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Please register ONLINE on the page: PreK to 6th grade or BELOW on this page OR print the above form; complete and email to us for priority as a Parish Member. You will receive your first choice of class selection unless you hear from us.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a weekly program designed for children ages 3-10+ years. It is a Montessori-based program, based in experiential learning through the work of the child. Children are able to fulfill sacraments through our Atrium program with Catholic Catechesis formation support provided!
THNJ's Atrium is located in the basement of the Olive Avenue Hall.
Families in our parish with multiple children enrolled DO receive discounts.
We happily offer payment plans. -
Photo Albums
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Training
5 Photos
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Children at Work
12 Photos
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CGS Atrium and Material
13 Photos
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Contact Us
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mplumbsbdiocese.orgCoordinator of First Holy Communion and Children's Catechesis (habla español)
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registration opens june 1, 2021
CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD SESSIONS are weekly sessions that began in September 2020 and continue to meet weekly. Due to Covid19, sessions are on Zoom with Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Atrium presentations pre-recorded, glimpsing the Atrium and viewed together on zoom. We planned 9 week semesters. The first class session of the 9 week semester is in person, outdoors, in the Parish parking lot at Olive. At this 'in car' drive in session (with masks on) we hand out the Art & Work materials for the students, and the weekly 'Work of the Child' for the Parents. Both packets come with instructions and zoom class schedule and syllabi.
When you join us we require attendance to an informative zoom Parent Orientations and later in the year Parent Formation.
Your child must be registered in order to attend a Parent Orientation or Parent Formation.
No student may attend ZOOM class without the Parent attending Parent Orientation.
Pray along with us for our families to draw closer to God, the Church and encounter Jesus in a special way in the ‘zoom’ atrium prayer and meditating formative time.
As of October 1st, 2020 our innovated Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Class sessions are FULL.
You may join a Homeschool Group by registering for HOMESCHOOL, and meet with the Coordinator of Faith Formation monthly on zoom.
Please register NOW. Scroll down on this page, or go to PreK to 6th web page.We walk with you during this difficult time of isolation but await in HOPE!
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CGS HISTORY
History of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is the result of a long period of careful observation of children by Sofia Cavalletti and her Montessori collaborator, Gianna Gobbi, in Rome. It began quite by accident, without warning or planning, the way God so often comes into our lives. In 1954 Sofia was a Hebrew and Scripture scholar, comfortable in her role in the academic world, when a mother asked her to give some religious instruction to her son. At first Sofia refused, saying she knew nothing about children. The mother persisted and eventually, Sofia consented. That experience with a 7 year-old changed her whole life. She saw in that child and in numerous other children since, a way of being in the presence of God that is both unique to the child and a gift to the adult who stops long enough to notice. Perhaps it is because Sofia went before the child with no preconceived ideas of what should happen that the child responded with such joy. Certainly her background in Scripture made it possible for her to talk about God in a way that opened and enthused the child. From that day to the present time Sofia and Gianna remind us constantly to look to the child for that sign of a deeply religious life - joy - and to always ask the question: "What face of God is the child telling us he or she needs to see?"
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Links - Domestic Church Rise
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PARENT AIDE AND CATECHIST AIDE TRAINING:
These SPECIALLY DESIGNED Catechist Aide sessions were adapted for our parish and will be required for those who will be working in our Parish Atrium with the children.
Please note: To become Nationally Certified in this ‘work’, one must complete a 4-week course by a Nationally Certified Formation Leader for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. The tuition for the completion of that course is typical $635 for certification in each Level, I and II. Our Holy Name of Jesus formation sessions are brief and designed for catechist aids and are offered for free for parishioners or our Academy Parent or Aides.
Please prayerfully consider joining us for this formative endeavor!
Next ZOOM Catechist Aide Training is in August 2021.
Interested:
RSVP to Mplumb@sbdiocese.org to register for free and receive ZOOM code and password! -
A word from CGS Certified Parent and Catechist:
Dear Catechetical Leaders and Parents:
Some of you have had an experience with Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) and I think it’s great for us to share with each other by word of mouth, what that experience has been. But, there is an element of the ethereal in this catechesis that eludes us with words alone. I am speaking partly from my own experience with CGS. Like many of you, I did hear about it and was curious to learn more, but I was not convinced until I sat in the atrium and had my own encounter with the Good Shepherd. This brief experience with CGS has given me something that I will treasure for my whole life and share with my family and parish, but there is a wealth of richness to be mined here. I truly believe this catechesis is more than a program or methodology, although it has elements of these, it is a gift from God to his whole church, I would not dare keep it to myself! I hope that you will accept the invitation of the Good Shepherd who calls each of us by name, to come and become like children and quietly listen to the words of Jesus as if you had never heard or read them before. Choose to visit an atrium and get a sense of the work that is being done there. Please prayerfully consider this invitation to experience it.
Blessings,
Ray Almanza
Certified Level 1 Parent and Catechist
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfg9RfBk-fY -