The Rosary and children

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At religious education today, they gave my two sons (ages 7 and 4) rosaries. I was very happy about this, especially so that they were very enthusiastic about learning how to use them. I’m so delighted as I’m an avid Rosary prayer as well as loving that they’re showing some enthusiasm for prayer in general.

In any case, my question is how to go about teaching them?

They know the basic prayers, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be (although the younger one’s a little shakier on them). So today I just tried starting from the beginning. The older one is picking it up quickly, but the younger one isn’t. I then told them about the first Joyful Mystery - kind of making a story out of it. We didn’t get to pray the whole decade as they were pretty tired.

I’m wondering if I should split them up and go a little slower with the little one.

In any case, any advice would be welcome.
 
I started praying the Rosary with my kids when the oldest was maybe 8, and some of them were toddlers or infants. The younger kids have been saying the family Rosary with me since birth. We usually say only a decade, but I’ll tell them briefly what the mystery is about that we’re praying, and I have a pamphlet type sheet taped to the refrigerator that tells what each mystery is about and gives a picture.
 
We started doing the rosary when I was maybe 5, and my sister was 3. As my brothers were born, they’d be included in the routine as well. We first started out doing a 15-decade rosary, then did the 5-decade rosary, and then back to the 15-decade rosary.

Things that I remember…

It was very important to have little “how to pray the rosary” booklets with nice pictures illustrating the mysteries. Although we couldn’t focus for 15-45 minutes at a stretch, it was helpful to look at the pictures.

We took turns announcing the mysteries, and enjoyed that part very much.

We tried to be good at kneeling, but sometimes we ended up sitting. And if we were really young, we’d lay on the couch. And maybe fall asleep before it was all over and done with. 😛 And I remember each child infallibly had to have a potty break at some point during the rosary. So, yeah… discipline wasn’t so great, but we still tried.

It was also important to have a routine established where we knew we would say the rosary at such-and-such time. Usually it was at 3:00, because it was the Hour of Mercy. But if we weren’t able to say it then, we said it before bedtime.

Oh… and it was also very important to have a variety of Pretty/Interesting/Nice Rosaries to choose from-- rosaries that were interesting and unique and felt good in your hands and made prayer time that much better. I still find it difficult to pray with a generic-feeling rosary, and find that I pray more often when I’ve just purchased an attractive new rosary. 😛

My kids are almost 3 years and 2 months, respectively… I’m looking forward to introducing them to the rosary, too. I know it will help me with my own prayer life. Good luck!
 
Both of my kids (3 and 5) love praying the rosary. The younger one sometimes doesn’t say all of the prayers, but she enjoys trying. My experience has been that they. Oth really like he repetition. My younger child doesn’t quite understand how to use the rosary beads to count the prayers, but my older one does. He’s always checking to make sure that he’s on the right one.

We recently bought them a kids book for praying the rosary. It has a picture and short story for each mystery. My daughter likes the pictures, but my son gets bored with the book. He’d rather have one line of scripture and then get right back to the Hail Mary’s. Most days that is what we do.

The best way I’ve found for them to learn it is just to pray it. My kids like the routine of it all. After those first couple times, they caught on very quickly. My older son likes announcing the mysteries. Set up a time where you do it every day. Before bed works well for us, although sometimes we lose track of time and don’t have enough time to do a full rosary. Just find what works best for you and start getting them into the routine of it all. Kids pick up on it pretty quickly.
 
I’d keep both kids sitting in and not split them up. We just started a few months ago. My older kids are 8, 10 & 21. The 10-year-old does great with it, while the 8-year-old usually resorts to “saying it in her head” after a couple decades. On the occasions when he participates, the 21-year-old does okay if I tell him to lead a decade or two, otherwise he’s more of a passive observer. With our babies (1-year-old and any-day-now), I figure if they’re around us while we say it they’ll start picking it up as they get older.
 
My older son likes announcing the mysterieshttp://www.filii.info/g.gif. Set up a time where you do it every day.
 
I’d suggest our strategy, which is just doing it as a family, every day before bedtime (or whenever you have spare time together, the most important part being daily!). The consistency should have them picking it up very quickly.
 
Thanks!

I have some images I use to meditate on each mystery and maybe I can print them out and put them in a binder to help.

We’re going to try doing it as part of our evening prayers. I do want to keep them together and maybe I won’t worry about the younger one getting every word as he’ll probably get them from sheer repetition over the coming days and weeks.

God bless,
Bryan
 
Quick update:

My children are loving our rosary time together. I tell them a story about the mystery we are about to reflect on, and we pray the decade. I’m only doing one a night right now, as I think that’s all they can handle, although my older son has asked about all of the mysteries.

It is such a blessing and I feel great. Praise be to God!

God bless,
Bryan
 
RedSoxWife said:
I’d suggest our strategy, which is just doing it as a family, every day before bedtime (or whenever you have spare time together, the most important part being daily!). The consistency should have them picking it up very quickly.
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When I was growing up, my family gathered around my parents bed every evening to pray the rosary. It was just a natural part of family life.
 
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