Christian Education For Our Youth
SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS...
is a weekly newsletter (Shooting Star) that will appear here and will include information for the students, their parents, and the Sunday School Teachers.
CHILDREN'S MUSIC PROGRAM...
is a program begun at the beginning of the school year (2007-2008) and continues
sporadically throughout the year. Look here for details.
CHILDREN'S CHOIR
Something new at Mediator. Look here for
details.
"If we want to help the child draw near to
God, we should with patience and courage seek to go always closer to
the vital nucleus of things. This requires study and
prayer. The child will be our teacher if we know how to
observe."
Sofia Cavalletti, founder of the first Atrium
I feel an obligation to make a comment about how quickly the summer has passed, and it has, but I am very happy to be reaching the end of this heat and humidity and entering my favorite season of the year, autumn. I do find it incredible that I am writing my first newsletter article but I must tell you that I am very excited about the subject and hope that you will be as well.
On August 29th we had a very special guest come for our Adult Forum at 9:00 a.m. Lynn Robinson, a Formation Leader, Trainer and Catechist for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program that we are using as our pre-school Christian education curriculum, spoke about the benefits of adding Level 2 of this program and exactly what is involved.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a Montessori based experiential religious curriculum that has proven to be an outstanding learning environment for children of all ages. I hope that those of you who are not connected to Sunday School at all are still reading this article because that is the beauty of this project, it will involve the Parish as a whole to accomplish this task. The Atrium that we currently have downstairs, was constructed before I was a part of the Mediator family, but from what I am told, we needed to have carpenters, sewers, decorators, creative types and those with not a single creative bone in their bodies (like me) who are willing to go where they are pointed. It is a task that will require the Parish as a whole to accomplish and what could be a better cause than to enrich the religious education of our youth and bring new families into Mediator as a result of this endeavor.
I think it is safe to say that a Montessori environment for children is an outstanding learning experience for children and has become very popular and desirable with young parents in the Lehigh Valley. We believe that introducing a curriculum with both Level 1 and Level 2 of this program would be a very good outreach opportunity to attract new families to our Parish.
It has been a desire of mine for quite some time to find a project that will bring together those members of the Parish who have children involved in our Sunday School and those who do not, and I believe this is an excellent vehicle to accomplish this goal. Even through the construction of a Level 2 Atrium would be a short-term project it would allow a chance for people to mingle and work together who may not have the opportunity otherwise.
All these things are possibilities, but it all began with the Adult Forum on August 29th. The decision has not been made about adding a Cathchesis Level 2 and I hope to have your informed input when the time comes. As always, please feel free to call me with any comments or questions.
ellen