Elementary Religious Education K-5

This year, elementary Religious Education (RE) for children grades K-5 will be a partnership between the parish and families. Instead of the conventional in-person classroom with a catechist and aide teaching a group of children, or a catechist team teaching an online session of children, RE this year will consist of a unique collaboration among our parish staff, a core set of catechists, and parents. When you read the word “parents,” it could be any adult in the child’s life: grandparent, godparent, guardian, etc.

This partnership is a form of Family Catechesis which is catechist-directed. Parents with children in grades K-5 will be grouped into small “pods” led by a seasoned catechist and aide. We aim for the pods to consist of 4-5 parents but the number will depend on recruitment of catechists. Every four weeks, the catechist team will meet with the parents online to review the lesson plans for the upcoming four sessions, go over the contents of the parent RE kits (see below) and share resources, ideas and best practices based on their experience.

The weekly catechesis with children is parent-led. Parents will facilitate the weekly sessions with their children at home.

The pandemic prompts us to focus on the parents’ role in faith formation. Our Family Catechesis process calls us to adopt home-based methods of faith formation. The pandemic has not forced us to create a NEW method, but to focus on the core method of formation. The Catholic Church, in its many rites and documents, stresses the parents’ role in bringing their children up in the faith. Our aim is to help you do that by giving you the tools and guidance we all need to raise Catholic children.

For us to meet RE requirements, children will need to submit assessments of their learning. To ensure a standard implementation and meet our RE requirements, we will assign certain weeks when all children will complete a weekly online assessment submitted to their catechist .

I have no background in religious education or teaching. What am I to do? Upon registration you will be asked about your level of comfort facilitating religious education at home. Your catechist team will coach you, especially as we initiate the program in its first month or two. We will train catechist teams to be prepared to facilitate a session or two for those parents needing assistance and their children. We also intend to keep the groups small so that catechists can better coach individual parents throughout the year and the parents can learn from each other in their monthly sessions.

How will the parent pods be created? Parents can request to be grouped with parents they know. Just ensure you agree on this before registration. We will also group families based upon their house address so families are geographically close.

When will registration be open? Elementary RE online registration started Wednesday, September 9. To register click here.

When do the home sessions start? After registration the catechist for your parent group will contact you with a date and time for an initial orientation. We plan for parents to start their home sessions the week of October 4 to prepare children for the following Sunday, Oct. 11.

What about First Communion? For children to be eligible to receive First Communion they must receive two consecutive years of religious education either from the parish or from a Catholic school. If your child is to receive First Communion this year they must be registered with our parish RE program or attend Catholic school. You must also register separately for First Communion sacramental preparation in late October/early November. We will provide specific materials and expectations for children preparing for First Communion at a later date. For any questions specifically about sacramental preparation, please contact Mhel Galaviz (mhel@svdpparish.org).