Altar Cards

Recently the National Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd made it possible for members to subscribe and view our material manuals online instead of in print format. These material manuals include clear directions for making the materials and now have pictures of the original materials from Rome. They are really incredible! I've been visiting every material in the manual before presenting it this year, and have learned so much! The manuals represent a tremendous amount of work, very thoughtfully done, and I am so grateful. 

While looking through the manual for the True Vine Atrium, I came across these cards which present pictures of the articles of the altar and their significance.  I had to make them right away! Somehow I missed these cards in my training, and as soon as I saw them I knew that they would meet a real need in the children, and allow them to synthesize what they have learned about the altar in a new way. I offered the cards to several groups of children last Sunday and I could almost see the connections being made in their minds as they worked. After matching all the cards, the children asked if they could add the articles from our sacristy cabinet to the work. They were very satisfied with the material!

I can't count the number of times that the "rightness" of the materials has been proven to me since I began working with the Catechesis. Sometimes, the way a work is presented or made doesn't make sense to me and I am tempted to change it. But I consistently find that the wisdom of the materials comes to light when I see the children at work. Other times, I'll find that something I have sensed is not working is actually being done wrong! Or, as in this case, I'll find that a need I am only vaguely aware of has already been addressed with a material I have yet to discover! I've come to trust the wisdom of the Catechesis and the 50+ years of observation, experimentation, and prayer that it represents. I'm so blessed to be a part of it! 

The Materials

In my last post, I talked about some of the ways that the atrium environment meets the developmental needs of the children, and fosters independence. Here, I want to look a bit more closely at the materials, and how they were chosen for inclusion in the atrium. I think this is one of the best things about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd -- the materials at each level have essentially been chosen by the children themselves.  

Just like Dr. Montessori, we catechists are scientists at heart and we are charged with the job of observation. Each week, we make an effort to sit and watch the children as they interact with the materials and each other. Our desire is to learn about their spiritual lives. We watch to see which materials children are repeatedly drawn to and which materials bring them joy. We listen carefully to their comments and questions and prayers, and we study their drawings for insight.  

This practice has been in use by catechists for over fifty years!  Our founders, Sofia Cavalletti and Gianna Gobbi, and their colleagues began by making materials - small figures for meditating upon scripture passages, model altars and altar pieces, maps of the land of Israel -- all for 3-6 year olds. Then they carefully observed the children's responses. Pieces that the children were drawn to again and again found a permanent place on the shelves.  Materials that appeared in drawings and brought the children contentment were kept.  But legend tells of many amazing materials - beautifully handcrafted items that catechists LOVED - that were put away because they just didn't speak to the children.  Some of our presentations were actually developed by the children themselves, when they brought together materials and concepts in their meditation and catechists observed their connections!

Over many years, patterns began to emerge. Specific presentations were treasured by the children at specific ages, and the decisions about what materials would be presented, when, and to whom, were made.   This process of observation and refinement has been practiced with all three levels of the Catechesis, and is still at work in atria around the world today.

This is the thing that I love -- the materials really do speak to the developmental needs and spiritual yearnings of the children.  And I am so grateful to the wise and faithful children and catechists, across continents and years, who have made it so.