Category: Eucharist

L1 Extensions: Gestures

10/22/2025

Gestures booklets (5 at top), Cenacle (bottom left), Eucharistic Presence (bottom right).

Gestures, Cenacle, and Eucharistic Presence of the Good Shepherd Booklets: 5yo
As the Gestures booklets are introduced to the child (including the Cenacle booklet for the words of the Last Supper) and when the Eucharistic Presence of the Good Shepherd is presented the child may be interested in making his own copy of one of these booklets.

Practical considerations:

Half sheets of yellow, orange, and grey cardstock or construction paper are needed for this work.
Gestures booklets are stored at the Gestures Altar. The Cenacle booklet may be stored there as well.
Booklet making will be addressed in a post three weeks from now.

1. Gestures booklet materials on the shelf (see the left of the pencil/glue containers where there are 1/4 sheets of white and colored paper).

2. Tray with gestures booklet to be copied, two sheets of 1/4 paper in the same color, and a container of pencils/glue.

3. Gestures booklet materials laid out on the chowki, tray returned to the shelf.

4. Invite the child to copy the title of the booklet (if there is one) and illustrate the cover either by copying the illustration or drawing something else that fits the prayer.

5. The child is then invited to copy the text of the prayer of offering, noting the black lettering for the words the priest prays and the red for "Amen" which we pray.

6. Assist the child (if needed) in making his work into a booklet.

The Offering, cover

The Offering, inside image and text

The Preparation of the Chalice, cover and inside text

Mystery of Faith

7/16/2025

Level 3

Missal

7/9/2025

Level 2

Church Tour

11/13/2024

Having been in the Atrium now for a number of weeks, many CGS communities are looking towards offering a Church Tour as an extension to the model altar, liturgical colors, and vestments. In the ideal world, a Church Tour would always happen a few weeks after an altar presentation with a small number of children to look at just a few items.

The catechist might take 3-5 children to the church (leaving the others in the Atrium with your assistant, possibly with an additional adult on site to be present in the Atrium during this day) and look for the items they had been recently shown at the model altar. For the 3yos this visit it would include looking for the real altar and altar cloth, crucifix and candles, possibly presenting the gesture of the sign of the cross in sight of the crucifix in the sanctuary of the church, and then going into the sacristy and seeing the real chalice and paten as well as the chasubles Father wears at Mass. Ideally this Church Tour would take no more than 15 minutes.
Perhaps after that, having returned those children to the Atrium (or on a separate day) the catechist would take the 4yos who had seen the second moment of the Model Altar and the Vestments and take that small group of 3-5 children to the church to notice once more the items the 3yo was enjoying but to especially focus on the ambo, tabernacle, sanctuary lamp, possibly even opening the tabernacle to see the real ciborium and showing the genuflection presentation. Afterwards you might take them into the sacristy and show them the lectionary and vestments of the priest.
The 5yos might do a similar tour after they have seen all of the model altar materials, possibly in January/February.

The Church Tour is intended to be an opportunity to look more closely at “the real” which our Atrium models point us towards, keeping in mind that we always want to offer “rich food, but not too much of it.” While there is a gift in the catechist offering this tour, as the language of the Atrium in explaining the items can be utilized, there is a different sort of gift when a deacon or priest is able to lead this Atrium tour. Ideally, the adult leading the tour has been given a list of the items being lifted up for the children so as not to overwhelm them. However, the presence of a priest willing to lead this tour would be a great gift to the children.

When setting the model altar we speak of the "this beautiful model paten," then we point to the real: "but the REAL paten at church is so much more beautiful." The altar work grows as the children grow, moving into cards, labels, and definitions in L2 and L3.

A tour of the church is not just fitting to the 3-6yo child. It would be wonderful for older children to also be given this opportunity each year or every other year, expanding what is offered as the children grow. The Level 2 (6-9yo) children would greatly benefit from seeing and walking into the confessional (even if they are not yet preparing for this sacrament). While in sight of the altar, the catechist could reiterate the great gift of the invitation to the feast of the Mass to which these children will soon respond, either at their First Communion Mass or during the next Mass they attend.

By Level 3 (9-12yo), some of the children may be ready to be formed as altar servers or assistant sacristans. Inviting the priest to vest in front of the children and share the prayer for each vestment could lead to a pondering of these prayers with those in Level 3. Such a communal pondering would be a great gift to both the children and, it would seem, to the priest as well.

Model Sized vs. Child Sized

8/30/2023

There is a principle in Montessori called "Isolation of Difficulty." This principle is applied within an individual Practical Life presentation by slowing down, focusing on one or two movements in particular, especially those which may be challenging to the child. However, this principle is also applied on the larger scale. In a Montessori environment each material has a specific purpose and there is only one material which isolates that particular "difficulty" or concept for the child. According to Montessori herself, "The difficulty that the child must discover and understand must be isolated in a single piece of material. The isolation simplifies the child's task for him and enables him to perceive the problem more readily" (Montessori: A Modern Approach, 61).

In the Atrium the Model Altar and the Gestures Altar have different purposes, or, we might say, address different "difficulties", a fact which is made clear through the direct aims of the presentations associated with them. The Model Altar is a nomenclature presentation and thus seeks "To name, identify, and make accessible..." while the Gestures presentations intend "To set afire the gesture and ponder..." One of the ways this distinction of purpose is shown is by the size of the materials involved. The Model Altar is intended to be model sized. According to the Materials Manual on CGSUSA.org the altar is to be about 9" in height and 15" by 10" in surface area. At this space the child works to repeat the names and the placement of the items and then is invited to prayer. In contrast, the gestures area is to have "a small work table." The height of this table, to the 3yo child, should be proportionate to the real altar's height in relation to the priest. At this space the child looks at one gesture of prayer as led by the priest during the Mass, and ponders its meaning. Because the purpose of the material is different, the size of the material is different as well. This distinction helps "isolate the difficulty" for the child.