- As to L1, remind the children what this space is for but, instead of stating this explicitly, invite the children to share what they already know about this space.
- Lighting a candle at the Prayer Table, read a Scripture verse which focuses on the purpose of this space. After pondering and enjoying this verse, invite the children to each bring an item from the space that has helped them to "listen and speak with God." After inviting the children to share what they brought and why, continue with a brief time of thanks to God for His many gifts.
- Next, ask the children to think of the guidelines which will help this year be one in which we can continue to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd in this space. Take notes, phrase positively, read through and invite additions, then invite one child to rewrite/embellish the agreement.
- Recall how to work in this space by using one's intelligence in a way that gives glory to God by inviting them to use either reading, writing, or both with each work they use. Invite returning children to help give examples to those new to this space of how to do this. For Scripture, this includes the Scripture booklet, for the Model Altar and Baptism it includes labeling the materials, and for the Gestures area it includes using the booklets. Invite other thoughts. Remind "new to L2" children that they may use any L1 material in this new "elementary way." (This applies to new to L3 children having access to both L1 and L2 materials if they are present as well.) Mention which materials are not available from previous Levels if you are in a shared space. For example if you are in a space with L1 and L2 materials the L1 Chasubles, Vestments, and the Leaven material as well as the EPL and L1 Paperwork shelves are not available to the L2 child. Recall with all children what paper on the L2 paperwork shelf is available and its purpose. This often includes white paper in 1/4, 1/2, and full sizes as well as corresponding construction paper, all used initially to make booklets of prayer and Scripture cards.
- Invite returning children to then choose work that they know, but adding reading and/or writing to their work. If you have children who are new to the Atrium, not having been in L1 before, begin by presenting work to them right away focusing on the Model Altar, the Liturgical Calendar, Prayer Cards, Scripture Cards, and other materials that you can present briefly and get them started with quickly.
- At the end of the session gather at the Prayer Table, reread the agreement, and invite the children to sign it with their names. Post it where the children can see it and be reminded of their agreements throughout the year. End in prayer.
Whether your L2 and L3 children are brand new to the Atrium or very experienced, it is important to introduce them to the Atrium each year.
The Atrium year is about to begin once more! Sometimes the hardest part of the year is to remember how we begin...and so it seems fitting to offer a few reminders regarding how we introduce the L1 Atrium to both new and returning children.
As a follow-up to last week's post, I know that some Atria are unable to use real candles. While this is an unfortunate situation, I would like to offer a few tips to mitigate this challenge as much as possible. While I have not worked in an Atrium in this situation, I have done a number of observations in schools working through this and have been able to work with catechists to try to offer the best to the children. While it is difficult to offer the sense of sacredness with a battery operated candle that real flame does, here are some suggestions which may move the children closer to an experience of prayer. If you have been using battery operated candles for a long time these recommendations might seem strange...but I would challenge you to give them a try. In my experience these parameters allow Atria without real candles to better lead the children to prayer which is the aim of their time in this beautiful space.
1. First of all, use very few candles. In Gianna's L1 Atrium candles were used at the Prayer Table each week and for any seasonal celebrations like Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. She also used candles for the materials which included a proclamation of the Paschal Mystery. In L1 that includes the following: the Model Altar, the Baptism area, the Cenacle, and the City of Jerusalem. Gianna did not light a candle each time she proclaimed Scripture to the children. Thus, I would recommend removing any other battery operated candles and having them just in these five areas. You will also want a set of them for celebrations so each child can receive one. 2. At the Prayer Table place a glass vigil containing a battery operated candle inside of it. When introducing the Prayer Table to the children show them how to turn on the candle and invite them to do so for themselves when they come individually to the Prayer Table for a personal time of prayer during the Atrium session. 3. Instead of placing the battery operated candles out in the rest of the environment (Model Altar, Baptism, Cenacle, City of Jerusalem), place, instead, an empty glass vigil. When a child comes to one of these areas to work the lighting of the candle provides an opportunity for the adult to come, review, and invite to prayer. In order to not lose these opportunities I would recommend having just the glass vigil(s) out for the child to place and then have the battery operated candles in a basket accessible only to the adult. When the child asks for candles to be lit the adult brings one or two candles as needed, reviews the material, turns the candles on, places them in the glass vigils, and invites to prayer. When the time of listening and speaking with God has ended, the child may "extinguish" the candles and then the adult will return them to the basket. As with real candles, the adult remains with the child until the candles have been "extinguished." 4. In order to maintain the reverence real candles elicit, I would also recommend placing the battery operated candles into glass vigils when handing candles to children for celebrations. This would include the Christmas and Easter celebrations. If you do a large group celebration for the first moment of Baptism I would recommend placing that "lit" candle in its vigil in front of each child just as we would do with real candles after having informed the children that if they choose to touch the candles or put their hand near them we will place them on the Baptism area. There is something so mesmerizing about lit candles. In the Atrium this powerful sign of God's presence has a sensorial effect. Even the ritual of striking the match with the attention it commands and the smell that comes from the first moment of its lighting draw us into a moment of prayer. However, fire is also dangerous and there are some important practices that we can put in place to ensure that this beautiful ritual remains a safe part of our work with the children. When preparing to light candles... 1. Invite the child or children to sit safely so that you are able to light the candle. - This "safe" position, for me, is sitting with legs crossed and hands in lap, not touching anyone else's body. In my experience it takes a child much longer to go from sitting a safe distance from the lit candle to being next to it when sitting cross legged than when kneeling. This position gives me time, if they move, to place an arm between them and the lit candle to ensure their safety. - While a candle is lit we do not touch any of the materials associated with the work. Thus, before we light candles at the model altar all items have been placed, enjoyed, and named. At the Baptism area this means the child has set out all of the items he has been shown and, if water and oils are part of his work, has already worked with them before coming to find me to light the Paschal and Baptismal candles. If a child chooses to touch materials or move close to the candles for any reason except extinguishing them, I will extinguish their candles and they may have an opportunity to do so the next time, provided they can be safe. 2. Strike the match saying (at the Model Altar, Baptism area, and any Paschal Mystery material), "Jesus died and He is risen," or (at the prayer table or for a proclamation of Scripture), "Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world.'" 3. After lighting the candle(s) place the used match in a small container of sand. If you are working with the Model Altar, Baptism area, or a Paschal Mystery that the child has chosen invite the child to prayer: "What could we say to God who is so good?" or "What song could we sing?" or "I wonder what God might want to say to you as you listen for His voice." 4. Extend this time of prayer by saying, "When you have finished listening and speaking with God you may extinguish the candle(s)." Then, staying close, move out of the child's line of sight to the candles, giving them time to enjoy the beautiful light. - Never leave a child alone with candles lit. If an emergency occurs extinguish the candles (telling the child you will return and light them again) and handle the emergency. 5. When the child has extinguished the candles, invite them to clean out the extinguisher by using the squares of paper towel on your striker set. - A striker set includes an extinguisher, a cup of sand, a cup of paper towel squares, and a cup for used paper towel squares. It can also include a candle. - I would recommend having striker sets at the following spaces: Prayer Table, Model Altar, and a "traveling" set for Scripture presentations. You should also have an extinguisher (and possibly container of sand) at the Baptism area, the Cenacle, and the City of Jerusalem. In these places the child could go to the prayer table to clean out the extinguisher once the candle has been extinguished. 6. As a final note, in my experience the safest type of candles to have in the Atrium are tea lights in glass vigils. These candles can be used at all areas of the environment, even the Model Altar, City of Jerusalem, Cenacle, and Baptism area. I would especially recommend tea lights for The Liturgy of the Light and for the first moment of Baptism when multiple candles are used. As we all prepare for the upcoming Atrium year, the next few posts will include a few practicals to consider. In my observations last year one of the insights I had was that I must always neglect to explain in training why my EPL pouring work activities are set up as they are. So, here is your opportunity to hear a bit more about the importance of pouring work as well as how it is set on the tray! Above, you see several pouring works as they sit on the shelf. Each material has the glasses or cruets set on an angle. This is intentional as the way materials are set on the tray is the way we hope the children will set them on their chowki or table. Below, you can see children pouring on an angle, having set their work as it was on the tray. But why? Have you ever tried it?! Do some experimenting and try pouring into three glasses that are set in a horizontal line then try it again with them set on the diagonal. For the 2.5-4yo child, the child for whom this work is most fitting, trying to pour into glasses set on a straight line is very difficult. When they are set on an angle, however, they can pour into each glass easily without having any other glasses in the way of the pitcher. If you are seeing a good number of spills at the Gestures Altar, it is possible that there is a related issue. Instead of setting your cruets on a tray in front with the decanters on a tray behind (something I have often seen in Atria), place both decanters and cruets at the back of your sacristy/credence table. When presenting this work, show how to bring down one decanter, one cruet, and the funnel. After filling the cruet with the desired amount of liquid, all items are restored to their trays. In this way the child has no cruets in the way when pouring and will be better able pour carefully and, hopefully, without very many spills! As a bonus tip, the cruets never rest on the Gestures Altar but always sit on their tray. We pick the cruets up, one at a time, to pour the wine and water into the chalice but only set them back down on their tray. In my experience, much of the "spilling" at the Gestures Altar comes from the drips on the bottom of the cruets which transfer to the altar cloth when the cruet is set on the Gestures Altar.
For those of you who have worked with me over the past few years, I wanted to share the capstone project of my Master of Arts in Theology degree through the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. For the past two years my focus has been on my thesis, entitled "The Child as a Theologian," which was officially accepted just before Christmas, providing one of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received! Just in case you are looking for a lengthy read during this season of Lent, you can download my paper at this site by clicking on its title. In many ways I feel like this paper is woefully incomplete...and the stories I have shared on this blog are what it is lacking. Thus, it seems fitting to link my paper here as it is only in the context of the glimpses that the children have given into their spiritual life that we truly see the greatness of what they offer to us as adults.
As we approach the new calendar year and enjoy this time after the great feast of Christmas, I thought I would share one way of planning and record keeping which I have used over the years to prepare myself for time with the children. There is no single way to prepare for time with the children and record presentations, but it is important to have some way of tracking what each child has seen. This is a way of honoring each child's dignity and assisting all of them in continuing to move through the materials of the Atrium. At the beginning of this school year I took time to insert each child's name (and, in L1, their birthdate) into the Excel document I have set up. Below you will find a L1 checklist which holds two sessions of three- and four-year-old children with ten children in each session. Early in the year I had a mainly blank checklist. Last year I was not the catechist for these children but their catechist kept beautiful records so I was able to start the year knowing what each child had previously seen. I marked those presentations with a "/" which indicated to me that I should watch how they work with that material and, if they remember its use, change that mark to an "X" or, if they need a re-presentation I can do so and then add the "X". I then highlighted the presentations I hoped to show before the Advent season. At the end of each session I make a smaller list, on a post-it note that fits on the small match box I keep in my pocket, of what I would like to present to the children the next time I see them. This post-it note is placed on the edge of the checklist which is on a clipboard, ready for my next session with those children. During the session I use a pencil to lightly cross off the presentations I give or write in any modifications to my plan. These changes come, of course, if a child is absent or if a child is engaged in a work and I choose not to interrupt him, or when a child requests another presentation which is fitting to him. The post-it contains a very flexible plan, but it gives me something to begin the session with, while the clipboard checklist highlights shows me the broader range of what I could present during that session. After the children leave or at the end of their work time I sit down and note on the checklist what has actually been presented with an "X" and then begin to plan, on a new post-it note, for the next session. At the end of a particular season I enter all of my notes into the computer and reprint the checklist, highlighting my hopes for the new season of the year. Below you can see two examples of a checklist and a post-it note. For the L2 and L3 children I use a similar planning style. Below is a L2 checklist. On the edge you can see some additional notes to myself reminding me to "seed plant" conversations about Parousia as the children were not using that word with ease and the Maxims as they were approaching their first Reconciliation. I also made a note to myself to help "experts" begin presenting to others, a note particularly related to making a watercolor map of the Regions of Israel but open to other presentations as well. Near the bottom you can see things I wanted to focus on in the Advent season: The Eucharistic Presence of the Good Shepherd, Pin Maps, Infancy Narratives. There is also a note to remind the children that we would soon be taking home finished work which meant they should check any altar collages or maps to make sure they were labeled and ready to be taken home.
As a bonus, I recently was given a glimpse into another catechist's planning style that shows a bit of the variety which exists in this work that we share! The photo below and to the right shows (instead of a post-it note) a plan for the session. Each child is listed, a checkmark indicates their attendance, the green indicates some options for presentations for that session while the checks indicate what was presented. Several observations of the day are also recorded. In September I listed some of the general principles of setting up an Atrium environment. While there is no standard Atrium blueprint or set-up, photos of one L1-L3 Atrium (along with a pdf blueprint of the space) can be found at the bottom of the home page of this blog. In addition to the information provided in these places, I am frequently asked about sizes and heights of shelving, chowkis, tables, and materials, particularly for the Level 1 Atrium space. The general principle is that everything should be at the child's height, providing easy accessibility and use. But what does that look like in numerical terms? Here are some thoughts on sizing that has worked well in L1:
I have recently had some questions regarding the making of Prayer Cards, Scripture Cards, Prophecy Cards, and Psalm 23 Cards for the Atrium. While there are many different collections and styles, I would like to share what I have found to be of gift to the children. L1 and L2 Prayer Cards: 4.5"x6.5"
L1, L2, and L3 Scripture Cards: 2.75"x8.5"
L1, L2, and L3 Prophecy Cards: 8.5"x11"
L1, L2, and L3 Psalm 23 Cards: 8.5"x4" to 8.5"x11"
L2 and L3 Hebrew Prayer Cards: 2.75"x8.5"
To continue the theme of EPL, here is another example of an EPL shelf. In this Atrium space there are many new children and thus there are more preliminary materials offered at the beginning of the year. When the EPL materials are shifted there will be space to bring out those works which will help the child to care for their environment: polishing, cleaning up a spill, cleaning a table, etc.
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Carolyn Kohlhaas
CGS Catechist and Formation Leader (Levels I, II, and III) Categories
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April 2024
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