Family Faith Formation

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Was going to add to previous topic, but found it had been closed. I have been an assistant catechist for several years. Mostly with 3rd grade. This year, we changed from weekly Sunday classroom lessons to a hybrid “family formation” that consists of a monthly classroom lesson and 3 home-school lessons that they do with their parents. The parents also have a speaker/lesson while the children are in the classroom once a month. I have 4th grade - solo this year, not as assistant. Great concept, but is it working?

Definitely harder for the teachers. We get a “lesson packet” that is for a broad age range (K-3 or 4-6 - grade 7 & 8 using a video based program & high school program is done by the youth minister) I have found that the broad age range is “over their heads” at the younger end - too broad. For some reason, our DRE doesn’t think the teachers need to see the take-home materials. I have argued for this - that it would be helpful to figure out where the classroom lesson ends and where the family lessons start. I have talked to my students & some of the other parents - a lot of them are not doing the take-home packets. There are no lesson books or workbooks for the students.

The teacher packets contain a LOT of material - and a completely different approach. I am trying to adapt. One of the biggest problems I have is timing. I usually run out of time & have to scramble to clean up. I take the materials & write my own lesson plan - have to pare it down to the basics & look for supplemental materials (games, crafts, songs) for their level. They don’t do well with the Q&A format - usually the same 2 or 3 kids answer all the questions & the rest have blank stares. Since there are no lesson books or workbooks, I have the kids do note-booking (a home-schooling tool) where they add activities, memory verses or handouts from each lesson, along with a place for notes or to add anything from their take-home packets. They like the games, especially matching games. We start each class with snack (this is also something new - we only had snack at class parties in the past). My 4th graders enjoy it, but it is hard to get them to “put it away” when the actual class time starts. Parents are strongly encourage to attend Mass with their child right after the lesson & teachers are also encouraged to attend this Mass (which is why clean-up is so rushed)

This Sunday is Lesson 5. Have been in “prep mode” this week. I have prioritized the parts of the lesson. Bringing dollar store bags form them to use for leftover snacks. Have the prayer cards made. Have a word board already prepared. Pre-made the craft to glue into the interactive notebooks. The game is optional - incentive - we get to play if the rest of the activities are completed. The last activity can be a take-home. Won’t start it if we are within 5 minutes of the ending bell. Maybe well actually get to do a closing prayer this time.
 
Former DRE here:
It’s the new thing in Catechesis. Pastors love it because it catechizes the parents, who sorely need it. Every major publisher is furiously working on new curriculum suited to family catechesis.
It’s an answer for pastors with not alot of classroom space, and overbooked kids. We lose so many students whose parents just give up trying to get them to class. And it encourages home dialog.
It will work out. Give it time. God bless you for stepping up to the bat, Many won’t work with kids, and our children need great caring catechists.
 
Thanks. I am not thrilled with the teacher packets. Mostly because of the wide age range - which is why I write my own lesson plan The fifth grade teacher doesn’t use the games at all - his group does very well with a Q&A type discussion. 4th grade does not. The curriculum is topic based & not sequential. This year is a lot of trial & error.
 
Some of the teachers have children or grandchildren in the program. I’ve seen my granddaughter’s packets. There is really no reason except that it takes the focus off the classroom lesson. I give them an extra good conduct ticket if they bring in something from their home lesson to add to the interactive notebook.

Each grade has their own classroom session. We have a catechist meeting with the DRE 2 weeks before the classroom session & we are encouraged to share things that might help us present the topic. Unfortunately, the wide age range lesson does not work well for the younger end of the spectrum. I have learned to scale back on some of the supplemental materials. This is my first year flying solo - I was the assistant last year.
 
Thanks for the advice. Consistency suffers every time there is a change in published curriculum. This is new to all of us & I am not the only one struggling. If you could actually see the teacher packets I am referring to, you might understand why I feel the need to adapt it to my grade level. I very much want to stick to the program & present the material. The program is topic based & not sequential. The methods and materials are unlike anything we have used before. Lots of trial & error. The “main” focus of Family Formation is actually the parent-led take home lessons. I have scaled back on the “extras” - mainly because of limited time - but we are encouraged to bring our own faith, strengths & experience into the classroom. We have a great DRE and she is walking with us as we make this transition.
 
I like the idea in theory because it necessitates that the parents are getting catechized as well and taking seriously their responsibility as primary catechists for their children.

But it does often take a bit of time for the paradigm shift to happen. One of the parishes in my area follows this model and I have had families switch to our parish for faith formation (we still do the once a week model) because they say their kids need to have faith formation more than once a month. Um. They do have it more than once a month, but the parents need to be the ones doing it. But some of the parents just shrug off the take home portion as “extra”. It takes some people more time than others to realize that they are also a catechist.

It’s natural that there will be some growing pains in the transition. Just keep at it! 👍
 
Yes, we had some families switch to the neighboring parish Religious Ed because they still have weekly classes. But we added pre-school and babysitting, so the numbers remained consistent. Our parish & the neighboring parish will eventually become a “pastorate” (one pastor, two locations), so there is no issue with families choosing the format that works best for them. One of the biggest problems with weekly classes was absenteeism. Sports in particular. Parents would allow the children to skip Religious Ed for games, practice or even team photos. Kids would miss for camping trips, birthday parties, sleepovers (too tired) - you name it. Unfortunately, absenteeism is still a problem with the monthly program.
 
Absolutely agree. This is the new direction in Catechisis. In addition; our Parish recommends Adult Faith Formation courses for the parents. Also, offers a flexible attendance schedule.
 
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We are using familyformation.net. It is a 3 year cycle, meant to follow the liturgical year - 2017-18 topics are:

Sept - Angels
Oct - The Mass
Nov- The Creed
Dec -Baptism & Confirmation
Jan - Vocations & Holy Orders
Feb - Sacrament of the Sick
Mar - 10 commandments
Apr - Eucharistic Adoration
May - Mary, God’s Masterpiece

I don’t see the actual connection to the liturgical year other than setting up the prayer table with the correct color cloth & have the priest paper doll dressed in the correct color vestments. The lesson is not connected to the readings at Mass and the topics, while loosely connected, they don’t really build upon each other. That is what sequence means to me.

The take-home packets for parents may be more connected to the liturgical year & may have the saint stories. The saints are not part of the teacher packet, but there is a saint of the month & the high school students will dress up as the saint & come to the classroom if you request. I liked having them come, but it took too much time away from the topic - was distracting.

I did look at the other family formation program offerings. Most seem to be “home grown”, but at least one publisher, Sofia Press, offers “A Family of Faith” & Loyola Press offers activities guides for inter generational events. growingupcatholic.com also offers a family program. The major publishers may be working on it, but they are not offering any curriculum for family catechesis at this time. After looking over the others, I think we are using a good program & method. Change takes time. We will all learn as we go
 
Today’s classroom session went pretty well. I had broken the topic down into what I thought was manageable - got through most of it, but still had to scramble to clean up. Gave our DRE some pretty detailed feedback (analytical is my strength - according to Gallup) Three things I need to address: 1) cut back on the notebook activity - 1 or 2 things only to keep as a memory of the class. 2) have the youth aid help with gluing & taping in the notebook activity & 3) finish activity & move on to the closing prayer 5 minutes before the first bell & use the time between 1st & 2nd bell to clean up. I never really worried much about timing when I was the assistant last year.

I looked at the other family formation programs offered & this one is the only true hybrid. A Family of Faith (Sofia Press) & Growing up Catholic seemed to cut the classroom part completely. Loyola Press has two programs that can be used “either/or” classroom or home teaching - so it could work as a hybrid. If the other major publishers are working on providing something for family formation, it is not evident on their websites.
 
My $0.02 from observing my wife’s parish.

The program hasn’t been too well received where we’re at. The price is still the same as we paid last year for class room (which I think was quite high as it were), which included: busing from the public school, snack(s), materials, and meal afterwards. This frustrated many families.

We’ve noticed that families left for neighboring parishes, or just decided not to sign up for classes before the year even started. We’re also starting to notice a drastic dropoff in attendance as well, both for family day and the parent workshop. I attended the last two parent workshops for my wife and I’ve noticed that tables that normally were all full were only half full, and the last one there were tables completely unused. There was over 20 kids in my oldest son’s first communion class. The last two family days we counted 10ish families…total, K-6. I’m noticing on social media that there are families unhappy with the program and looking for other parish options.

At the last Mass the priests homily was all about why they changed to Family Faith Formation. It looks like they’re starting to notice the drastic drop off in attendance.

I think that there’s going to be a larger exodous of families over the summer if it’s decided to continue with the program. I know we’re one family looking at the possibility.
 
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If you don’t mind my asking, what is it about the program that you think is causing this drastic decrease in attendance? Is the price the primary factor? Do you think if the cost had been greatly reduced, then more people would have stuck with it? Or is it something else?
 
Hey, no problem.

From what I hear it’s probably a cross section in cost and time investment. For us, with two kids in classes, I think it cost us $250, when #3 is old enough well be over $400. What I hear is: We paid this high cost for our kids to be bused over, snack, classes done by 5pm…etc. Now we pay the same price but have to do all the work ourselves, what exactly are we paying for?

Long story short: Classes were done by 5pm, the new program requires a much larger parental time investment yet are still paying the same price even though it seems the church is saving money on busing, food, etc…which seems to be rubbing people the wrong way.

I know the class based program we’re looking at 10min down the road is only like $75 a kid.

I think they’re starting to hear some feed back too as the priest did say lately that many prefer the classroom model and then stated (in not as few words) but we’re doing this for your own good. I’m going to guess that probably rubbed some people the wrong way now too.
 
Thanks for sharing. I’ve long been interested in this method of faith formation as I appreciate the “out-of-the-box” approach and the parental involvement. It’s good to hear the strengths and weaknesses. I doubt we’d go this route with my parish program, but I am open to anything that will potentially result in greater engagement with families.
 
No problem. I have no issue sharing what I know, hear or experience.

Full disclosure, my marriage is a mixed marriage (I’m the non-Catholic). There have been some things said in the church about non-Catholics shortly after the program started. I don’t know if that exacerbated the lowering in attendance so quickly. I know the DRE told me before the school year started that there were other mixed marriage families that had concerns, but I honestly don’t know how many that is. I know I kinda checked out after remarks were made though.

I have noticed a change in communication verbiage lately though. Communications have changed from Catholic family…and Catholic home…to Christian family…and Christian home. I know it may not sound like much, but at my wife’s parish…it’s a lot.

Like I said, I dunno if it’s another reason for the attendance drop…but it could also be something.
 
Hi TC. We did reduce the cost but some parent were still miffed at having to pay AND do Home lessons. Ours is about $75/child. Discounts for multiples. The neighboring parish charges about the same for weekly classes. Ours is on Sunday from 8:30-9:45. Parents have a speaker with refreshments while the kiddos are on class. Strongly encouraged to attend Mass as a family at 10:00.
 
Thank you. We’re giving it a shot…but I don’t think it’s being too well received. Parent meetings and family days are getting smaller…and smaller…

I remember Mass at the first Family Day (which was obviously held right after Mass) was standing room only. Last family day was just like any other Sunday. Stroll in and pick a spot. We had about 10 families K-6 total, that’s only about 1/2 of last years 2nd graders.
 
I guess I’m cautiously pecemistic that the program is going to last. The way that attendence is dropping, it doesn’t sound like the priest will listen to people that don’t like it, the time commitment, and the COST, I see many of those who are left going 10 min down the road where it’s classroom based and costs ~40% less.

That’s me though. I’m pretty sure were some families that changed to this parish only for the way they ran the classroom program.
 
That is a lot of money for CCD. Our parish only charges $15 for one, $30 for more than one. Our youth group is the same, with confirmation prep at $40. We pay more than the fees collected for materials and retreats. I’m not sure if all parishes in my area are like this but our parish supplies the CCD, youth group, and confirmation prep with at least 3/4 of our budgets.

I know if our fees were as high as the fees in your parish, we wouldn’t have any kids to teach.
 
I just went back and found the registration paperwork. I know they really get us on sacrament years, but I couldn’t remember how much.

$125 per kid - Non-sacrament year
$175 first communion year
$300 confirmation year.

Family Cap of $425 - If the prices stay the same, we’ll spend 2 years at $375 and 2 years at the family cap as kid #1 is confirmed and kid #3 goes to 1st communion.

By the time it’s all said and done, if we stay at that parish and the prices don’t go down (honestly, I expect them go go up…I think their education program is hurting) we’ll have over $5,000 invested.
 
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