I explain what I can, but mostly I just want them to memorize while it's easy for them. When they're a little older, we'll work on the understanding part. DD has been working on the catechism for almost 2 years now. We also do scripture memorization.

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Coleroo

Coleroo

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Do you teach your children the Catechism? I have taught my son (first grade) catechism this year, and find it a very useful tool. It is (obviously) a protestant catechism, but there are so many great truths. Of course, this comes secondary for us to memorizing Scripture.

 

I attended a baptist private school and remember learning catechisms all through 3rd grade (we had a book specifically for it).

 

I plan on teaching them to my kids as well.

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Mrs.W

Mrs.W

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Yes, when our kids were younger we used First Catechism (and still review it occasionally), but now my oldest is memorizing the Heidelberg Catechism for church. They have to memorize half of it each year. I wish I'd had this kind of training (as well as Scripture memorization) as a child. Oh, and for anyone else using the Heidelberg, please try to find a copy of the book Three Men Came to Heidelberg. It's a great background story to include in your Reformation readings.

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Marylou

Marylou

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Yes, the Heidelberg Catechism.

 

 

 

Question. 1 "What is your only comfort in life and death?"

Answer:

 

 

"That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him."

 

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Hedgehogs4

Hedgehogs4

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YES! We are currently going through the book "Training Hearts Teaching Minds" and it takes one catechism question per week and does devotionals on it. I have to say that I am getting so much out of this myself! It's a little like reading John 3:16 for the 398,000th time and finally "getting it!" We refer back to it in conversation. We are incorporating it into our lives. I would recommend this for anyone who desires to give their children a solid Christian foundation and worldview.

Edited by Hedgehogs4
grammar
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Paintedlady

Paintedlady

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YES! We are currently going through the book "Training Hearts Teaching Minds" and it takes one catechism question per week and does devotionals on it. I have to say that I am getting so much out of this myself! It's a little like reading John 3:16 for the 398,000th time and finally "getting it!" We refer back to it in conversation. We are incorporating it into our lives. I would recommend this for anyone who desires to give their children a solid Christian foundation and worldview.

 

:iagree: This is what we're using as well. I absolutely love it! We're taking a break from right now b/c we're using another book for Advent, but we'll be back to our regular schedule after Christmas.

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