St. Luke's Parish offers The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) for Level 1. This program is for children between the age of 3 to 6 years old. Children must be toilet-trained to attend this program in person.
The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is not academic in character; instead, it seeks to be an experience of life and an education in faith. It is rooted in the Bible, the liturgy of the church, and the educational principles of Maria Montessori. Children gather in an "Atrium," a room prepared for them, which contains simple yet beautiful materials they use to help them absorb the most essential proclamations of the Christian faith. Each week, children will be provided with an environment in which to discover God through hands-on work, prayer, and song. Each lesson is connected to a specific moment in scripture or Mass and is meant to bring them closer to the Good Shepherd.
A typical class in the Atrium includes a presentation of a part of the Bible or Liturgy given to the children by the Catechist, a gathering time of worship at the prayer table, and significant time for children to work with materials of their own choice on their own, as an aid to meditation and prayer.
The Atrium is a place of prayer, in which work, and study spontaneously become meditation, contemplation, and prayer. It is a place where the only Teacher is Christ; both children and adults place themselves in a listening stance before His Word and seek to penetrate the mystery of the liturgical celebration.
The Atrium is filled with child-sized furnishings and models of people, places, and objects found in scripture and liturgy. These materials are introduced to the children throughout the school year. Each week, the children choose materials to continue their meditation about lessons presented to them. Because children learn by using their hands, working with materials allows them to enter more deeply into meditation, nurturing their relationship with the Good Shepherd.
You may be wondering how these materials help the religious life of children. If an adult hears a beautiful passage from the Bible, the adult might take a Bible, find the passage, and read it slowly again and again. He or she may think deeply about the words and perhaps speak to God in a thankful or hopeful prayer. A little child, too young to read, needs another way. In an Atrium, the child can ponder a biblical passage or a prayer from the liturgy by taking the material for that text and working with it, such as placing wood figures of sheep in a sheepfold of the Good Shepherd, setting sculpted Apostles around a Last Supper table, or preparing a small Altar with the furnishings used for the Eucharist.
Please take a moment to watch this short video which highlights the CGS program:
Click on this link to learn more about the CGS program and how the CGS program can support your Domestic Church: www.cgusa.org.
For more information contact Melissa Baril-Lower at [email protected]
"If we want to help the child draw nearer to God, we should with patience and courage seek to go always closer to the vital nucleus of things. This requires study and prayer. The child will be our teacher if we know how to observe."
- Sofia Cavalletti