Religion teachers, theology teachers, and catechists are always hungry for new ideas and helpful resources. This blog was created to provide teachers with the resources, tips, strategies and tools to become excellent religious educators. Other school subjects have countless resources in textbooks and on the web while religion and catechesis seem to lack quality educational…
The Religion Teacher Blog
Teaching the Mysteries of Rosary to Elementary Students
The Challenges of Teaching the Rosary Teaching the Rosary to little ones is no easy task. It is not simply teaching the prayers, but decoding the new vocabulary in the prayers so that children are able to understand them. It is not simply exposing children to the mysteries of the Rosary but enabling children to…
Rosary Journals for Meditation on the Mysteries of the Rosary
One of the ways I taught students to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary, was to have them create a rosary journal for a particular week. We focused on one decade/mystery of the rosary each day (for a total of five mysteries per week). I found this to be especially powerful for the sorrowful…
Crucifixion videos online and in the movies
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?Were you there when they crucified my Lord?Oh…sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.Were you there when they crucified my Lord?The passion and death of Christ is at the center of the Christian faith. We have the advantage of being able to witness reenactments of the Paschal…
Danielle Rose Music: Mysteries of the Rosary CD
In 2002, Pope John Paul II put out the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (RVM). In this letter the Pope reiterated his personal devotion to the rosary and power of praying the rosary. This letter was the inspiration for a beautiful collection of prayerful songs written and performed by an amazingly talented young musician Danielle…
6 Reasons for Teaching Children the Rosary
Why is it so important to dedicate the time to pray the rosary during class? My wife and I both capitalized on October, the month of the rosary, by teaching our students how and why we pray the rosary. These are the reasons we feel so strongly about praying the rosary with your children or…
The Month of the Rosary is October
As teachers, during the month of October my wife and I always dedicated a number of class prayers to praying the rosary. October is a perfect opportunity to teach children how to pray the rosary in their own lives. She found that with her fourth graders and I found with my middle school and high…
Catechist Magazine Blog and Facebook Page
Catechist Magazine recently embraced Web 2.0. Catechist Magazine is written for catechists, religion teachers in Catholic schools and parish religious educators. As one of the leading publications in the field of catechesis and religious education, Catechist Magazine is leading its readers into the new generation of Catholic social media. Beginning in September of 2009, the…
Alliance for Catholic Education: Fighting for Schools and Children
Notre Dame’s latest installment of the “What Would You Fight For?” campaign during Notre Dame Football games on NBC featured Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE). ACE was founded in 1994 by Fr. Tim Scully and Fr. Sean McGraw as a teacher training program serving Catholic schools in the South and Southwestern United States….
How Catechesis and Religious Instruction Differ
The recent circular letter released by the Congregation for Catholic Education brought back to my attention the relationship between religious instruction and catechesis. “[Religious instruction] is different from, and complementary to, parish catechesis…” (Circular Letter to the Presidents of Bishops’ Conferences on Religious Education in Schools, 17). According to the General Directory for Catechesis, “there…
