Cleaning Days!

At this time of year, when I am feeling relaxed and rested after a great summer with my family and after weeks of attending Church as a participant rather than a leader, I'm drawn to the Catechesis. I have the urge to look over my album pages and class notes and reread books by Sofia Cavalletti and Maria Montessori. I want to ponder new ideas for atrium, and think about the children who I'll be working with in the coming year.  I long to wander around the atrium, exploring materials, and rearranging the room to better suit the needs of the children.

In reality, my job as Christian Formation Director keeps me very busy as the year takes off. I need to update our database and brochures and reach out to families. I need to recruit volunteers and work out calendars!

One difficult task that looms at this time of year is cleaning our atria. It's amazing how dirty our shelves and window sills and trays and tiny pieces can become. Markers dry up. Spiders move in. It's a daunting task, and not one that I enjoy!

But the truth is cleaning is an important part of preparing the environment. Our desire is for the children to discover a clean, orderly, and beautiful space the very first time they walk through the atrium door. That's why I am so grateful to the group of wonderful women who came in to clean for three hours on Wednesday! The True Vine Atrium looks fantastic, and the Golden Thread Atrium isn't far behind. Thank you so much to Sarah, Shirley, Hope, and Deb for volunteering, and thanks to everyone who is coming in to clean this weekend. Your efforts help to make the atrium an inviting place for God and the child to meet!

The Presentation Schedule

Because the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is an approach to the religious formation of children rather than a set curriculum, there isn't a specific schedule to follow week by week. Instead, over the course of our Catechesis training, we see and discuss every presentation. Ultimately we have a written 'album page' which describes the theological points, materials needed, and procedures for each presentation. Included with each album page is a recommendation for the age of the child to receive the presentation, the time in the liturgical year to present it, and presentations that should be seen prior to it.

At the beginning of each year, we look over the presentation lists, the records for children in the room, and the calendar, and map out our plans. Catechist Deb Schelling and I generally get together to create the schedule for the Good Shepherd Atrium, and I look forward to it every year. Tea, scones, and sitting outside in gorgeous fall weather are always important parts of our meetings!!

One of the real benefits of the atrium is the flexibility of the schedule. Catechists can change the direction of the group based upon the interest or understanding of the children at any time. In fact, because the materials are always present in the room, the catechist can choose to show a presentation in the moment if a particular child or group of children are pondering a theological question or appear drawn to a material. Our desire is always to follow the spiritual and developmental needs of the child in the atrium and the flexibility of our environment and schedule help tremendously!

Tour of the Atrium: Structure for Independence

In a recent post, I talked about parts of the room that allow the children to clean up independently in the Good Shepherd Atrium. Today I thought I would share some photos of other parts of the room that help children to function without adult help and keep the atrium running smoothly.

Just off the main room in the atrium is this walk-in shoe and coat closet. Every child stops here to take off his or her coat and shoes and take a deep calming breath before entering the atrium. 

Throughout the room there are small tables like this where children can bring their materials to do their work.

Rugs are available in this basket for children to  unroll and use to define their work space on the floor. One of our first lessons is how to unroll and roll a rug!

This is a special table set aside for presentations by catechists for the children.

We added this shelf a year or two ago. It houses some activities which can be used with little or no explanation. When a child visits us unexpectedly, we have this shelf of offerings that he or she can do without a presentation.

Because we have no sink in our room, we set up this drinking station. Here children can pour themselves a cup of water, drink it, and clean it up without adult help whenever they like.

We created this quiet corner as a respite space for a child with special needs, but it has become a great place for anyone needing a little quiet time. There are atrium related books in the corner which the children like to explore. Children also enjoy relaxing on the soft sheepskin rug.

This is a second area for reading and relaxing. Children can pick up a book from the shelf and sit on the stool to read it. We also have a small hand held labyrinth in a drawer in the little white table on the left that children like to sit and use.

Tour of the Atrium: Clean Up

One aspect of the atrium that often surprises visitors is the fact that everyone seems to know what to do!  The children are very independent in the atrium. In this post and the next I'll be showing you some aspects of the environment that facilitate the children's independence. This first post looks at cleaning up.

In the atrium children know how to clean up after themselves and return materials to shelves ready for the next person. Beans are dropped and swept up, water is spilled and wiped away, polishing cloths are used, put in the laundry and replaced - all without the advice or help of an adult. This is possible because of the time we spend demonstrating these tasks for the children at the beginning of the year, and the skills the children need are often introduced and practiced in their practical life work.

Because we only see the children for a few hours each week, they sometimes need a reminder or adult help with clean up. But our goal is always to empower children to work independently and to be self directed (or Spirit directed!) as they move from activity to activity. The children themselves find it very satisfying! This arrangement also allows adults to spend their time presenting new materials to smaller groups of children and observing the children who are working.

Here are some areas of the Good Shepherd Atrium that allow the children to clean up independently:

We have no sink in our room. Instead on the left in the photo above is our water dispenser, where children and adults get the water they need for work. Water is disposed of in the bucket below. In the middle of the photo is a hand washing station for the children. On the right is a bowl for washing dishes used in atrium (such as the small bowls used in polishing, and the gluing brush and tray). There is also a towel for drying dishes hanging off to the right that I just missed in this picture!

Polishing cloths.

On the top shelf above are the small bucket and sponge used for cleaning up spills, tissues and hand sanitizer. The children use the cloths, sponges, and q-tips on the second shelf to replace the ones they use when working. The bottom shelf holds supplies for sweeping up spills on the table and on the floor, and wash cloths for drying hands and cleaning up spills.

A child-sized broom and sweeper that are used to clean up spills on the floor are kept along side the shelf above. There are practical life works designed to show the children how to use these tools and sweeping is a favorite!

The trash can, recycling bin, and laundry basket are next to the shelf on the other side and the children know which materials go into each and use them regularly.





Check back next week to tour other parts of the room that help keep the atrium running smoothly!

The Atrium Environment

In one of my first posts, I promised to write about the way that the atrium environment supports the independence of the children. The atrium is a prepared space – meaning that adults carefully put each room together according to the children’s needs. 

• Everything in the space is scaled to the children who use it.  The furnishings and the materials were all chosen to allow them to be used successfully and independently by the children.  For example, the chairs in each atrium are always small enough for children to carry on their own, everything is within reach on the shelves, trays of materials are light enough to be carefully carried to tables etc.
• We strive to have every part of every work ready and available for use in the atrium.  This way, children can use the materials freely without having to look for missing pieces or ask for adult help.  (I’ll admit it - this is the reason Catechists sometimes get grumpy when other people innocently rifle through the shelves!)
• We have all the necessary cleaning supplies and replacement pieces available in the atrium, so that the children can clean spills and dirty items, replace used items, and always return the materials to the shelves ready for use by the next person.

All of these factors make it possible for children to follow their own interests and the promptings of the Holy Spirit during the two hour work period in the atrium, often with little help from the catechists. 

Check back soon to learn how the materials themselves meet the vital needs of the children…