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Catholic Parents: Do You Have Any Favorite Ways of Teaching All the Prayers?


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My DS8 is going to be receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and then a month later First Communion. Beforehand he needs to know a lot of our Catholic prayers. Do you have a favorite music CD that sings the prayers, commandments, sacraments, or a favorite book? And given that my wiggly willy son doesn't actually enjoy going to Mass, do you have any strategies that might help me in preparing him for these Sacraments and (hopefully) lifelong journey? Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

 

Kelly

Edited by kellycbr
I can't write....
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I would also suggest Saint Joseph's First Communion Catechism. We just say them over and over. I have also used a personal voice recorder to record the prayer and my dc then listen to it over and over until they know them. Most of the time I say the prayer and they say it back, we do this about 4 times a day until they get it.

 

As far as being wiggly during Mass...my ds6 is very much that way. it is hard for him to keep still during any situation. Firstly, we sit in one of the front two rows so that he can see what is going on. That helps a lot. I also go prepared with quiet things for him to look at. I have about 8 prayer cards in my purse, those always end up in his hands. I usually bring, "The lift flap Catholic Bible". That is fairly small and it keeps him occupied looking at the pictures when he does get bored. We also have a few Catholic activity books ( My Catholic Pray and Play Activity Book)

that I copy the pages of. I bring one or two pages along with a pencil. He can sit there and match up items or do a dot to dot. Most of the book is about prayers or the Mass. He is only allowed to look at these things while we are sitting. When we stand or kneel, he has to as well. honestly though, he really likes standing and kneeling. It really helps him that we aren't just sitting still for an hour.

 

Good luck. my dd8 has just had her first sacrement of reconciliation and will be taking her first Holy Communion this May. She is not my squirmy kid though, she loves Mass and jumps at the chance to go with me! Even during the week! She was allowed to bring a copy of an Act of Contrition with her into confession. Most of the kids hadn't totally learned it, but if they go to confession enough it will be memorized.

 

HTH

Jenny

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I should have mentioned that DS8 is not an auditory learner. He's very smart, a bit ADHD, and strong-willed. He can tell you every line of Star Wars, and loves Greek and Roman history (the gore factor), so I thought I could connect with him on the church history. It worked, but Mass is just torture for him. Its toooo sloooowwww, and toooo much talking. So, pencil and paper it is for my budding artist. Now, to get those prayers memorized and recited to our wonderful priest without him laying on the floor and rolling around:toetap05:

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has the most often used ones and if he needs something to do, moving those beads through his hands as he says it can be helpful.

 

other than that, just using the balt cat is enough for us. we read and review for about 15-20 minutes a day tops, closer to 10 minutes until they know it.

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Catholicmoms.com (I think that is right, or it might be catholicmom.com) has quizes etc. that you can print off that relate to Mass. Things like, what color are the priest's vestments today, etc. It gets them involved in Mass without creating a distraction for others. A friend of mine has to use that for her dd8, otherwise she can be distruptive with all her wiggling, lying down, etc.

 

To highjack a bit here....Any suggestions for a craft activity related to St. Patrick? Or a website with Catholic craft ideas? We are hosting our Catholic Home School Group next Friday and I would like to teach about what St. Patrick is REALLY about.

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I have not used it but there is a DVD from Netflix called "Prayers for Little Children" that covers the Hail Mary Our Father and some other prayers. There is another in the series called "The Rosary for little Children" as well but I forgot to check and see if Netflix has that one or not. I think they do though.

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We pray a decade of the rosary every morning before school; they quickly learned the Apostles Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be. We have spurts of saying the Angelus at noon. My children learned all their prayers naturally by saying them at home.

 

For the 10 Commandments and the Sacraments, we made lap books for each of those. I do have a CD somewhere that has the sacraments, 10 Commandments, Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, but for the life of me I can't find it.

 

Janet

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To highjack a bit here....Any suggestions for a craft activity related to St. Patrick? Or a website with Catholic craft ideas? We are hosting our Catholic Home School Group next Friday and I would like to teach about what St. Patrick is REALLY about.

 

You mean, you're not just going to serve green beer? ;)

 

http://www.catholicmom.com/st_patricks_day.htm

 

http://www.domestic-church.com/

 

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/

 

http://www.chcweb.com/catalog/ByGradeLevel/FirstGrade/AYearwithGodCelebratingtheLiturgicalYear/product_info.html

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