Discouraged CCD teacher needs advice!

[mommyof4]

Or how about moving the sacrament to an earlier age? I know some diocese are now confirming them when they make their first communion.

 

[BlestOne]

Wow am I the only one who has had a positive experience with confirmation prep? I am not a teacher, I am the parent. All of my kids that have gone through Confirmation prep have had the same set of questions, the same community service requirements, the same lessons, same test… but what it differed in is what my kids caught on to and talked about. It seems a shame to me that these parents have totally abandoned their responsibilities to their children.

My kids aren’t all the good studious types at all…in fact my middle son really spent time discerning whether he felt he was ready to be confirmed. He is a class clown type and it occurred to him that maybe he wasn’t ready. We discussed what it meant to be considered an adult in our faith and what being confirmed meant. Somehow this sparked a discussion about being responsible for life choices. We read the Bible together and discussed it frequently, until he was satisfied with his understanding of Christian life. Most of his questions dealt with why we do or say that during the mass… He loved the story of the centurion and how we got “Lord I am not worthy to receive you…” He ended up getting one of the highest scores on the test…even higher than the teachers kid (a straight A student) and after the test, I again queried him about whether he felt ready to make the decision to be confirmed. He had a few reservations, but that told me he was taking it seriously.

In contrast, my oldest totally excelled at discovering the responsibilities of a confirmed member of our Catholic community and loved this stage in his life. He just seemed to blossom into adulthood. He didn’t want to discuss scripture, but the responsibilities of a Catholic Adult.

This past year my dd was confirmed. Of all my kids, she is my most studious child. Good grades, etc… and at first she wasn’t taking it all seriously. I think she thought it was just another class she had to pass. She drug her feet on her assignments, much to my chagrin. What I found out was that it didn’t make sense to her. We sat down and took it from a Biblical history perspective. What finally got through to her was explaining God’s covenants and God’s plan for families… she loved the historical basis and meaning of covenants with God. It all seemed to click with her when I explained the difference between a promise and a covenant and how Christ fulfilled the old covenant by the only means…his death, then how he conquered death for all of us and brought forth eternal life. Who would have thought…each kid had different needs that weren’t specifically addressed in CCD…but isn’t that what my job is? To be the primary teacher of the faith?

Thank God for the CCD teachers that have the difficult task of helping to prepare children into Christian adult life! Each kid has different needs and different questions about the faith. What they need most are parents who are willing to learn right along with them. I know I learned just as much if not more while trying to prepare my kids for confirmation.