October Notes!

Life has been busy, busy, busy up in the Atria! The youngest children have found a rythm and come into the room ready to choose a work. Aside from practical life lessons of pouring, spooning, sorting, etc, they've spent some time learning the names of the articles of the Mass and have shared the Parable of the Leaven (Mat. 13:33) together. As an adult, it always amazes me that the young children can ponder for such a long time on a very short parable. It has certainly taught me to slow down and savor the word of God!
If you're wondering what to do with the little cups of dough that come home from the atrium, you can scrape the dough onto a cookie sheet and bake it at 375 for about 15 minutes. I might not serve it for a company dinner, but the kids usually like it ;-)

The Level 2 children have worked on the gestures of the Mass, the articles of the Mass and will study the structure of the Mass next week. That's a rather involved work, teaching the children about the main parts of the Mass and how they follow a set order. This allows the children to again visit gestures and prayers that they learned in the Level 1 atrium, contemplating with a deeper understanding.
They've also looked at the plan of God throughout time, and marvelled at all the gifts we've been given. This is great preparation for the moral parables and maxims they will delve into this year.




In Level 3, the children have been working on the Plan of God material, and 'telescoping' in on various areas. We've been rotating work with the sacraments, saints, and prayer services.

This past week, we looked at the structure of the Mass from Level 2, and then focused into more detail. We talked about the Mass being one prayer made of many prayers, just like the Bible is one book made of many books. It was interesting to watch the children work with this material and recall the gestures some of them had first learned 8 years ago!

Next week, some children will have the opportunity to look at the individual prayers and as a whole group we will revisit the liturgical calendar.

May the Peace of the Good Shepherd be with you all ~
Beate

"The Montessori method is based on love, and the genius of the great educator lies in the fact that she made love the foundation for man's dealing with himself, his fellow men and with God." Sofia Cavalletti

Week 2!

(I found this tucked away on my phone, and thought I'd publish it even though it's a month old!)

 In this photo, the boys are working on the individual gift strip - the original work was introduced in Level 2 as a way to focus on the gifts God has given humanity and the great care He took to prepare an environment with not just the things we need, but so much beauty to enjoy before finally creating mankind - who arrived like "guests at a banquet." It was interesting to watch the children work - they seemed to gravitate naturally towards a typological view of history quite on their own. Seeing the old foreshadowing the new and looking forward to the future. These boys ended up moving the candles which are next to the cross at redemption to both ends of the strip - in the beginning God created light, and at Parousia there will be no more darkness. 




Hopefully you received the parent/catechist note that went out to everyone but I wanted to quickly update what our focus is in the atrium right now.

Level 1 is continuing those crucial lessons of grace and courtesy that make life in the atrium so pleasant and working on practical life lessons such as pouring, hand-washing, and tracing. These simple lessons will meld into liturgical lessons as time goes on and in the meantime they help with both fine and gross motor skills. Some of the children listened to the parable of the Good Shepherd, a parable with a meaning that continues to grow and deepen with every telling.

Level 2 and 3 will spend two weeks intensely focusing on the Plan of God, lifting out the moments of creation, redemption and parousia, we ponder on His great love for us.

This young man is working on an extension of the Plan of God work titled the People and the Peoples of God. It is one way to look at the invidual bridges that form between us and the people who walked before us through the works that we still use today.













May the peace of the Good Shepherd be with you all ~

Beate

"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