Blog Archives

Parent Child Night

2/28/2019

Parent Child Night is one of my favorite events of the year. It is a gift to watch from the sidelines as the children bring their parents into their learning environments and present some of their favorite materials to them. The children's pride in their work and their love for their families is always so evident. This year was no exception!!

Explaining how to plan Communal Prayer.

Describing the Liturgical Calendar.

Matching images and text from a 2nd Year Missal.

Laying out the Peoples and the People of God work.

Making silence.

Laying out the Rite of Baptism.

Using the Roman Missal to write a set of Propers.

Laying out the prayers of the Mass.

Working with the Holy Bible and the Sacraments material.

Explaining the Maxims.

Working with the Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds.

Moving the sheep to the Church where the Good Shepherd feeds them with Himself.

Setting out the Individual Gifts Strip and the Pin Map of Israel.

Working with the Plan of God.

Removing and identifying each book of the Bible.

Tracing the regions and waterways of the Land of Israel.

Resetting the Liturgical Calendar.

Pondering the Gestures of the Mass.

The Found Sheep

2/26/2019

After receiving the presentation on the Parable of the Good Shepherd at the age of three, and having had plenty of time to come back and work with the material, the child is invited to listen to the Parable of the Found Sheep in order to hear more about this Good Shepherd and His love for those in His care.

Gifts from the children...

In pondering the Parable of the Found Sheep, a child was asked why the Good Shepherd carried the sheep that had been lost on his shoulders. The four-year-old responded, “Because he knew the way home.”

During his work with the Good Shepherd material, a four-year-old said that two sheep "got out" of the sheepfold. When asked what the Good Shepherd would do, the child said, “He would take three sheep with him to go find them.” As the child moved the Good Shepherd and sheep to where the original two were standing, he said, “They were happy because they were together!" The Good Shepherd and all of his sheep then proceeded to return to the sheepfold.
In speaking about what had happened in the Parable of the Found Sheep, one five-year-old summarized the content in the following words: “God sent Jesus to find His treasure and the treasure was the little children.”

Searching.

Finding.

Carrying home and rejoicing!

The Good Shepherd

2/19/2019

In presenting the Parable of the Good Shepherd to the children, one of the questions that is always asked regards the identity of the sheep. Jesus is very clear in revealing that He is the Good Shepherd...but He leaves us (and we leave the children!) the opportunity to discover who these sheep are that have such a dedicated protector and guide. In the Atrium, this parable is first read to the child at the age of three and, as he grows, further Scriptures and presentations are given which expand the beautiful image of the Good Shepherd caring for His sheep.

This week in the Atrium two children were gathered to hear the Parable of the Good Shepherd for the first time. After listening to the Scripture and conversing together about the love, care, and attention given by the Good Shepherd to his sheep, the children were asked, "I wonder who these sheep might be. The Good Shepherd knows their names, right? But do you know the names of His sheep?" A 5-year-old new to the Atrium this year began pointing to each sheep, naming them one by one: "Peyton, Riley, Josh," and then pausing and looking at the child sitting across the sheepfold from her, touched a sheep and said the name of that child, "Chloe," and continued, "my brother, my grandmother," until she had named each sheep. The catechist then asked, "And this one on His shoulder?" The child responded, "A girl. It's a girl's name," and, pointing to herself, "Maybe me!"

The Child's Sense of Order

2/12/2019

Dr. Montessori observed that young children are in a time of particular sensitivity to specific parts of the environment. These "sensitive periods," as she called them, are characterized by interest, concentration, and repetition. They leave the child refreshed and energized even though the activity in which the child is involved may be intense and prolonged. Four primary sensitive periods recognized by Dr. Montessori for the child of 3-6 years include language, order, refinement of the senses, and refinement of movement.

The child of this young age is developing a sense of both internal and external order. That is why it is so important to have a clear order within the Atrium environment. Each shelf has a specific "subject" as its theme and the materials are set on it from left to right, top to bottom, simple to complex, in the order they will be presented to the child. Each material has a specific purpose, placement, and "look." For the child, the more the environment is ordered, the easier it is for them to grasp the essence of what is to be proclaimed.

Each sheep is carefully restored to the box after the child has finished working with the material.

Each piece of the City of Jerusalem is moved in a specific order, beginning with the walls that surround the city.

The Liturgical Calendar is built from the First Sunday of Advent to the last Sunday in Ordinary Time.

An older child shows two younger children how to gather and sort crosses and crucifixes from the Atrium onto separate mats.

The puzzle is taken out piece by piece until it has been re-built outside of the original puzzle frame.

The sheep are placed in an orderly line as they follow the Good Shepherd who has called each one by its name.

The Pearl of Great Price

2/5/2019

Matthew 13:45-46:
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it."

Seeing a 5-year-old returning the "Pearl of Great Price" material to the shelf, the catechist commented, "I wonder why Jesus told us that parable about His Kingdom. Who is the merchant? What is the pearl?" The child walked away silently. As the Atrium session continued, however, she returned multiple times to the catechist to share her thoughts...
- "The merchant is Jesus and the pearl is Jesus as a baby."
- "Actually, the merchant is us and the pearl is God."
- "The pearl is the Light."
- "The pearl is Jesus."
- "The pearl is joy."
- "The pearl is peace."
- "The pearl is hope."
- "The pearl is the lamb."
- "The pearl is the three gifts from the magi."
- "The pearl is the cross."
- "The pearl is everything God made."

Parent Child Night

The Found Sheep

The Good Shepherd

The Child's Sense of Order

The Pearl of Great Price

Carolyn Kohlhaas

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