I have been teaching children in my Parish’s religious education program for a few years now. It has been a blast and I plan on continuing in this ministry for many years. I am also the father of four children, and my twins, will be receiving first reconciliation and first communion in the next couple months. There are many resources out there for children, but recently I came across one from the Sacred Story Institute.
This resource is part of their Sacred Story Youth Program. Though there are programs for Pre-K thru 8th grade, I came only give my feedback on 2nd grade since that is the grade I am currently teaching.
Sacred Story Youth 2nd Grade Program
According to the Sacred Story Institute this program is “designed to teach youth how to pray and understand spiritual discernment from Pre-K to Eighth Grade”. The 2nd grade program is geared toward teaching the children how to do a daily examination of conscience.
This is particularly good for this age group since getting in the habit of this will prepare them for the sacrament of reconciliation. It is also something that will help them with their spiritual life throughout the rest of their lifetime.
The theme for 2nd grade, and this might shock you, is memory. The prayer that goes along with this is the following:
Father I believe Jesus helps me remember everything that I have done or that has been done to me that has hurt my life of faith, hope and love.
Along with each lesson comes a three minute video that is available on Vimeo. Overall the lessons are fairly short and clock in at around 8 minutes. This was helpful with my children because it is a short daily lesson and keeps their attention. Let’s face it…kids don’t have the longest attention span. The Sacred Story Institute takes this into consideration.
The lessons also teach them about St. Ignatius of Loyola and introduces them to the Ignatian spiritual exercises. It is a great way to assist children to deepen their relationship with Jesus and his church. It teaches them lessons that they will take with them the rest of their life. I highly recommend this program if you teach 2nd graders.
About The Institute’s Program Development
Our programs allow individuals to access the “archeology of their life history” to better understand what blocks integral human and spiritual development and how to navigate a graced path forward using the tools of spiritual discernment provided to the world and the Church by God through the genius of St. Ignatius’ conversion process.
*The above description is taken from https://sacredstory.net/
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In