Eucharist means first of all “thanksgiving” (CCC, 1360). I can think of no better lesson to teach to our students this Thanksgiving week than this. There are many images that express the intense mystery that is the Eucharist, but the Eucharist as thanksgiving is the most appropriate for November. A simple connection that you can…
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Review Games – All Play and No Work?
Is it a waste of time to play review games to prepare for tests? “I pray thee, spare thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the big pressure of his attention to work” (Augustine, Music, ii, 15). St. Thomas Aquinas uses this quote from St. Augustine to respond to the…
The Patron Saint of Catechists: Saint Charles Borromeo and Saint Robert Bellarmine
Patron Saint of Catechists: Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) Feast Day: November 4 Patron Saint of Catechists: St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) Feast Day: September 17 St. Charles Borromeo and St. Robert Bellarmine are the patron saints of catechists. These two men were instrumental in the many reforms of the Catholic Church during the 16th century Reformation….
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…
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…
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…
Creating Lesson Objectives
Lesson objectives are succinct sentences that describe what you would like students to be able to do as a result of the lesson. In other words they are the goals of the lesson. They are also known as learning goals or learning objectives. Lesson Objectives/Goals have three parts: 1) Students Will Be Able To (SWBAT)…