October 1st: St Therese of Lisieux (Spend a day doing little things for God and others in honor of St. Therese, "The Little Flower".) 

October 2nd: Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels (Enjoy angel food cake or another themed treat. Pray a Guardian Angel prayer together.)

October 4th: St. Francis of Assisi (Do something nice for animals to celebrate the feast day of St. Francis, such as building a bird feeder, putting out bread with peanut butter and bird seeds, taking a dog to the park, etc.)

October 5th: St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet together or look at a Divine Mercy painting and point out what you see.

October 18th: St. Luke (Celebrate the Feast of St. Luke by spending the month doing read-alouds from the Gospel of St. Luke.)

October 22nd: St. John Paul II (Get outside, go on a walk, remember the God who breathed life into you and give thanks for your precious, irreplaceable life and the body you live in. St. John Paul II was known for his love of the outdoors and his teaching on the Theology of the Body.)

October 8th: Respect Life Sunday (Join in prayer for those who are pregnant and those ages two and under.)

October 7th: The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (Pray the rosary together as a family.)

October 15th: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (Say a prayer for all those who have lost their child too soon.)

October 22nd: World Mission Sunday (Rediscover the missionary aspects of our faith in Jesus Christ. Remember that we each are sent to spread the Good News to all around us by both our actions and our words.) 

October 31st: Halloween (Combine the fun of Halloween with learning about values such as sharing, consideration of others, giving to those in need, etc.)

5 Minutes: Before nightly prayer, think through your day and list the good and bad parts of the day, and where you saw God at work in your day. Challenge them to do the same thing and name at least one time they noticed God during their day. (Ex: a friend picked something up they dropped, someone said hi to them in the hallway, something they saw in nature, a prayer was answered, etc.) Talk to your child(ren) about how they became friends with someone and got to know them . Relate that to our friendship with God-we need to be in constant communication and we do that through prayer and getting to know each other. Goal: Child will internalize and start to look for God’s presence during their day so they know what to say at night. 

15 Minutes: Once a week, take a look at the weekend’s Gospel reading as a family. Read it together and then ask your child(ren) what was happening in the story. Then ask them if there was a word or phrase that stood out to them and why. Finally, ask them what God is asking of them through the Gospel reading. (Optional: Give them a reward if they complete what God is asking of them throughout that week.) Goal: Child will notice that Scripture is the Living Word of God and even though it was written thousands of years ago, it still speaks to us today. 

30 Minutes: Go on a walk together and point out how you know God is real and alive through things you see on your walk. If your child(ren) is younger, talk about how you see God in your life In both the good and bad times. If your child(ren) is older, retell the story of the Prodigal Son (a son asked for money, left home and wasted it all> he was scared to come back but came back planning to ask his father if he could be a servant> his father welcomed him with open arms and threw a feast for him since he came back). Tell your student about a time when you did something wrong and were scared to tell your parents but they also welcomed you with open arms, or relate it to your relationship with them and how much love you have for them as your child. Then relate that to the Father’s love for us and how the sacrament of Reconciliation is like coming home by saying you’re sorry and asking for forgiveness. Goal: Through your witness, the child will see that they can come to you and God when they do something wrong or if something was done wrong to them.