Information / Registration for Elementary Faith Formation (Home Study or In Class)

Lesson 1: What do I know about the life of Jesus Christ on earth?
Major themes: Divine Love, Incarnation
In this lesson, children learn about the earthly life of Jesus - his birth, family life, teaching, and the miracles he performed. They also learn that Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead.  Jesus did all of these things to teach us how to love God and others the way we should. This lesson is a great opportunity to share your favorite bible stories about the life and ministry of Jesus!

• Stories of the Bible (Saddleback Church Children's Ministry) - cute, short animated videos of bible stories. (Also available in Spanish)
• Catholic Kids' Homilies (Catholic Kids Media) - animated videos featuring the Sunday readings for each week. 
• Life of Jesus flashcards (Bible Fun for Kids) - printable flashcards with images of Jesus life and ministry.  These can be used to review bible stories and to create a timeline of Jesus' life.
• The Mysteries of the Holy Rosary are a great way to learn the important events events in the life of Christ.  The Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries help us to reflect on Jesus' birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. For ideas on how to pray the rosary with young children, check out this video on praying a "5 Minute Family Rosary"

• Draw-Along video: The Holy Trinity (Catholic Icing) Children learn to draw a Holy Trinity "shield" which teaches them about the three Persons of the Holy Trinity.
• God is Like . . .  by Julie Waters  (Doubleday Religious Publishing Group) This beautifully illustrated book uses three simple metaphors from nature to describe the attributes God: water, light, and rock.
• 3 in 1: A Picture of God by Joanne Marxhausen (Concordia Publishing House) This book uses the metaphor of an apple - skin, flesh, and seeds - to describe the three Persons of the Holy Trinity.  A simple, beautiful book for kids of all ages - plus you can make all sorts of yummy apple treats when you are done reading!
• For those who are attending Mass on campus - be sure to take a look at the two large paintings next to the baptismal pool.  These paintings depict Jesus on one side, and God the Father and the Holy Spirit on the other.  Each image is surrounded by depictions of biblical stories. Point these paintings out to your children and ask: What do you see?  What is Jesus (God) doing? What are the people doing?  What does this painting tell you about Jesus (God)?

Lesson 1: How does prayer help me to know and love Jesus Christ?
Major theme: Prayer
In this lesson, children learn 1.) what prayer is; and 2.) how to pray. We will learn, review, and reflect on the basic prayers of the faith - the Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. Remember- the best way to teach your children about prayer is to pray with them!

• Catholic Children's Prayer Book (St. Mary's Press) A beautifully illustrated prayer book for children.  It includes the basic prayers of the faith as well as many other traditional prayers such as the Guardian Angel prayer, Act of Contrition, etc. 
• Pope Francis' "Five Finger Prayer" prayer card (Holy Heroes) This simple prayer method teaches children how to pray for others using the five fingers of their hand.  A great, tactile way to teach children to pray!
• Prayer coloring pages Complete these coloring pages of prayers and then post them where they can be seen (and prayed) daily.  

• Order of the Mass flash cards Printable flash cards that list the parts of the Mass with a brief explanation of each.  Children learn the parts of the Mass by putting the cards in order.
• Children's Missal A good children's missal will help children follow along with the Mass and encourage participation. There are lots to choose from; just google the words "Children's Missal"
• Video: "The Eucharist for Little Children" (Formed.org)  This video reviews the parts of the Mass and the theology of the Eucharist in an age-appropriate way, lots of fun music! (Click here if you need help setting up an account at Formed.org)
• Video: "The Mass: A Life-Giving Prayer" (Formed.org) Part of the "Brother Francis" series, this video teaches the parts of the Mass.  Also available in Spanish! (Click here if you need help setting up an account at Formed.org)
• Tips for taking kids to Mass The article "How to Take Young Children to Mass" offers some great tips for helping children (and parents!) getting the most out of their weekly Mass experience.

• Article: "How to Explain the Seven Sacraments without boring your children"​
• Activity: "Sacrament Sort" Sort cards with images of the symbols used in the sacraments to talk about what happens at each. (This Seven Sacraments matching game might be more appropriate for young children.)
• Story time! Tell your children about the sacraments you have celebrated in your family.  In addition to stories about their own baptism, first Eucharist, etc., talk about family weddings, confirmations, and times when loved ones were anointed due to illness. Show them pictures, if they are available.

Lesson 1: How do God's commands guide my life? 
Major theme: Foundational moral teachings of the Church
In this lesson, children learn about one or more foundational moral teachings of the Church, such as the Ten Commandments, Beatitudes, Great Commandment, etc.

• Video: "Heart, Soul, and Mind" (International Mission Board) - a short, beautifully illustrated video that explains the Greatest Commandment in an easy-to-understand way for children.  (With its emphasis on missionary this video also makes a nice "bridge" to unit 4, "How are we called to live as missionary disciples of Jesus Christ? ")
• Activities: Beatitudes coloring pages / flash cards (Teachers Pay Teachers; $5)
• Activities: Ten Commandments workbook (Teachers Pay Teachers, $6.50)
• Article: "The Beatitudes for Families" (Teaching Catholic Kids)​
• Video: "The Suitcase: A Story About Giving" (Formed.org) This 6-minute video is a recorded reading of the book of the same name by Jane Meyer. It focuses on Thomas, a young boy who packs a suitcase to prepare for his journey to the Kingdom of God. This book is a lovely meditation on the Corporal Works of Mercy and Jesus' command to love our neighbors as ourselves.

• Activity: "Making Good Moral Choices" (Loyola Press) - This activity offers a thorough explanation of the discernment process for children, and suggestions for helping kids practice making good choices.
• Article: "Help Your Children Make Wise Choices" (Vision Vocation Network)​
• Movie Night!  Watch a movie where the hero has to make a difficult choice. Then, discuss – What helped the hero make a good choice? What tempted the hero to make a bad choice? would you have made the same choice? Why or why not?​
• Book: Sleeping with Bread by Fr. Matt Linn, Dennis Lin, & Shelia Linn - St. Ignatius recommended to his followers that they take time at the end of each day to do an "examen" - that is, to reflect on the choices they made that day, and think about if they brought them closer to God, or further away.  "Sleeping with Bread" explains this process in a simple, straight-forward way that makes it easy to use with families, couples, teams, or individuals.

Lesson 3: Circle of Grace
Safe environment lesson
"Circle of Grace" is a safe environment curriculum (developed by the Diocese of Omaha) that teaches children and teens about healthy, holy relationships. Students learn to identify what does and does not belong within their "circle of grace", and practice strategies to identify potentially dangerous situations in an age-appropriate way.  Circle of Grace is the official safe environment program used by all religious education programs in the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston.

The archdiocese requires that parishes offer Circle of Grace lessons to all students enrolled in religious education each year.  This year, we are asking parents to partner with us in teaching these lessons at home using lesson plans we have provided.  Once you have completed the lesson(s) with your child(ren), you are asked to complete an online form letting us know.