I was excited when I discovered a unique way you as a parent can gain spiritual nourishment while helping your child listen to God. Montessori education is known for helping children develop concentration and self-discipline. Montessori principles have been applied to religious formation that you can use at home.
Christina at 2½ working with Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Materials, 1993.
Maria Montessori believed that young children are capable of contemplation and reverence. Montessori education has influenced two programs which help immerse children into faith. Those programs are the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and Godly Play.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
I have both training and experience in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, developed by Sofia Cavalletti. When my children were young, I started a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program in the Episcopal church where I was the Christian Education Director.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a wonderful program, although it typically requires 100 hours of training, with most of the information given orally and in handmade albums. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is very sacramentally and liturgically based, which makes it especially meaningful in Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches.
Godly Play
Godly Play, developed by Jerome Berryman, is also based on Montessori education and has been used in many religious denominations. Godly Play could be used in a homeschool. The trainings are typically 1-3 day workshops, and much of the information is available through books.
Godly play has many of the same elements as Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and uses three-dimensional materials to invite children into worship and into the stories of the Bible. Like Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Godly Play uses silence as a way for God to speak to the child.
Here’s a link to tips for parents who want to use Godly Play at home. I’ll talk more about ways to use Montessori principles for religious formation at home in future posts.
Here’s a video on Godly Play that gives a feel for the program and a brief overview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw_mrzZJx00
UPDATE: For more posts on Godly Play and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, see my Montessori-Based Religious Education category.
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Thanks so much for sharing this, Deb! We’re in between church homes right now and have been looking at the website of an Episcopal church near us. One of the things that drew us was that on their website, they seemed very interested in integrating children into the church family and worship, and they had an interesting description of what the church school/nursery curriculum was that sounded right up our alley. Well, I just double checked, and it’s Godly Play! So thanks for the intro to it; now I’m even more excited about visiting with Mikko. 🙂
That’s great, Lauren! If I had young children right now, I’d really want either Godly Play or Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for them. Both are awesome programs!
Very interesting… I’m not catholic, and my daughter’s not yet a year, but I’m always on the lookout for homeschooling-related resources and this looks very interesting. Bookmarking for future reference!
Thanks for your comment, Lori Ann! You’d probably especially love Godly Play. It can be adapted for any Christian denomination. It really does make religion come alive and is a wonderful way for children to experience religious language.
Hi Deb,
I recently found your blog and am thrilled to hear about your Catechesis and Godly Play background. I’m a catechist and Christian Formation Director and an Episcopalian! We are in our eighth year with Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and LOVE it! I just started my own blog to share Catechesis with parents and others who are interested. I’ll be following yours to learn more! Thanks!
Leslie
Thanks so much for your comment, Leslie! It’s GREAT to meet you! I’ll be following your blog and looking forward to getting to know you better!
The preschool our kids attended used Godly play and it was wonderful. Our kids would come home and act out the bible stories using dolls an action figures. If I asked them to tell me what they did in Godly play they couldn't tell me, but if I asked them to show me, they could.
Thanks so much for your comment, Marci! I love hearing about children applying what they learned in Godly Play at home! The Godly Play figures are simple enough that children can easily act out the stories using dolls or action figures.
Thanks for stopping by and following me today! I am now following you back!
Nice to to meet you, Cherees! I’ll enjoy getting to know you better!