Preparing a child for first communion/general faith formation

[Aggies08]

My family belongs to an atypical parish- it’s considered a ministry/outreach, and as such, does not offer youth faith formation. There is a local parish which does, but for reasons not pertaining to the post, we will not be attending their classes.

I’m sure my priest will have good suggestions as well , but I’m curious as to what you all recommend for faith formation, beginning at 3/4 years old. I’d like to have some sort of curriculum or guide to follow; I’d hate to realize at 10 that I never taught my child the Glory Be, or explained WHY we do something!

 

[dconklin]

I work in the Religious Ed office at my parish - and this sounds very foreign to me. Every parish, no matter the size, should offer Faith Formation and sacrament prep. If this is truly the case, I would call the Diocese and ask to speak with someone in the Religious Education office. They should be able to help you - and possibly help your parish help you.

Here are a few resources that I have been able to quickly find: loyolapress.com/faith-moves-order-now.htm
loyolapress.com/catholic-kids.htm

Good luck!

 

[AthenaC]

I work in the Religious Ed office at my parish - and this sounds very foreign to me. Every parish, no matter the size, should offer Faith Formation and sacrament prep. If this is truly the case, I would call the Diocese and ask to speak with someone in the Religious Education office. They should be able to help you - and possibly help your parish help you.

Here are a few resources that I have been able to quickly find: loyolapress.com/faith-moves-order-now.htm
loyolapress.com/catholic-kids.htm

Good luck!

^^ This guy seems to know what he’s talking about. By the way, dconklin, love your signature!!!

I tried to find the books my mom used to teach me Faith Formation at home, but I couldn’t find them. I just google’d “Catholic religious education textbooks” and I found several sources, however.

 

[1ke]

I work in the Religious Ed office at my parish - and this sounds very foreign to me. Every parish, no matter the size, should offer Faith Formation and sacrament prep.

From: person living in a town of 648 people
To: person living in a town with 32,711 people

Just because it sounds foreign to you does not mean there is something wrong with it.

The parish certainly can offer religious educaiton and sacramental prep-- by providing the teach-at-home curriculum to the parents. It is not always feasible to run a parish religious education program for a mission. The OP, for whatever reason, does not intend to take their children to the main parish for religious education, so the other option would be teach-at-home.

That is certainly doable. Most major publishers provide a teach-at-home option for their parish religious education programs. I suggest the OP talk to the religious education coordinator at the main parish and get the home teaching materials.

 

[jmcrae]

My family belongs to an atypical parish- it’s considered a ministry/outreach, and as such, does not offer youth faith formation. There is a local parish which does, but for reasons not pertaining to the post, we will not be attending their classes.

I’m sure my priest will have good suggestions as well , but I’m curious as to what you all recommend for faith formation, beginning at 3/4 years old. I’d like to have some sort of curriculum or guide to follow; I’d hate to realize at 10 that I never taught my child the Glory Be, or explained WHY we do something!

Ditto to the person who suggested visiting the Diocesan Office for Faith Education. They will be happy to help you find a good home program, and let you know what the steps are to ensure that your child receives his Sacraments at the appropriate ages.