Come fall, the youngest students at Roncalli will be introduced to activities in an atrium aimed at helping them gain understanding of concepts within their Catholic faith.
The new space is in the process of being set up at Roncalli Primary School by Katie Eskro using a host of items both purchased and donated by parishioners. Elements of the atrium continue to be added with the needs list updated in the school’s monthly newsletter.
Items for the atrium, Eskro said, generally need to be finished before they are put in place. Figurines need to be painted, for example, or shelves assembled.
“It involves us and slows us down and prepares us to work with the kids,” she said.
Eskro said that work gives adults a chance to slow down and focus on a task much like youth slow down to focus on their lessons.
She said the atrium is needed to teach the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Method, which uses a Montessori learning approach. Stations with different activities are being set up. Where one will help teach the parable of the good shepherd, she said, another will be about a parable in which Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven being like a mustard seed.
The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd focuses on the religious values of childhood — primarily those of contemplation and enjoyment of God. The Montessori method involves children’s natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods
The goal, Eskro said, is to introduce concepts and present questions that help youth develop a better understanding. Students can stay at a station as long as they want.
“It’s not so much religious instruction as much as it is religious life,” she said.
Though students might not yet be able to verbalize concepts in their faith, Eskro said, the program helps students establish a foundation they can then use as they get older and approach the age of reason.
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Adults are catechists who act as spiritual directors, she explained. Through the programs, students get the opportunity to get to know God and deepen their faith.
She and others have been trained as catechists, she said, but more are welcome. Training isn’t always local. More information can be found at www.cgsusa.org/.
Some Roncalli students are already familiar with the program as two atrium spaces are already in use at Roncalli Elementary. Set up about 10 years ago, they offer an after school option from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays.
Classes have shifted within Roncalli schools
Preschool through first-grade classes are taught at Roncalli Primary with grades two through five at the elementary. The remaining grades are at the middle school and high schools.
Principal Tammy Kost said that until recently, second-grade students were at Roncalli Primary and sixth-graders were at the elementary, but reconfiguring the classes opened up space for the atrium at the primary school.
Kost said she sees the atrium program as a way to provide students with an authentic Catholic experience. She said the program fits in with the theme of awe and wonder experienced by students at the primary school.
Atrium sessions are 90 minutes. Eskro said they will be a learning activity incorporated into the weekly schedules of students.
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Eskro said she’s been shocked by the donations that have come in so far.
The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program dates back to 1954 and two women, Sophia Cavalletti and her Montessori collaborator Gianna Gobbi, both of whom lived in Rome. Cavalletti, who was a laywoman and theologian, was approached by a mother about faith-related lessons for her kids. She was eventually introduced to Gobbi, and together they started introducing different religious concepts to children.