- Begin outside of the space, introducing yourself and your assistant while also asking the names of each child. Introduce the Atrium as a place of listening and speaking with God, reminding the children of the need for quiet, Atrium voices and careful walking feet in this beautiful space.
- Invite each child by name to come into the Atrium, gathering with your assistant at the Prayer Table.
- Introduce the Prayer Table, asking what is seen, and giving a brief thought on each item. Invite the children to spend time in this space while in the Atrium.
- Introduce the Bell/Chime, wrapped under the prayer table, as helping us to know when to "stop, look, and listen."
- Invite the children to walk silently through the Atrium, looking at the materials with their eyes, not with their hands, listening for the chime. After ringing the chime, announcing a return to the prayer table, gather again and invite their thoughts about what they have noticed.
- Present how to roll out a working mat, how to choose a work (a puzzle), how to work with a material, how to return a material to the shelf, and how to roll up a working mat.
- Invite returning children to choose work they have been shown to work with at a table, chowki, or working mat. Show new children the preliminary shelf of the EPL shelf and demonstrate how they may take any work off of that shelf to a table, chowki, or working mat, return the tray to the shelf (if there is one), work with the material, retrieve their tray, and return the material to the shelf when they are finished. All preliminary materials are now available to these new children. (It is best to have preliminary materials for about 1.5 times the number of new children. Thus, if you have 6 new children, plan 9 preliminary materials.) At this time you could also begin presenting other EPL materials individually (1:1) to new children.
- After a time of work, about 7-10 minutes before the end of your Atrium session, ring the chime and invite children to restore their work and gather at the prayer table.
- Sing with the children, possibly showing them how to make their bodies safe before you light a candle for a moment of listening and prayer.
- Dismiss each child individually to line up, possibly singing their name as part of a blessing song.
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.
Comments are closed.
|
Carolyn Kohlhaas
CGS Catechist and Formation Leader (Levels I, II, and III) Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|