St. Anne's will be offering a special Pre-K - Kindergarten Sunday school program this year. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program provides a Montessori-based approach to the religious formation of children, building upon the child's rich relationship with God begun at Baptism. The goal is to help each child fall in love with and be drawn into a deeper relationship with God.
The classes take place in the Parish’s “Little Flower Atrium,” a room containing beautiful, child size materials that focus the child’s attention on key scripture passages and liturgical moments in our Catholic Faith. It is a place of work, study and prayer which leads the child into contemplation of God.
After an introduction by the catechist, the children are invited to work with the materials on their own to continue their meditation. Because children learn by using their hands, working with these materials allows them to enter more deeply into meditation, nurturing their relationship with God. It gives them the opportunity to fall more deeply in love with Jesus our Good Shepherd who calls them each by name and leads them into the fullness of His Kingdom.
The foundation of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd was begun by Maria Montessori and completed under the guidance of Dr. Sofia Cavaletti, a scriptural scholar, and Gianna Gobbi, a Montessori educator, more than 50 years ago when they founded the Good Shepherd Atrium in Rome. Today the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd exists in 22 countries worldwide.
We are blessed to have this program here at St. Anne’s! We are offering this unique form of religious education as part of our religious education program which meets every other Sunday from 9:30 am - 10:30 am. For more information or to sign up, please contact: [email protected].