Any good catechesis textbooks?

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My son is in preschool and we’re considering Catholic school for Kindergarten next year. The prospective school uses the Sadlier textbooks for the religion classes as does our parish religious ed program. Does anyone have any experience with the Sadlier programs? Or are there others you’d recommend? The preschool text seems pretty light and fluffy – basic life lessons about sharing, etc., that we already teach him anyway.

I know some texts have been criticized in the past for not being faithful to Catholic teaching. I’d like to know which ones are faithful and which ones have problems, and what sorts of problems, or any advice you might have on the topic.
 
milimac said:
My son is in preschool and we’re considering Catholic school for Kindergarten next year. The prospective school uses the Sadlier textbooks for the religion classes as does our parish religious ed program. Does anyone have any experience with the Sadlier programs? Or are there others you’d recommend? The preschool text seems pretty light and fluffy – basic life lessons about sharing, etc., that we already teach him anyway.
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they are okay, not great, we use them in the Spanish class because they are only orthodox text that has a bilingual version for both student and catechist. like ALL textbooks no matter how good, they are the basis, not the entirety of what is taught, most of which should come from the catechist, not the book. It is a framework, not the entire content. A weak book with a good catechist or religion teacher is better than a great book without the benefit of a good teacher.

don’t look for deep theology and moral development in a preschool or kinder text, basic life lessons and introduction to Catholic practices should be the basis at this age.

bear in mind also 90% of what kids learn about the Faith especially about living the faith is from parents. without the parents (and grandparents) the school or RE lesson has very little impact and influence on the child’s life, no matter how good the text or the teacher.

please consider volunteering to teach your child’s class. Our kinder and Pre-K depend on parents, and since they are not forthcoming, will be dropped next year.
 
I am a huge fan of Scott Hahn and his “covenant theology” and “salvation history” way of looking at the Bible, the Church, and how we fit into the whole scheme of things. That is why I was thrilled to find Ignatius Press’ series of catechetical texts “Life in Christ.” (Each year has a different title). They are wonderfully orthodox and filled with real CONTENT- not just “I’m OK, you’re OK” and “How do you *feel *about it?” kind of fluff. I happen to be a catechist, and we don’t use texts in the class- each teacher knows the objectives of the year and is free to get there however they get there. I don’t like this method actually- I am a very motivated learner but many of the teachers know very little Catholic theology and could really use the guideance. Anyway- I use these books to shape my whole yearly lesson planning, and the worksheets are wonderful, too. Granted you are asking about Pre-K, but soon enough you will be looking at the other grades. They are worth a look.
 
JudieK said:
I am a huge fan of Scott Hahn and his “covenant theology” and “salvation history” way of looking at the Bible, the Church, and how we fit into the whole scheme of things. That is why I was thrilled to find Ignatius Press’ series of catechetical texts “Life in Christ.” (Each year has a different title). They are wonderfully orthodox and filled with real CONTENT- not just “I’m OK, you’re OK” and “How do you *feel *about it?” kind of fluff. I happen to be a catechist, and we don’t use texts in the class- each teacher knows the objectives of the year and is free to get there however they get there. I don’t like this method actually- I am a very motivated learner but many of the teachers know very little Catholic theology and could really use the guideance. Anyway- I use these books to shape my whole yearly lesson planning, and the worksheets are wonderful, too. Granted you are asking about Pre-K, but soon enough you will be looking at the other grades. They are worth a look.
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Thank you. I guess no matter what the text or who is teaching I need to remain vigilant. I have also heard of a series called Faith and Life, although I do not know off hand who produces it. I think it may be Catholics United for the Faith or Emmaus Road.
 
If you are homeschooling I strongly recommend Faith and Life from Ignatius Press, which is also sold on the CUF website through Emmaus Road, cuf.org, or of course from ignatius itself. the expense is the text plus workbook which works out well for parishes, but is a lot for families again, try to get used books from parishes and just by the workbooks. I believe they start with 1st grade however. Our Sunday Visitor has a Preschool age 3, age 4 and Kinder series, with some good supplements on Mass etc.
 
I also reccomend Ignatious Press Life in Christ Series. It is straight-forward, orthodox- not watered down, and has quite a bit of material. The series runs torugh 8th grade.
 
A good one that is good to work with is “Pillar of Fire - Pillar of Truth”. It is a small pamphlet, but has excellent cites to the CCC and Scripture. When these are used with this, I find it pretty good.
Deacon Ed B
 
puzzleannie said:
If you are homeschooling I strongly recommend Faith and Life from Ignatius Press, which is also sold on the CUF website through Emmaus Road, cuf.org, or of course from ignatius itself. the expense is the text plus workbook which works out well for parishes, but is a lot for families again, try to get used books from parishes and just by the workbooks. I believe they start with 1st grade however. Our Sunday Visitor has a Preschool age 3, age 4 and Kinder series, with some good supplements on Mass etc.
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I prefer the Image of God series for preschool-1st grade, then we switch to Faith and Life.
 
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