Catechists...what is your favorite grade to teach?

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This was my first year as a catechist. There are only a few more classes remaining this year and it’s been a wonderful experience. I taught the 8th grade and helped them prepare for Confirmation. That age group is a blast – they gave me plenty to laugh about, think about AND pray about! I’d teach the 8th grade again in a heartbeat, but next year there will most likely be opportunities to teach other grades.

I would love to hear from other catechists – especially if you’ve taught several grades over your catechetical career. What is your favorite grade/age group and why?
 
I have taught several different grades, but the last 2 years I have taught the 6th through 9th graders in their 2nd year. Actually, I have had mixed feelings with these kids. Part of me is very excited for them, but in some ways it is harder to teach them because they are sooo jaded.

Out of 12 kids, I would say only 2 mmm maybe 3 really deserve to pass and receive Communion. Most of the kids in my class are totally liberal, acting like parrots repeating the pro-choice anti God propaganda taught by their parents or school. I know that 2nd graders learn their prayers easier than 6th graders, but part of that is because school work and their social life is quite a bit more demanding then it was in 2nd grade. Either way, they also forget their books 3/4’s of the time and they act up as soon as my back is turned. And not in a healthy way. They say the “f” word, pass dirty notes and talk about who “they did”! I seriously prayed daily for these kids who only showed up because they were being forced to. To make it worse, in my opinion, they didn’t even attend Mass. Why would you even persue being a Catholic if you were not going to BE a Catholic?

The 2 kids I feel deserve to receive communion were wonderful kids. But Jesus came for the children of God who most needed Him, so I comfort myself about these kids knowing that I was most likely the only true Catholic they came up against each week. Perhaps when they are having a crisis, they will remember that Mrs. Galvan told them that God loves them and no matter what they do, they can U-turn their lives and give 100% of their love and lives to God. He will sustain them through their troubles and laugh with them at their joys. That is my prayer. Regardless, I know, just like last year, I will be standing their with tears in my eyes as they receive their Holy Communion for the first time. They will tease me a little, then hug me good-bye. I will go home, have a glass of wine, say I’m glad it’s over…and cry a good cry for the boys and girls I won’t see again.
 
I LOVE THE 2ND GRADE!!!

That is our Eucharist year. The children are starting to formulate higher understanding of the Catholic Faith. They are starting to ask deep and meaningful questions and have not been too tainted by society yet. PLUS, since there are so many E&C Catholics, this may be the last time we see the kids until their Conformation year. PLANT THE SEEDS EARLY (and I get to work on the parehts tool).

God Bless,

OH yeah … E&C = Easter & Christmas
 
I have taught several grades. My favorite is where I am now. I have 7th and 8th, we do a team 2 year confirmation prep series. Then in the fall of their freshman year we have the 8 wk intense prep/retreat thing and confirmation after that.

It is quite sad how many kids haven’t been to Mass since their first communion. IMHO the parents of CCD kids haven’t been held accountable often enough in my parish. We are working with the formation committee to change that. I will be sending quarterly reports to the parents outlining what we have been working on, and giving them an attendance report. Sometimes seeing it on paper makes it hit home.

One thing I have always tried to do is to have reconciliation scheduled for the whole class during Advent and Lent. That’s the only way most will have that opportunity. I think that going to confession is much more likely to happen when you are used to it, and comfortable with it.

An hour and a half a week is not going to provide enough instruction for a proper formation, but maybe it’s at least a mustard seed.

I have noticed that the basics need to be revisited almost every year. Just because you had them memorize the commandments and the sacraments in the 2nd and 4th grade doesn’t mean they don’t need age appropriate explanations of all of that as they go. And sadly, most of the curriculum choices, even the good ones, take for granted that the kids already know basic stuff: and they don’t.

Like what’s going on in the Mass, Holy Days, Dogma and Doctrine, Prayers, the Creed. The new Pope was a great teaching opportunity.

We are having our annual Catechism Jeopardy challenge between the grades this Sunday. They like that a lot.
 
KGalvan – Bless you! It sounds like you’ve had your hands full! I haven’t had any problem with bad language in class but they do forget their books all the time. As PJR noted, all we can do is plant that mustard seed.

PJR – I love the idea of the Jeopardy Challenge! We’ve played jeopardy just in my class, but I could really see this age group not wanting to be beat by the lower grades. I’ll mention the idea to the faith formation director.

I really do like discussing more complicated concepts with the older kids, but I can see how preparing the children for their first Communion would be very rewarding. And as dhgray notes, it’s an opportunity to plant the seeds early.

dhgray – how do you work on the parents? I could use some ideas. I sent report cards home and the only parents who called me with questions were for the two children who were at the top of the class (almost perfect attendance and completed homework). I never heard from the parents of the children who had poor attendance and never turned in their homework – even though my cover letter indicated that their child was at risk for missing important concepts needed for Confirmation.

I’d love to hear from more catechists with experience with younger children.
 
First, my favorite years to teach are kindergarden and/or first grade. They are still so innocent and so near God!

As for how to reach the parents, I used to do this with my classes by sending home little notes about the minor feast days coming up or about what specifically we were talking about in the class. This was a simple way to Catechise the parents and I did let them know that if they had any questions they could ask me and I would do my best to find the answer.

Also, my initial letter home included the quote about how the parents are the primary teachers of their children and I am only their helper. Sometime in the year I would send home a letter with my favorite Catholic websites so they can go find the answers either their children are asking or that they have had for years and no one to answer them.

I would also talk to the DRE or my Pastor if I had students who were in their Confirmation years to let her/him know you have students who have no desire to learn and get permission to kick them out of the class. I would outline a series of events that would get a child kicked out though as some teens start the year not wanting to be there and then actually “find religion”. There are consequences to actions and you as the Catechist have the right to enforce the consequences. I know in my Parishes Catechism programs we have a set of rules that all the students must obey or suffer certain consequences (having mostly taught the younger grades I never had to do this - even after taking over a class where one student spent most of his time in with the DRE because the original teacher was inexperienced and just didn’t know how to deal with him).

Also, in my Parish the Confirmandee can decide not to get confirmed if they don’t feel ready or the inclination. It is not a Parents choice, but then again we have confirmation in the 11th grade.

Hope this helps. Oh, and if you want to get a good set of actions/consequences see if you can talk to a regular teacher of that age group. They have some great classroom management ideas.

Brenda V.
 
Last year, when I was a senior in high school, I taught 5th and 6th grade CCD classes–both grades were together, since it’s a very small parish. I loved the kids so much; they were polite, eager to participate, and very friendly and open to God. Yes, sometimes they got off track once in a while (especially my younger brother, who thought he didn’t have to listen to his older sister), but that’s to be expected. So I tried to make it interesting for them. We did special “reports” and presentations on saints, Biblical stories, etc. and played review games at the beginning and/or end of class.

The text book, though, was not very impressive. Does anyone else think that the catechism books that kids use are very vague? I wish that they would include more teachings on morality, because so many kids (and adults) don’t know the Church’s stances.
 
I taught Confirmation for 25 years…7th grade for 3 and first grad for 2 years… These were my favorites…like little sponges w/ eyes wide opened… loving the stories about Jesus …🙂 Retired this past year… I really miss it…😦
 
4th grade, the stress of first communion preparation is over, so the kids who return are they because they want to be (or their parents want them there) not because they have to be. They are young enough not to be blase about everything, but old enough to understand right from wrong, be concerned about God’s laws and the right way to live, obeying the rules and consequences, old enough to have some judgement. It is great to be able to help form their consciences in light of the commandments and beatitudes.
 
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Annunciata:
I taught Confirmation for 25 years…7th grade for 3 and first grad for 2 years… These were my favorites…like little sponges w/ eyes wide opened… loving the stories about Jesus …🙂 Retired this past year… I really miss it…😦
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I loved this age also I taught The Confirmation Class :love: and they are so eager. I miss it too now.
 
Wow…great question.

I have taught (believe it or not)…kindergarten, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. My longest times have been with sixth (four years) seventh (4 years) and eighth (five years).

I will NEVER teach kindergarten again. I was only an assistant then (I was about 16), but they were like savages. Having children of my own…I firmly believe that ALL kindergarten teachers are saints.

I love teaching eighth grade. I teach history and appologetics to them. We can have great discussions, and it is the time when many of them are being questioned about their faith by their friends (some even tell me they are excluded or ridiculed because of their faith…but again that is another story).

I have taught eighth grade for a few years, and have been surprised that parents have personally saught me out telling me that their children really loved the classes. I LOVE eighth graders!!!:clapping:
 
this year i was an aide to the second grade, and while i greatly admire hte man i taught with, i felt as though the class ran as one of those in which the kids just spit back what the teacher says, not really getting to the emotional level. next year im hoping to get a position teaching one of the older grades, preforably a seventh or eighth grade. since ill be a senior next year, i hope i could connect with them and really get into conversations about the faith, apologetics, why we do what we do, why hte church teaches what it does, ect. when they get to be that age, sadly they are faced with soooo much. but anyways - i enjoy such discussions and would love teaching that material, but you can only get into so much when the kids are young. therefore in answer to your question - i would say right now, the older grades
 
Not to get off topic, but I really wish to someday soon be able to teach religion classes (hopefully next fall) and share my faith with the children. I worry that I may not be well enough equipped for such an important job though. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions to prepare myself for this. I guess I know studying the bible and Catholic faith would be a good place to start. I am in a class right now that is going through the cathechism.Just wondering if there are any suggestions. Thanks.
 
for eternity:
Not to get off topic, but I really wish to someday soon be able to teach religion classes (hopefully next fall) and share my faith with the children. I worry that I may not be well enough equipped for such an important job though. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions to prepare myself for this. I guess I know studying the bible and Catholic faith would be a good place to start. I am in a class right now that is going through the cathechism.Just wondering if there are any suggestions. Thanks.
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for eternity – Like you, I was worried about how well I’d do, but don’t underestimate the help that will come from the Holy Spirit. He certainly came through for me! Your studies of the Catechism will definitely help you out. Also, the school will most likely have a teacher’s guide of the student text book and maybe even some suggested lesson plans. There are tons of websites that can help catechists as well. It’s getting late, so I don’t have time to copy in all the links here for the sites that have helped me out this year, but promise to be back in a day or so with more info for you.

for PAPH – I could have used you as a mentor this year!
 
 
I taught first grade/Pre-Sacrament class this year. I love it because they all MUST take my class to get to the First Eucharist/Sacrament class next year. Captive audience! 🙂 Last year I helped with the 5th graders at a different parish but it was very different. I don’t do well yet at classroom control and the fifth graders would have run all over me if I had been the primary teacher! First graders just love you and listen pretty good as long as they get their weekly coloring sheet. Actually, it is amazing how much those kids learned this year. (We finished on Mother’s Day.) I will be happy to see them up there for First Communion next year. I just hope I keep seeing them in the years between then and Confirmation!

We used Faith First, which I think is kind of flimsy theologically and has all kinds of pictures of liturgical abuses at Mass (showing these as normal practices). But you can still use it as a jumping off point to get to what it truly important. I found the Catechetical Resources website to be extremely helpful in supplementing the Faith First fluff.

The main thing I learned about first graders this year is that not all of them are strong readers or writers yet. I made homework assignments too difficult at first for most of the class. My daughter was in the class and is more advanced than I realized, I guess. I had to have a lot of flexibility in assignments to include those who can read fluently and those who struggle with simple words; those who can write a paragraph about their patron saint and those who can only draw a picture of one. I plan to teach the same grade next year even though my children won’t be in my class.

One thing I really wanted to accomplish was getting the kids excited about being Catholic, about going to Mass and about getting to be in the First Communion class next year. I’m pretty sure I accomplished that for most of them. It was good to hear from many of the parents that their child wished I was their teacher next year.
 
I taught eighth grade and highschool for one year each.
I loved both of them. Same reason as you, they were just beginning to really understand the Faith in the larger perspective.

I have sat in on other classes and helped the CCD teachers a bit, and I would say I like from about 5th grade on. Before that the children are really cute, but I am totally ineffective.

–Best wishes.
 
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