Preschool and Primary Grades	GIFTS OF ANCESTRAL WISDOM
		Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.
		Cardinal John Henry Newman

Our programs for children in pre-school and primary grades have been developed to provide parents with options in the formation of their children’s faith. We don’t view these options as conflicting, rather they present an opportunity for parents to choose which program(s) best support their family’s formation.

The Newman Center’s catechetical programs are not stand-alone programs which simply require parents serve as chauffeurs to and from the parish. In order to be effective, the following programs require that parents take an active role in the formation of their child(ren); that parents are committed to continuing the conversation at home between sessions; that parents are willing to take responsibility for their child(ren)'s formation (or lack thereof). Programs at Newman Center have been developed to be tools in the family’s formational journey, not to be the journey itself.

• Early Childhood (3’s, 4’s, and 5’s)
• Children’s Liturgy of the Word (Ages 3 through 8)
• Faith in Life (Grades K through 12)
• Tuesday Night Alive (Grades 1-8)
• Homeschooling

Preschool

Early Childhood (3’s, 4’s, and 5’s)
As a children become aware of the world outside their homes, they begin to “feel” the grandness of the world and the awesome things which are part of it — rocks, flowers, bugs, etc. They experience life through the five senses yet still lack the verbal skills to articulate the wonderment of the world through that which they see, touch, hear, taste, and smell.
Aquinas Newman Center is excited to introduce a new program designed to help children connect the wonderment of the world with the giftedness of God. Using the language of our faith and applying it to the experiences of their world, the program is designed to help young children form a connection between all that they see and God, whose love is everlasting and boundless.

The Early Childhood program is for kids who are ages 3-5 and who are toilet-trained. The program will be on Sunday mornings during the 9:30 liturgy. Using the Sunday gospel as foundation, the program will invite children to recognize God’s goodness all around them as well as introduce them to Jesus.
Due to the nature of the program, space is extremely limited and will be filled as registration forms are received.

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Preschool / Primary Grades

Children’s Liturgy of the Word (Ages 3 through 8)
The Catholic Church recognizes the Liturgy of the Word (First Reading through the Prayers of Intercession) as integral to the experience of God’s presence in the Sunday Liturgy. Yet for the youngest members of our community, the words, imagery, and prayers during this part of mass are foreign and not easily understood. The Children’s Liturgy of the Word (CLW) program translates these readings and prayers into age appropriate language and images for young children.
After the Opening Prayer, children ages 3 through 8 are invited to move to the Dominican Chapel to celebrate and witness God’s presence in the Word Proclaimed. Once there, children will listen to the Sunday scriptures (translated into their language), understand Jesus’ message through a discussion, craft, or activity, and pray for the needs of their community before returning to the main Chapel to celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist with their family.

CLW is scheduled during the 9:30 Liturgy and does not require registration, children simply come forward when invited.

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Primary Grades

Faith in Life (Grades K through 12)
Faith in Life balances traditional grade-based curriculum based catechesis and contemporary family (community) centered formation. The monthly program engages both the faith of the family in communal activities and the faith of the individuals in peer groupings. This family focus allows children to witness their parent(s) actively forming their faith, provides parents a chance to update their theology and engages the larger in the ministry of both catechizing and being catechized.
Faith in Life includes seven core doctrinal sessions and three supplementary heritage sessions (see next page). The doctrinal sessions are more structured and include both communal (participants gathered together) and age-specific (participants separated by grade) experiences. Heritage sessions focus on Catholicism shared history and practice and generally include only communal activities.

Participation in Faith in Life involves the entire family. Parents meet both communally with their children and other families, and individually with their peers and other parents. At least one parent should plan on attending the Faith in Life sessions with their child.

Faith in Life provides orthodoxy (the study of the faith) and orthopraxy (the practice of the faith) in order to give families a better understanding of how Catholicism interacts and supports the everyday activities of their lives.

The content of Faith in Life founded upon the nationally recognized and ecclesiastically approved curriculum, Call to Faith, covers the same material in the same order as parishes throughout the United States. Our uniqueness is that Faith in Life introduces the particular theme, providing concrete examples, and then encourages parents to continue the conversations at home using the Call To Faith electronic textbook (available online) as a guide and reference. In this way, parents can form their child(ren)’s faith in whatever way they feel is appropriate and reflects the family’s understanding of the catholic faith.

Recognizing that many parents may not feel comfortable or prepared to continue the conversation at home, the Call To Faith online resource also includes adult formation opportunities encouraging parents to explore and deepen their own faith as they become guides for the journeys of their children.

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Tuesday Night Alive (Grades 1-8)
Tuesday Night Alive is a alternative program for those who are unable to participate in the Faith in Life series. Tuesday Night Alive will be an exploration of our faith using the structure of the Catechism as a guide. Over the course of the year, students will come to better understand what Catholics believe and how they celebrate, live, and pray through the lens of the Dominican charism.

Following an Archdiocesan approved text series, the program will discuss a specific aspects of our faith in broad terms (in order to reach the age range of participants) followed by some concrete application in the world around them. The students will then be given age-specific homework to be completed with their parents before the next session.
Tuesday Night Alive will partner with the RCIC (see evangelization), so that in addition to their own faith journey, participants will become mentors and witnesses of their faith for classmates who are interested in becoming members of the Catholic Church.

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Homeschooling
The Catholic Church recognizes that parents are the primary catechists of their children. That recognition however is paired with a reaffirmation that the Church has a unique responsibility in the formation of its membership. The church urges parents to work in partnership with their local parish to ensure that children are being properly formed and that parents, as catechists, are being properly trained and nourished. While parents do not need to coordinate home-schooling through the parish, doing so makes a variety of support and assistance available.

Both Faith in Life and Tuesday Night Alive include strong home-based components in the form of electronic or paper texts. In addition there is a variety of other formational materials available supporting parents in the formation of their children. Parents who are interested in exclusively home-schooling their children (separate from Faith in Life or Tuesday Night Alive) should contact the Religious Formation Office to design a program which meets their needs.

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