Last week marked our first atrium session here at SMOS as part of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. Offered to our preschool students, this program is based on the Montessori approach, and is meant to help 3-6 year olds grow in their faith. The materials in the classroom allow the children to engage with items they might see at Mass and stories that they hear in the bible in a way that is developmentally appropriate. I have to say, the children seemed to really love their first atrium session. I know that I did, too! If you have questions about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) please contact me to learn more.  

Practical Life materials, like those pictured above, are works that involve actions like pouring, spooning, transferring of objects, and scooping. Allowing the children to engage in these repetitive motions helps them to self-regulate. It can also be a form of prayer in the atrium, as they have the opportunity to contemplate while working with these materials.  

One of the best parts of CGS is that we are able to bring items from the Mass to the children in a way that they can experience them fully. One of the works in the atrium is the chasubles (the vestments the priest wears). The children learn what the priest wears and why. One of my favorite songs from the atrium is the liturgical colors song, which goes with this lesson!

One of the tenets of the Montessori approach that is also brought into CGS is that children should be grounded in their physical place here on earth. Our globe and raised surface map of Israel allow us to see for ourselves where Jesus walked here on earth, and how it relates to where we are now.