If you’re like a lot of the teachers and catechists we hear from, you’ve got a classroom where at least some students lack even basic background knowledge of the Faith. Of course this happens all the time in subjects like reading, math or science where some students have gaps! But how do we address this in religion? Here are some ideas!
First, remember you can do lessons out of order. If you need to, you can even just start saying there is a God, He created everything, and this year we are learning all about His Son Jesus. (Or how He wants us to live (4th grade); His Word in the Bible (6th grade); the special ways He gave us to be close to Him, (5th grade) and so on. You cannot go wrong with teaching about Jesus!
If parents and families don’t know the Faith, we have a great resource to share with parents every week, called “Catch the Spirit Newsletters” — These are sooo good! They are easy to download from the online resource library and either email to parents, encouraging them to reach out if they have any questions. These are great tools to engage parents. Or, send them home in the students’ weekly folders.
Here are some links to make your classes even more engaging.
- Weekly Gospel lessons for October. (The little ones can’t write their responses, but you can easily adapt these lessons.)
- Talk about a Saint of the week, use the coloring pages and stories on this page.
- Have prayer leaders for the week where students get to lead in a prayer such as the Hail Mary, Our Father, or Glory Be.
- Take a Mini-pilgrimage in your school or parish: find a holy picture or statue and learn about it.
If you are new to Spirit of Truth, be sure to watch the Orientation videos here.
We would love to hear how things are going for you. if you’d like to chat one-on-one, please don’t hesitate to reach out! You can email us directly here.
We are praying for you and your students every day!
