RCIC for kids question

[Joan92]

Hello! I am meeting with a mother at our parish who just arrived and her children have been intermittently in CCD through their early elementary years but have not received the sacraments. Maybe First Penance…but not certain. Our DRE is out of town or I’d connect with her first but does anyone know of a resource for assessing what their knowledge base is?

I believe the goal is to tutor them and get them enrolled in CCD this Fall in their respective grade levels. But I want to give them a somewhat ‘diagnostic’ tomorrow so I can plan how much and how fast we can get them up to speed. Should I just have a conversation with them to assess their knowledge? Should I play a Bible game (or similar CCD type game) I’m sure they’re going to be shy and that limits how easily you can tell what they know. Does anyone have any thoughts…any help would be appreciated!

 

[pianistclare]

Wait for the DRE to return.
He or she will know the pastor’s preference and policy better. You can’t promise her anything as it stands anyway.
A lot depends on where they were catechized, how long, which years, and by whom.

 

[bitterhope]

We move around a lot, and every parish as have attended has had children, regardless of age, take the Sacramental a Prep course (2nd grade class for First Communion and whichever grade their parish does Confirmation). This past year one of mine made First Communion. There were 27 in her CCD class. 12 were 2nd graders, the rest were all older kids. One church we went to was quite large, and they had two separate Sacramental Prep classes–one for 2nd graders and one for the older kids. This year, three of my kids will make Confirmation together. The bishop only comes here every two-three years so the group the kids together. The kids in their CCD class will be between 11-17 years old.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Are the children baptized? How old are they? I think you need to wait for your DRE. There’s more involved than merely assessing their level of knowledge.

 

[Joan92]

The DRE already met with them and got the details and then asked me to set up a meeting with them. I just picked the time to meet with them like a dope not realizing the DRE wouldn’t be there that exact day. So I guess that made me a little nervous and I didn’t want to seem like I didn’t know what I was doing. (But then again the feeling like I really know what I’m doing always alludes me and I have been teaching CCD for years.)

Thanks for the responses. I know that not every situation fits into an ideal “system” like a sacramental prep class…sometimes families and children need tutoring and that’s why she asked me to do this. I just wanted to know if anyone else had ever done individualized RCIC with kids

Thanks again and God bless.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I just wanted to know if anyone else had ever done individualized RCIC with kids

We’ve never had large numbers of children in RCIA (and it is RCIA adapted for children; the Church has no such rite as RCIC though people may erroneously call it that), so it’s always individualized.

We have the children attend religious education classes with their peers because we want them to get to know other Catholic children their age. Then they meet separately about once a month with a catechist who works with just the one or two children in RCIA plus a parent. We want one or both parents to attend both for a safe environment and secondarily because we want them to hear what is being said, e.g., about the importance of attending Mass or that religious education will continue in the future even after they receive their sacraments.

The catechist has to be sensitive both to what the children need, but also to what the parents need. The parents have usually been away from the Church or somehow disconnected from it and that’s why the children hadn’t been baptized or brought up in the faith. So you don’t want some snarky kind of person, but someone who sees it as an evangelization opportunity with the parents as well as the children, someone who is approachable by both adults and children.

We don’t try to rush things. I think the kids all spend pretty much the first year as inquirers, going to their classes and meeting with the catechist. Then they go through the Rite of Acceptance and continue for a second year of formation. They usually come with little to no experience with going to Mass, praying, having any kind of knowledge or experience of God. So it’s a gradual thing.

When it comes time for the rites, we combine our one or two children with the adults going through RCIA. It’s kind of sweet to see how that works. The kids would be reassured when they’d say they were kind of scared about going through a rite and the adults with them would admit that they were a little scared as well. But they all get through it together.

 

[Joan92]

We’ve never had large numbers of children in RCIA (and it is RCIA adapted for children; the Church has no such rite as RCIC though people may erroneously call it that), so it’s always individualized.

We have the children attend religious education classes with their peers because we want them to get to know other Catholic children their age. Then they meet separately about once a month with a catechist who works with just the one or two children in RCIA plus a parent. We want one or both parents to attend both for a safe environment and secondarily because we want them to hear what is being said, e.g., about the importance of attending Mass or that religious education will continue in the future even after they receive their sacraments.

The catechist has to be sensitive both to what the children need, but also to what the parents need. The parents have usually been away from the Church or somehow disconnected from it and that’s why the children hadn’t been baptized or brought up in the faith. So you don’t want some snarky kind of person, but someone who sees it as an evangelization opportunity with the parents as well as the children, someone who is approachable by both adults and children.

We don’t try to rush things. I think the kids all spend pretty much the first year as inquirers, going to their classes and meeting with the catechist. Then they go through the Rite of Acceptance and continue for a second year of formation. They usually come with little to no experience with going to Mass, praying, having any kind of knowledge or experience of God. So it’s a gradual thing.

When it comes time for the rites, we combine our one or two children with the adults going through RCIA. It’s kind of sweet to see how that works. The kids would be reassured when they’d say they were kind of scared about going through a rite and the adults with them would admit that they were a little scared as well. But they all get through it together.

Thank you for your kindness in responding. It sounds like your parish is really doing wonderful things for Our Lord!