Wednesday, April 17, 2013

At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

Well like the title states I am at a loss about how to teach my daughter about God, Jesus, and the Catholic Faith. I am the only catholic in my family and I am surrounded by liberals all of whom seem bent on under minding me with the excuse of wanting my daughter to have an open mind when she grows up. How can I ensure that she grows up with a good understanding of what we believe? I am a single parent so I will be her only catholic role model.
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Old Today, 3:24 pm
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

Isolation is a dangerous situation for both you and your daughter. You need to make Catholic friends and limit your exposure to atheists, even if they are your family.
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Old Today, 3:26 pm
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

You don't mention her age.

But there are a lot of resources available ...

My favorite for starting is the Tracts on Catholic Answers.

There are probably a hundred tracts ... you can read them on-line or buy printed copies and use them as the basis for starting your library.

http://www.catholic.com/tracts

They are simply written, but very comprehensive.


In addition, there is the Baltimore Catechism, which has been updated and is excellent for young people and teenagers. (I like the New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism No. 2, December 2011 ... check on Amazon.)


There is also the Matt Pinto/Jeff Cavins Timeline Bible Study, which is outstanding.


Father Robert Barron is fabulous ... you can find him on YouTube ... he has a large number of 8-minute discussions ... and his DVD "Catholicism".


Michael Voris has produced a large number of short videos that are on-line. If you get the premium service ... $10 per month ... then you can access all of them. They cover just about every aspect of Catholicism. Here are two links to get you started:

Michael Voris

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/premium/

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-04-09 ...


That will get you started.

More later.

M.
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

Sorry, my daughter is 4.
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Old Today, 3:38 pm
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

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Originally Posted by ShanaA1984 View Post
Sorry, my daughter is 4.

I would start with the beginning Baltimore Catechism.

Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism (No. 1) (St. Joseph Catecisms) [Paperback]
Bennet Kelley (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)


Work with her; kids are great at memorizing things.


Here are some books aimed specifically at children:

http://shop.catholic.com/tag/product/list/tagId/21/



And then take a look at some of the other references I provided for yourself ... that that will give you some ideas for additional teaching aids for your daughter. After you visit some of those, you will be able to form up your own teaching program until she gets older.

Suggestion: aim for the material you will need to prepare her for First Holy Communion and the persons of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And her Guardian Angel.

Maybe the lives of the saints ... if there are some who are close to you or her namesake, etc.


Just found this ... check out the buttons on the right edge:

http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com...ust-be-broken/
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

Thank you for all those wonderful links. I have started going through some of them and looked at the children's books. She does have her own children's bible(its protestant but it was the same bible that was given to me when I was little) and we do a nightly reading from that as a bedtime story.
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

I have a 5-year old daughter. My brother and his family are lapsed Catholics. My friends (I hate to say) are luke warm Catholics. I get made fun of by them for my faith, but I try not to let it bother me much. Here's what I'm doing to introduce my daughter to the faith. Hopefully some of these can help you:

1. During Advent, we begin dinner time with the lighting of the Advent wreath and we say grace. After grace, my daughter blows out the candles.

2. During the rest of the year, we begin dinner time by lighting simple tea candles. We say grace and then everyone at the table takes their turn to say what they are thankful for. Afterwards, my daughter blows out the candles. By involving her like this, I have found she is really open to prayer.

3. I take my daughter to 9am mass on Sunday as opposed to a later mass. I find she is more alert and better behaved at a morning mass. I've taught her how to genuflect, we've discussed Jesus' presence in the Eucharist and the tabernacle. Whenever she has a faith-related question during the mass, I take the time to answer it immediately rather than waiting until after mass when she would likely have forgotten the question.

4. I'm in the process of buying wall crucifixes for many rooms in my house. I hope that this will inspire more faith-related questions.

5. I plan to buy a small, simple holy water wall font to place in the entry to my house so my daughter can bless herself as she comes and goes.

6. The month of May is quickly approaching. I was thinking that would be a great time to teach her about our Blessed Mother. I bought a 10-inch statue of Our Lady of Grace from on online Catholic store. On May 1st, I'm going to take my daughter out to our garden, cut several roses from our rose bushes, and have her assist me in placing the roses around the statue, which will be displayed in a place where she can see it.

My daughter starts Catholic school in August. I want to give her a good foundation before then. Granted, I'm not putting all these ideas into practice at one time, but slowly so she can learn at a 5-year old's pace.

Pray for God to assist you with more ideas. I think the more we give our young children an active role in their faith, the more they will be interested and the more that will sink in. By doing so, we can counteract the secular culture that just doesn't get it.

God bless you.
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

Start with a family prayer time. When my older kids were about her age we just said a bed time prayer, the Hail Mary, Glory Be and Our Father. As those were memorized we added a new prayer, and as it was memorized another prayer, etc. I teach mire by example, especially when they are young. Their attention span isn't very long at 4 usually, but their brains are sponges. Each time we see an ambulance or hear sirens we say the St. Michael prayer and Hail Mary. When we pass a Catholic church we make the sign of tge cross. We pray before meals even in public. Before long it begins to come naturally and you can add something new. There are many good Catechism/ religion programs for families. if you can get the money together, consider ordering "A Year With God" from Catholic Heritage Curriculla. It has simple activities that can be used throughout the year and many years to come, everything from coloring sheets to small crafts to games to play. It might help get the ball rolling and make it fun to learn as well. Good luck!
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShanaA1984 View Post
Well like the title states I am at a loss about how to teach my daughter about God, Jesus, and the Catholic Faith. I am the only catholic in my family and I am surrounded by liberals all of whom seem bent on under minding me with the excuse of wanting my daughter to have an open mind when she grows up. How can I ensure that she grows up with a good understanding of what we believe? I am a single parent so I will be her only catholic role model.

Does being Catholic = having a closed mind?

I thought the point for Catholics was...they are open to hear the information about their faith and other faiths as well--including the argument for no faith--so that they are well-informed, and then they make their decision that the Catholic belief is the "true" one based on all the information they've been presented with?

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Old Today, 4:29 pm
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

One thing (or more!) I wish I had focused on more was teaching them more about the saints, but more especially, having them do more with the saints, Mary, and Christ in the way of... putting some flowers in a small vase in front or a picture or statue, reminding them more about communicating with all--if I had known more about the saints myself, I would have been able to have them say a prayer to the appropriate patron saint when needed--but generally... things like if they made a pretty picture or something of Legos, saying, Show that to Mary, she would like it; or St Joseph would like that, and of course including God in there as well.

I guess what I am saying is I taught my children lots of theology, but not so much about communicating and making friends with our supernatural neighbors.


Also, do keep close to your parish and try to draw her friends (playdates and all) from those who seem more interested in the Faith to balance your family. Family can be very tough. Pray for them, and teach her to pray for them when they display ignorance of God and/or the Faith.
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

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Originally Posted by DaddyGirl View Post
Does being Catholic = having a closed mind?

I thought the point for Catholics was...they are open to hear the information about their faith and other faiths as well--including the argument for no faith--so that they are well-informed, and then they make their decision that the Catholic belief is the "true" one based on all the information they've been presented with?

.
As far as certain family members of mine are concerned, yes it does. When I decided to become catholic my favorite aunt (hardcore protestant currently married to a lapsed catholic) compared the CC to the Pharisees and told me that by becoming catholic I was condemning myself to hell. My sister and my daughters god-mother is very pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and recently has become anti-religion has drunk the liberal kool-aid
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- Mark Twain
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Default Re: At a loss about how to teach my daughter the Faith

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Originally Posted by ShanaA1984 View Post
Well like the title states I am at a loss about how to teach my daughter about God, Jesus, and the Catholic Faith. I am the only catholic in my family and I am surrounded by liberals all of whom seem bent on under minding me with the excuse of wanting my daughter to have an open mind when she grows up. How can I ensure that she grows up with a good understanding of what we believe? I am a single parent so I will be her only catholic role model.
you might watch the truth project- it will get her attention

http://youtu.be/GJ8ikrDisDU
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