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What makes Spirit of Truth unique?
Keeps Your Students Engaged
Spirit of Truth provides interactive, teacher-led lesson plans for every day of the school year, including vivid sacred art reflections, stories of the saints, games, role-plays, and critical thinking questions, to help you capture and keep your students’ attention.
Delivers a Meaningful Encounter with Our Faith
Spirit of Truth covers the breadth of the Catechism in a rich and age-appropriate way and is designed to connect with students of diverse backgrounds and differing familiarity with the Catholic Faith.
Emphasizes the Importance of Your Students’ Personal Spiritual Journey
While it’s important for your students to understand the Faith, Spirit of Truth is designed to help them internalize the Faith and apply it to their own lives, providing ample opportunity for them to reflect on how everything they are learning applies to their own lived experience.
Provides Your Staff with Ongoing Support
A master teacher will be assigned to you as long as you have the curriculum. They will introduce Spirit of Truth to your staff via live webinar and be available throughout the year as a resource for questions and ideas. Supplemental online resources will keep your content fresh and relevant to your students, such as weekly Sunday Gospel lessons, Liturgical calendar content, lessons on current events, and much more.
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Resources Included with Spirit of Truth
View all School Edition online resources
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What students learn by grade level
Download the full program scope and sequence
Kindergarten
Jesus and the Holy Family
Students are introduced to the loving goodness of Jesus Christ, meet the members of the Holy Family, and learn who the saints are and what they teach us.
- Why virtue is good and sin is bad.
- The importance of developing good habits.
- How to speak to God in prayer.
Grade 1
God is Love
Students begin to develop an awareness of God as our Father in Heaven, the creator of Heaven and earth, who is all good, who created them in His image and likeness, and who loves them unconditionally.
- Basic parts of the Mass.
- The reality of sin in connection with the Sacrament of Confession.
- The lives of saints and the basics of prayer as a conversation with God.
Grade 2
Our Life in Jesus
Students focus on how much children are loved by Jesus Christ, and how His death and Resurrection has opened the way to Heaven.
- The parts of the Mass.
- Lives and lessons of the saints.
- More ways to pray.
- A special focus on the Sacraments of Confession and Eucharist.
GRADE 3
The Kingdom of God and the Church
Students learn about the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit and how He guides Her, and how Jesus continues His mission through Her.
- Basics of the Trinity and all seven Sacraments.
- Prayer and living as children of God.
- Jesus’ Parables of the Kingdom, and Mary as the Mother of the Church.
- Includes a supplement on Confirmation for restored order dioceses.
grade 4
Jesus Teaches Us How To Live
Students focus on the moral life.
- What it means to be created in the image and likeness of God, and how we should respond to His grace so we can spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
- Conscience formation, the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Golden Rule, and the Great Commandment.
- The reality of sin and the necessity of virtue.
Grade 5
The Sacraments
Students will explore in-depth the gift of God’s grace in the Sacraments.
- Sacraments: what they are and why Jesus instituted them; form, matter, history, celebration, and effects of each Sacrament.
- The meaning of God as the source of life.
- The Holy Mass and Holy Days of Obligation
- Longer biographies of the saints, especially young saints.
grade 6
Sacred Scripture
Students spend this year immersed in God’s Word in Sacred Scripture, and explore how the Bible, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, records God’s plan of salvation.
- Basics of how to use the Bible and Magisterial authority.
- How and why we should pray with Scripture.
- How the Bible is different from other books.
- The four senses of Scripture.
Grade 7
Living as a Disciple of Christ
Middle-school students explore Jesus and the Gospel message, with an emphasis on unifying themes in Scripture and an in-depth examination of the four Gospels.
- Personal growth: the origin, dignity, and destiny of the human person.
- An exploration of each Sacrament.
- Prayer: its elements, qualities, and challenges; ways of praying; Mary and the saints as models of prayer.
grade 8
The Communion of the Faithful
Middle-school students build on their understanding of personal growth, with an emphasis on our vocation to love and our responsibilities to God and each other.
- Morality: conscience formation through prayer and an objective moral standard.
- Church History: our identity as Catholics; how the saints have shaped the liturgy, hierarchy, and doctrine of the Church.
- Citizen and Government: the natural rights of persons; the purpose of government.
- God’s Plan for Marriage and the Family: our identity as male and female; purposes and abuses of sexuality; resisting temptation so as to avoid sin and grow in virtue.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! The presentation of sacred art remains an integral part of the new edition. While we added more illustrations to the 2nd Edition of Spirit of Truth, and reduced the overall number of lessons, the number of sacred art activities is the same as the Classic Edition.
Beauty disposes us to the divine, and sacred art helps lead students to love what is good, beautiful, and true. Art can be viewed and appreciated by all students, whatever their grade, reading ability, personal background, or level of sophistication.
In almost all cases, the sacred art selected for our curriculum was chosen from the public domain. All art, including that created by Renaissance masters and other influential and well-known artists, reflects a certain culture, time-period, and place. While these images may not immediately represent our current culture, time-period, or place, they do invite us to a deeper contemplation of the universal nature of beauty, and thus, God Himself, who is Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. And there is a reason we still marvel at these great masterworks from centuries ago: as products of their historical and cultural context—the European Renaissance—they have uniquely captured universal and timeless beauty and are singular examples of excellence in art.
From the beginning of the Church, the faithful have depicted Jesus and the Holy Family as members of their own race or ethnicity. This is beautiful, because Jesus, who became man at a particular time and place, assumed a human nature in order to offer redemption to all of humanity. Depending on the cultural makeup of your classroom, it may be beneficial from time-to-time to supplement the selected artwork with images that may be better reflections of your own students’ experiences.
No, they are free! Some lessons in our textbooks suggest the use of free catechetical Sophia SketchPad videos. These five-to-seven-minute videos use whiteboard animation to blend visual and auditory learning with engaging storytelling. You won’t find a more effective tool for explaining difficult to understand theological concepts to your students!
Unless otherwise noted, the translation of the Bible used in all our textbooks is the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), because this is the translation of Scripture that is proclaimed at Mass. It is important for students to be able to begin to make connections between what happens in religion class and the liturgy of the Catholic Church.
Although many activities can and should certainly be done by students on their own, we do not recommend students work independently, but rather with a teacher, catechist or parent to present and guide the activity. Our curriculum is different from the typical textbooks because the Teacher’s Guide and Student Workbook work together to present full, interactive, and engaging lesson plans. Note that a student workbook purchased alone will not make sense to the student. Be sure to review both the directions for the teacher and the student activities.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, “‘The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord’ (DV 21): both nourish and govern the whole Christian life” (CCC 141). As Catholics, we believe that we receive the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. We also believe that we truly encounter the Person of Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, in Scripture — the Word of God in written form. Therefore, Scripture is a powerful and essential teaching tool.Even though teaching with Scripture can be challenging, it is one of the best and most accessible ways we have to help students encounter Jesus in the classroom. Every step of the way, we help you help your students engage with the Word of God in age appropriate ways. Teaching with Scripture brings to life the story of our Faith in new and exciting ways that invite students into deeper relationship with Christ.
Questions? Contact us or call (800) 888-9344