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3John4
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
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| First Name: | Dede | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic, Protestant, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Oct 3rd, 2008 09:49 pm |
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This may be the wrong place for this topic.--Feel free to move it.
This is my first year teaching Catholic RE after returning to the Church three years ago. I formerly taught Sunday School in several Protestant churches, and my kids have always attended AWANA.
I am teaching fifth grade right now, and have been shocked to discover how little these kids know about the bible. They don't know that the bible is divided into the Old and New Testament, much less that there are subdivisions of books and chapters. They don't know the names of the first four books of the NT, or that these are called the gospels... I could go on and on with basics just about any kid who regularly attends Protestant church knows long before fifth grade.
This concerns me for several reasons. FIrst of all, many Protestants think that Catholics only remain Catholic because they don't know the bible, and if they read it, they would stop being Catholic. Of course, this couldn't be farther from the truth, but it becomes difficult to defend our faith without a working knowledge of scripture. Secondly, I am finding that most adults in the average parish, who were raised by pre-Vatican II parents, don't know enough about the bible themselves to teach it to our kids. Finally, in searching the internet and my local Catholic bookstore, I found nothing comparable to the boatloads of Protestant resources available to teach the bible to children. Yes, there are lots of books of bible stories, but almost nothing that I could find that teaches pre-teens to become comfortable finding, reading and memorizing passages for themselves. For those of you who have been Protestant, you probably know what a thorough, well-developed program AWANA is for kids, but my son tells me that every time he goes the leaders spend a lot of time harping on the fact that the kids need to pray that their Catholic friends and neighbors would be saved.
I am wondering if anyone knows of a good Catholic program suitable for home use, or RE that I have missed.
Thanks,
Dede
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mrsbmoo
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 344 |
| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | former Methodist. RCA, Presbyterian, Holiness, Wesleyan... Catholic as of June ... |
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 02:03 am |
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To be honest I have run into the same thing, it was the main reason my husband left the church in the 70s. The instructor reading from the Bible to his CCD class was fired for it.
So in my homeschooling I have been searching for just such a curriculum and found one for preschool level but haven't worked my way up to 5th grade yet. http://www.ignatius.com/Textbooks/Catechism-ImageOfGod.aspx?SID=1& This is a striking lack of basic Bible knowledge instruction in most Catholic curriculum. Yet I am finding there are kids in the preschool FF class I just started teaching who obviously are read the Bible at home. Perhaps the material presumes the parents are doing their job and giving this instruction at home?
If I were in your place I would add in my own little Bible info section and even start teaching them how to find the Biblical references in the Catechism. I think the curriculums try to push the catholic distinctives at the expense of basic Bible knowledge. If your lesson involves a scripture passage have them read it stright from the Bible.
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Becky
Wife of Michael(called Moo) and stay at home mom to 5 daughters between 13 months and 17
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CajunRick
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Posted: Sun Oct 5th, 2008 10:58 pm |
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For what it's worth, Dede, our CCD program is infused with scripture throughout. Sixth grade is dedicated to scripture, and the first year of Confirmation prep (10th grade) is as well.
In addition, of course, the mass and the priest's homily each week is filled with scripture, and all students are encouraged to read the bible daily.
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mrsbmoo
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 344 |
| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | former Methodist. RCA, Presbyterian, Holiness, Wesleyan... Catholic as of June ... |
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Posted: Sun Oct 5th, 2008 11:16 pm |
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| Could you tell us what curriculum your parish is using? The Education director has already indicated she is thinking about changing ours, at least at the preschool level, so suggestions would be welcome.
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Becky
Wife of Michael(called Moo) and stay at home mom to 5 daughters between 13 months and 17
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CajunRick
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Posted: Mon Oct 6th, 2008 01:44 am |
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mrsbmoo wrote: Could you tell us what curriculum your parish is using?
Our parish uses the Faith First series through eighth grade, and our diocese has developed its own program for 9th through 11th grade. The plan is to market it once all the kinks are worked out, but it is currently being used only in our diocese.
Also, teachers are encouraged to use scripture whenever possible in their lesson plan.
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Dave Armstrong
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| Joined: | Fri Nov 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | Melvindale, Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 2445 |
| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Evangelical (1977): Diverse Protestant Influences / Catholic in 1990 |
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Posted: Mon Oct 6th, 2008 06:52 pm |
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Hi Dede,
Some of these resources might help to further that goal:
Recommended Books For Catholic Teens and Young People
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I'm happy to offer whatever theological & personal assistance I can. My blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, contains 2100+ papers & web pages (free) & 17 apologetic books (4 sale: 15 E-Books: $25)
http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/
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3John4
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 102 |
| First Name: | Dede | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic, Protestant, Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Oct 7th, 2008 03:09 am |
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Dave,
I sure have seen Matthew Pinto's books recommended all over the place; I'm going to have to get my hands on these since I've heard so many good things. Also, I had my own teenagers read Amy Wellborn's Prove It Series.
However, what I am looking for is a program like Jeff Cavins Bible Timeline for Teens--T3, but for younger kids, not teens. I want my students to become comfortable finding scripture quickly (including knowing the order of the books), a bit of history behind each book, the authors, and signifcant passages worth memorizing for spiritual strength and defense of the faith. I think these things should be included in every RE program building from preschool on up.
One valuable gift God granted me during my years wandering through protestantism was a love of scripture. As a Catholic, verses that once confused me have now become so much clearer. It's as if I thought the bible was beautiful when I saw it only in black in white. Now that I see it in color, I want to make sure all Catholic kids have the same blessing.
Dede
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Dave Armstrong
Network Apologist
| Joined: | Fri Nov 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | Melvindale, Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 2445 |
| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Evangelical (1977): Diverse Protestant Influences / Catholic in 1990 |
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Posted: Tue Oct 7th, 2008 05:35 pm |
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| I don't know anything offhand about that. Someone else here probably knows of something along those lines.
____________________
I'm happy to offer whatever theological & personal assistance I can. My blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, contains 2100+ papers & web pages (free) & 17 apologetic books (4 sale: 15 E-Books: $25)
http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/
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Steven Barrett
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| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Absurdistan, AKA , Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 1566 |
| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Oct 8th, 2008 05:24 pm |
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Dede wrote:
One valuable gift God granted me during my years wandering through protestantism was a love of scripture. As a Catholic, verses that once confused me have now become so much clearer. It's as if I thought the bible was beautiful when I saw it only in black in white. Now that I see it in color, I want to make sure all Catholic kids have the same blessing.
(emphasis, mine; /sb)
Dede, would I be mistaken to say I was hearing the whisperings of "Amazing Grace" flitting through these words?
A lot of verses I read before in the Bible, but hadn't read before, came to light during my years within Protestantism, particularly its evangelical wing. However bewildering we think their conclusions are on certain things, it's safe to say at least they make the effort to reach some conclusion by "reading the reeds."
We should encourage alot more reading of Scripture. It'd certainly improve Mass attendance once people understood better the sadly understated relationship between the Liturgy and Scripture.
Heavens! More of us might just learn that the Mass came before the Bible, and wouldn't that be a powerful arrow in our apologetical quivers. After all, the Catholic Church has the first copyrights to the Bible, (and a whole lot more!)
____________________
James Michael Curley to a young Thomas “Tip” O’Neill -- “Son, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
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3John4
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 102 |
| First Name: | Dede | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic, Protestant, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Oct 8th, 2008 06:47 pm |
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Steven,
I hate to admit it, but after I wrote that line about black and white versus color, I didn't think of "Amazing Grace", I thought of that Jamie Johnson song, "You Should Have Seen It in Color".
I confess; I'm a closet country music fan.
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Steven Barrett
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| Location: | Hadley, Absurdistan, AKA , Massachusetts USA |
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| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Oct 8th, 2008 07:42 pm |
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That's okay. When I was a kid and all we had was a B & W television with the small screen just after we got back from Morocco and lived out west in Cheyenne WYo back in the late Fifties...I couldn't figure out when and why history all of a sudden became color.
You guessed it: I never made it into MIT. BUt more to the point, how come during "the Bible days," esp. thanks to the mother and father of all movie epics at that time "The Ten Commandments" was "in color" like "regular life" and all those early NASA rocket explosions were in black and white. Was there a divine message here that I missed?
I sure as heck didn't DARE voice my questions to either of my parents, brothers or the nuns at St. Mary's elementary. What if it was one of those really DUMB questions you really learned how to apply some discretionary common sense to: even as a kindergartner or first-grader. Ohhhhhh, NO self-respecting kid wants a lot of these ...  sessions, esp. about the Bible, history and such stuff.
[At least I had one thing up on those guys, I lived in a land where people got around on camels if they didn't have horses like they do out west.]
I had the option of spilling my guts on Oprah or the Forum. Oprah didn't return my calls. And now I've got a horrible gut-wrenching self-esteem problem left over from BIG vision-related problems left "untreated." She wouldn't even refer me to Dr. Phil.
Oh yes, if anybody thinks I'd be crazy enough to share this true urban church legend with my former evangelical co-pew warmers, well, I'll let THEM call Dr. Phil first, but not on MY behalf! 
Last edited on Wed Oct 8th, 2008 07:50 pm by Steven Barrett
____________________
James Michael Curley to a young Thomas “Tip” O’Neill -- “Son, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
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True Image
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| First Name: | Anne | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Lifelong devout cradle Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Oct 14th, 2008 10:45 pm |
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I have used the Image of God series book for 6th grade that covers Bible history and highly recommend it.
http://www.chcweb.com/catalog/Religion/BibleandChurchHistory/ImageofGodSeriesGrade6/product_info.html
I have the A-Z Memory Verses and will start it with my 5th and 3rd graders in a week or so. This series is for 3rd-6th grades.
http://www.chcweb.com/catalog/Religion/BibleandChurchHistory/AZMemoryVerses/product_info.html
http://www.chcweb.com/catalog/Religion/BibleandChurchHistory/TheGospelofLuke/product_info.html
http://www.chcweb.com/catalog/Religion/BibleandChurchHistory/ActsoftheApostles/product_info.html
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3John4
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
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| First Name: | Dede | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic, Protestant, Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Oct 14th, 2008 11:17 pm |
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Thanks Anne!
Also, I heard from someone working with Jeff Cavins. They are in the process of developing a program for kids ages 3-12. The first products will be available in January, and the program will hopefully be fully developed within the next two years.
Dede
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Gary Peterson
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| Joined: | Sun Oct 12th, 2008 |
| Location: | Omaha, Nebraska USA |
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| First Name: | Gary | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Assemblies of God, Independent Baptist, Charity Christian Fellowship, Reformed ... |
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Posted: Mon Oct 20th, 2008 02:38 am |
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I just want to comment on this marvelous quotation of Dede's:
"One valuable gift God granted me during my years wandering through protestantism was a love of scripture. As a Catholic, verses that once confused me have now become so much clearer. It's as if I thought the bible was beautiful when I saw it only in black in white. Now that I see it in color, I want to make sure all Catholic kids have the same blessing."
That articulated better than I ever could exactly what I feel as I begin inching away from evangelicalism back towards Catholicism. I really believe Romans 8:28 about all things working together for good. When I get down on myself, thinking what a fool I was to have left the Church after confirmation and spent 20 years in evangelicalism, I have to remind myself that God was using that for his good. And I do believe that God has prepared people like Dede, Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins and others who have been steeped in Scripture and love God's Word to come into the Church to pass along that knowledge and enthusiasm for the Bible.
Very well put and very inspiring words. Thank you for sharing them.
Gary
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3John4
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Posted: Mon Oct 20th, 2008 06:28 pm |
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Oh geez, there it is again. People are always using my name in the same sentence with Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins. 
You should definitely post more often, Gary!!
Dede
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