Upper Elementary

Dear Parents,

I would like to share my general plan for our FREP class with you. The FREP curriculum has been designed so that each month all the grade levels will be discussing the same topic. The lesson for each grade is then tailored to the particular age group. Hopefully all of the children have received their text books. It is very important that you and your child read and discuss the material in the weeks between each class. This should be done with your child. Reading and discussing the information with your child helps him or her see that this is important to you. As the Catechism teaches us, the parents are the primary educators of their children when it comes to teaching them the Faith. Besides this obligation, I believe your relationship with your child will become even stronger if you spend this short amount of time together. Learning the Faith should not be treated the same way as you would treat learning math or science. Don’t leave teaching your children the Faith to “someone else”. For my part, I will try to always prepare a meaningful lesson and encourage the children to explore the Faith and grow in their knowledge of God and hopefully also grow in their love for Him. If you have specific topics of interest or concern that you would like to have us talk about in class please feel free to let me know and I will do my best to work them in. In addition to the monthly topic, I have certain specific goals for the year. Below is the general plan with some additional details.

For each class: 3 Chapters, 3 Verses, Objectives Sheet, Folder

3 Chapters - there will be 3 text book chapters assigned for reading at home. It would be best if one chapter is read each of the weeks leading up to the next class. This will keep the amount of material to be covered in a single reading to a manageable level which should help hold your child’s interest better. Normally, we will not refer directly to the text book during each class so your child does not need to bring it back each month. If we do need the text book, we will use my copy.

3 Verses – there will be 3 Bible verses assigned each month. Your child will need to look these verses up at home and copy them by hand onto a piece of paper. Your child should then bring this paper to the next class for discussion. I will teach the children the basics of how to find verses in the Bible if they do not already know how to. Note: Please have your child use an actual Bible rather than the internet for this activity.

Objectives Sheet – each month an objectives sheet will be sent home for you to use to confirm your child’s understanding of the topics discussed in the chapters. The objective sheets must be completed and returned since they are used by the diocese to measure the effectiveness of our program.

Folders – your child has been given a FREP folder to keep his or her papers in. We will be building these folders each month with materials that I believe will be helpful to them to refer to even after our program is finished for the year. Please have your child bring the folder to every class.

For the Year: Scripture, the Rosary and other Prayers

1) Familiarity with the Bible – One of my main goals for the year is for your child to become familiar with finding verses in the Bible. I hope they will begin to enjoy reading the Bible and not be intimidated by it.

2) Praying the Rosary – My second goal is for all the children to know how to pray the Rosary.

3) Knowing Catholic Prayers – My third goal is for all the children to have ready access to our most common Catholic prayers. This will be accomplished through the making of a Catholic placemat for the dinner table. The placemat will include almost all of the most common Catholic prayers. Even if the placemat does not fit your decorating taste, at least it can be kept for future reference.

---- David McAuliffe