First Grade Bible Presentation

Last Sunday Rev. Peter and I had the joy of blessing and presenting Bibles to our first graders and to two children new to the atrium! These are working Bibles that the children will keep in the atrium (after exploring them at home). Each child (first grade and above) has his or her own Bible, and it travels with them throughout their time in Christian Formation at Christ Church.

Children in the True Vine Atrium are in a sensitive period for language, and many are learning to read. Although we have explored scripture frequently with the younger children, we take advantage of this sensitivity to language by giving each child a Bible of his or her own to explore, and we present materials to the children that describe how the Bible was written and how it is organized. We also present lessons on how to find a passage in the Bible.

In the True Vine and Golden Thread Atria we have supplies for making bookmarks with ribbons or with card stock to mark favorite passages or to note the passage we are working with more easily, and each person can write in his or her Bible.

We look forward to giving the children their Bibles each year.  I hope you enjoy seeing a few pictures of this lovely moment in our parish!

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…

Everybody seems to know what to do...

One of my favorite atrium memories happened in our first year.  The Bishop was visiting our Church and was planning to stop by and see our new atrium in action.  I was working in the 3-6 year old atrium at the time.  Just before I planned to slip out to get the Bishop, our other catechist received an emergency phone call and had to leave Church immediately. I was very suddenly alone with ten 3-6 year olds and I needed to leave the room!  (This is a safe-church nightmare, and one I didn't handle as well then as I hope I would now!).  Just then, I looked out of my door and saw a familiar face - the father of a child in our Nursery - passing by.  I quickly asked this gentleman into the room to supervise, so I could find another helper and meet the Bishop.  As I came up the stairs ten minutes later with the Bishop beside me, I felt sick at the thought of what might be happening in our atrium.  The scene that greeted us was something I'll never forget.  Ten little children contentedly working - some sitting at tables with materials in front of them, others moving quietly around the atrium returning materials to shelves and choosing something new.  And one full grown man sprawled across a tiny chair looking baffled.  "Everybody seems to know what to do," he said with a grin on his face.

When the atrium is running smoothly, everybody does seem to know what do! This is no small feat, considering we spend two hours with the children each session, with most of the time set aside for the children to choose their own work, and work independently or in small groups. This is possible because of many factors but it really boils down to two:  a carefully prepared room and our preparation with the children.  I'll write more about the room later, but wanted to say a few things about our work with the children, which begins this Sunday at 9:15 am!

At the start of the year, we spend time teaching the children the things they need to know to be independent in the atrium.  Here are a few first day presentations we show the children:

• what do do when you arrive
• how to carry a chair
• how to unroll and re-roll a rug to work with materials on the floor
• how to get the catechist's attention without interrupting
• how to move quietly and speak quietly in the room
• how to take a material off the shelf and return it ready for the next person to use

This probably seems excessive, but it is with these lessons that we begin to create the culture of the atrium.  Understanding how to function in the room allows the children to move about freely and choose their own work to explore, as the Spirit moves them.  Knowing how to work independently with materials gives them time to meditate on what they are hearing, seeing, and doing.  With this kind of freedom, children don't have to be directed and entertained at every turn - instead real growth and discovery can happen in the quiet moments of reflection after the catechist and child have finished speaking. This also makes the catechist available to spend time with individual children or small groups - showing them new presentations or meditating with them on the work they have chosen.  Creating an atmosphere of quiet and reflection, where children can direct themselves and be directed by God is a big job for the catechists.  We begin this Sunday!  See you then!