First, I apologize for being “gone” so long from posting. Life has been a challenge lately – some very good challenges (my business is booming!) and some not good at all (my 87 yr old father fell and hurt his leg).  Thankfully, my dad didn’t break anything but he did a number on his leg which is making mobility very difficult to regain.  He’ll get there, though.  In the meantime, finding time to post here is yet another challenge.

My daughter and I spent today at a retreat for all those making their confirmations. I must admit that I had a very poor attitude going into it (which I did pretty well at keeping from my daughter, I’m happy to say.)  Let me apologize right now to all of you who teach catechism.  I admire you greatly for giving your time.  Unfortunately, the catechism programs I’ve had experience with have been less than inspiring.  But then, I haven’t had experience with many!  I’m sure there are some very good ones out there.

My daughter, on the other hand, had a very good attitude going into it (relatively speaking). You see, we had some clashes at the beginning of the year over her taking catechism classes at church.  We ended up compromising.  I would teach her at home if she promised to be respectful and have a good attitude.  She has kept up her end of the bargain!

The day started at 9am and was slated to go until 5:30! Oy vey…a very long day.  As it turned out, it actually ended at 4.  Parents were invited so I lurked in the shadows, so to speak.  (I was the only parent who accepted the invitation!)  I’m thrilled to report that it was a pretty good program.  They spoke very little about confirmation but spoke a lot about purity and learning about your faith and not giving into peer pressure and the fact that some things ARE black and white (right and wrong) and there IS a hell.  (There was no fire and brimstone , thank heavens.)

The day was run by two men in their late 20′s. They did a great job of sharing personal experiences in the hope that the kids would learn from their mistakes and the fact that they both returned to their faith after turning away from it in college.  I think that kind of teaching is usually the most effective.  Also, it helped that they weren’t that much older than the kids they were talking to.

Since I last posted about teaching our kids, I’ve been told about, reminded of and have also discovered some other materials you might find useful.

• Divinity: The New Catholic Catechism Learning System (a game, but that title doesn’t make it sound like much fun:()

I’ve seen this in catalogues several times but never tried it because it didn’t sound like it held much promise as something we’d want to play more than once.  A couple weeks ago, though, I came across it in person in the gift shop at church.  So, I took the plunge.   We’ve only played it twice, but we had fun and I think my daughter will pick up tidbits of knowledge over time that will stick with her.  For one thing, she’s learning her prayers better!  There’s a square labeled “Pray” and if you land on it, you have to recite a prayer that you’ve memorized.

Roughly, this is the way it’s played.  You roll the dice, move that number of spaces and then someone needs to choose a question for you to answer (there are usually about 6 from which you can choose.)  The questions are in categories (specified on the square) and there are also three different levels from which players can choose.

The first night we played, my oldest daughter (24 yrs old) and I chose questions from the “difficult” level and my youngest daughter used “easy.”   The second time we played, we all used the “easy” level.  Yep, the “difficult” was as advertised.

I’ve also learned some things from the questions (and answers).  There IS a question or answer now and then that is worded in a confusing way.  And sometimes the answers don’t have as much explanation as I’d like them to have – but I guess that’s what the Catechism of the Catholic Church is for.

I recommend this game for teenagers and up.

• Jeff Cavin’s Bible Timeline for Teens “T3Timeline.

This was recommended to me by a woman who was on the DivorcedCatholic.com conference call that I told you about.  (That was  a great call, by the way.  There will be another on Feb. 25th. and I’ll post info soon.)

Here is what she had to say about this program:

Our parish scripture sudy group completed the adult 24 week version, “The Great Adventure: A Journey Through the Bible.”  Jeff Cavins is a remarkable teacher and scholar.  If you’re not familiar with his story, read his book, Life on the Rock, or watch him on EWTN.

A small group of teens at our parish did the T3 eight week study and it was well received.  And if you haven’t done the adult version, I highly recommend it for you and anyone looking to better understand our Catholic faith.

Thank you, Kristin, for that recommendation!

• The Faith and Life Series

I used this series of books with my kids when we were homeschooling and liked them better than anything else I’d found.  The artwork in them is wonderful  – reprints of masterpieces.  I do read to my daughter from both the 7th and 8th grade books on occasion and I can highly recommend them for solid catechism related in a down to earth manner.

That’s all I have for now. PLEASE share with us the books, games, etc. that you’ve had great success with and let’s grow this list!

God bless you and bring you peace.

Manya

P.S.  Here’s a link to some wise words on the subject of teaching our children about their faith  – Fallible Blogma.