Hello
Parents!
As
can be expected on the first day of anything new, it was a bit crazy and hectic
today! We were very happy to meet all of you and begin to get acquainted with
your lovely children!
There
were a few tears at the beginning of the session from some children who didn’t
want Mom or Dad to leave. Don’t worry—this
is quite natural! Please know that you
are welcome to stay as long as you want for these initial couple of weeks while
your child gets familiar with us. Eventually,
they will be saying “it’s okay Mom/Dad, you can go to church now!”
This
week, the children, catechists and junior helpers spent a little time getting
to know each other. We learned some
basic “grace and courtesy” lessons (like how to introduce yourself to someone
new) and talked about how we should behave in the atrium. We also prayed in our prayer corner for the
first time.
We
are gradually helping the children adjust from the noise and commotion of the
outside world into the quiet of the atrium. Therefore, we will initially spend
most of our time in the “narthex” or “gathering room,” learning grace and
courtesy and a few practical skills.
When we are settled and in a quiet mood, we head over to our atrium for
our prayer corner. Then after prayer
corner, we go back to our gathering room for snack.
Each
week, we will increase the time in the atrium as the children adjust and
understand the difference between how we act and speak in the gathering room,
and how we act and speak in the atrium. By
differentiating these two spaces, children begin to learn how we act
differently in sacred spaces (like church during Mass and the Adoration
Chapel.)
It
really works! When my son was three
years old, I began taking him with me to the Adoration Chapel once a week for
my Holy Hour. He easily sat quietly for the
entire hour. Sometimes he would say little prayers, sometimes draw, sometimes
look at a children’s Bible or other faith books. After the hour, he sometimes asked if we
could stay longer. I know that he could handle this time because he was used to
attending a CGS atrium each week for 1.5 hour sessions. Yes, he was a normal
little boy filled with mischievous energy!
Once outside the Adoration Chapel we would head for a playground or a
hike at a forest preserve so he could wear off that pent up energy!
If
you peek into our “atrium” space now, you will only see the rug we sit on, a
couple of chairs, and our prayer table (with its green prayer cloth, Crucifix,
candles, and Good Shepherd statue). To avoid overstimulating the children with
too much new material, we set up the room simply at first. Then, each week when I present them with new
material, we will add that to the room.
Now,
I would like to introduce you to the wonderful team of people who will be working with your children each Sunday:
Cheryl
Basile – head catechist and program director. I am a certified CGS catechist,
having completed 90 hours of intensive training through the National
Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I was a catechist at St.
Barnabas’ atria for 8 years, in addition to teaching “traditional” catechism
classes for two years at St. Joan of Arc and St. James the Apostle in Glen
Ellyn. My two children attended St. Barnabas’ atrium from 3 years to age 12.
Mary
Lauinger – assistant to the program director, catechist and our song
leader. Mary has taught at SJA’s Sunday
School program for several years. She is
now taking the national course so she can become a certified CGS catechist.
Christy
Sharafinski – catechist. Christy has
been involved in a variety of ministries in the parish and school. She is
trained in the CGS program and her two oldest children attended a CGS atrium.
Susan
Szczerba – catechist. Susan is involved in various ministries at SJA
and heard the call to help us with this new program for our little ones.
We
also have several junior helpers who will be assisting us, including Maria B., Fiona B., Patrick B., Marlo L., Lizzie L., Alina S., Greg S., and Zoey S.
In
addition, Nancy Remar, who has directed the Sunday School program for many
years, and Elisa Caligiuri, who is also involved with SJA’s religious education
classes during the week, will be assisting us with administrative duties.
I am so blessed to have this wonderful
team to help me bring this amazing program to your children! When you see them, please thank them for volunteering their time and talents!
A few housekeeping items for this
week:
1) Check In/Check Out
This week, we will begin having
parents check in their children when they arrive, and check out when they pick
up their children. Please stop by the
registration table to do this. (There will be a check in/check out form there.)
2) Please verify your contact
information!
The registration table will also have
a master list with each parents’ contact information (cell phone, email
address, etc.) Please review this to
ensure that we have your correct information.
3) Parent Volunteers:
Thank you for completing the Volunteer
Forms. I am reviewing those forms and
will get back to each of you soon.
4) Communication
Please feel free to drop me an email (caswrite at aol dot com) any time you have a
question. There are a couple of other
ways you can also stay in touch with me:
Facebook.com/SeekingtheShepherd
Be sure to "like" our Facebook page! I plan to use this as one of the main ways to reach out and keep you updated on the happenings within the atrium.
Seekingtheshepherd-sja.blogspot.com
Yes, we have a blog too! (This one!) Another good way to stay updated on what your
children are learning in the atrium and see photos of them while they work with
the materials. I will also post links to
interesting articles about raising your child in the Catholic faith and
parenting young children in general.
Looking forward to taking this
wonderful journey with your children!
Blessings,
Cheryl Basile
Cheryl Basile
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