A four year old boy prepares to clean the extinguisher after snuffing the candles at the Model Altar. Two three year old children quietly wait for their turn to set the Model Altar. Learning the names of the items used at Mass help the children to feel ‘ownership’ and grow in their ability to participate in the liturgy.
Two kindergarteners are working together with the Good Shepherd materials. The candle is lit as one boy reads from the Scripture booklet to remind the children that when the Word of God is proclaimed, Jesus is present, speaking Truth. The Good Shepherd materials are presented early in the first Atrium year but are returned to often by all of the children.
This five year old girl has built the Liturgical Calendar, made of 52 prisms to represent the Sundays of the year. She is now creating her own calendar, coloring each prism according to its liturgical season, and labeling the great feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, as well as the seasons and cycles of the liturgical year.