Grades 1-8 Religious Education 2010 - 2011 Overvview

2011 - 2012 Grades 1-8 Religious Education

Parents and children, we welcome you to the Religious Education/Formation Program for the 2011-2012 year. A special thanks to all of you parents for your commitment to your children’s spiritual formation, and for including us in the catechizing of your children.

Jesus wants all “the children to come to Him” (Matt. 19:14). We pray daily that God will bless each of your families abundantly, and feel privileged to assist you in this most important of vocations/ministries. Please take a moment to review the following information.

For Grades 1-5:

Drop Off and Pick Up - Please make every effort to have your children here on time for class as it becomes a distraction for the teacher and class to have children arriving late.

Class begins promptly on Sundays at 10:00 am, and Tuesdays at 6 pm.

Parents have asked us to minimize snacks and treats in the classes, so we will be limiting those this year.

Please enter SHS from the side door near the flag pole.

Dismissal - Dismissal is at 11:15 am on Sunday and 7:15 pm on Tuesday. *Very Important: All children must be picked up inside the building by a parent or carpool driver, not a sibling. This is for each child’s safety, since the parking lot can be a rather hazardous place after 10:30 Mass on Sundays and especially after sundown or during inclement weather on Tuesdays. Thank you for your compliance to this request.

For Grades 6-8:

Drop Off and Pick Up - Please make every effort to have your children here on time for class.

Since community is part of the EDGE program, families will be asked to take turns providing snacks for the class throughout the year.

Classes begin promptly at 10am on Sunday mornings and take place in the SHS gym.

On Tuesday classes begin promptly at 6pm and take place in the church hall.

Please note the separate locations.

Dismissal - Very important: At dismissal time (11:15 on Sundays and 7:15 on Tuesdays) *Very Important: All students must be picked up inside the building by a parent or carpool driver, not a sibling. This is for each child’s safety, since the parking lot can be a rather hazardous place after 10:30 Mass on Sundays and especially after sundown or during inclement weather on Tuesdays. Thank you for your compliance to this request.

For All Grades 1-8:

Cancellation of Classes - Any day that public schools are closed or dismissed due to inclement weather, CCD classes are automatically cancelled. If public school is closed due to teacher workshops/voting, etc., we do not cancel previously scheduled classes. We are not informed of these days off prior to scheduling our classes. If cancellation of classes becomes necessary due to persisting weather conditions we will make every attempt to inform the public schools by 1 pm so that they can announce the cancellation. We will try to e-mail our families or you can call the Religious Ed. Office- we will have an announcement on our answering machine.

Since public schools don’t affect Sunday classes, we will try to e-mail you to let you know when class is cancelled as early as possible, and we will announce it at the 9 am Mass. You can also check out WMUR TV ch.9 or you can call the Religious Ed. Office- we will have an announcement on our answering machine.

Homework and Family Activities

Memorization of Prayers and the signing of the cross, inviting God to your dinner tables and daily excursions will help them to see that God is everywhere and should be in our thoughts constantly. This is how we give praise to God and worship Him outside of weekly Mass. Teachers may also be assigning some Family Activities for the children to complete with you. Reinforcing the weekly class concepts at home is essential to instilling in the children that being a Catholic Christian is a 24/7 job! It is also an opportunity for you to discuss and share your Catholic Faith with your children.

Mass attendance is also of extreme importance for the children and family to develop a sense of belonging in our parish community. It is also the Third Commandment of God to keep the Sabbath holy. It is where we gather together as a family to praise and worship God, and are nurtured spiritually through God’s Word and the sacrament of Holy Eucharist to face our weekly challenges and actions. Please make every effort to be with us each week as our parish family and community worship is incomplete without you.

Regular celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation will also help your family to develop a keen sense of living a Christian lifestyle and to experience God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness. We have scheduled class time for the celebration of Reconciliation during Advent and Lent, but it is suggested that celebration as a family each month will help all of you to remain close to God.

Prayers and The Ten Commandments:

This year, we are again asking all teachers and parents to pray with the children each week and day, respectively. Praying at home (morning and evening prayers, before and after meals) will help the children to develop this positive and vital spiritual habit for their relationship with God.

You will find all of the basic prayers and more in their textbooks. Please pray for your children daily and bless them before they leave your houses for school each day. Eucharistic Adoration is also a wonderful way to spend some quiet time with our Lord. OLMM has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 9:30am – Thursday, 6:30 am.

I am again asking everyone to learn by heart all the Basic Prayers, the Act of Contrition, and the Ten Commandments this year. Since we are all created in the image of God, it is essential that we understand God’s gift of the Ten Commandments as a guide to holy living, not as oppressive rules. By doing so, it will help us to act as his physical representatives on the earth toward each other and all of creation. Imagine a world where everyone loved and forgave ea ch other without violence!! Praise God that it will become a reality soon.

The Commandments are also the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church’s moral and social teaching. By understanding what they contain, we will all understand more thoroughly why the Church formulates certain doctrines and teachings.

God Bless.