Kindergarten - 9th Grade Information
Information for the 2021-2022 Religious Education Year:
The first catechists in any child’s life are the family members with whom he or she lives. What happens at home – both positive and negative – provides lessons for life. In the family, faith is shared as part of the unfolding of daily life. The home or “domestic church” provides a real place in which a child learns to live his or her faith as well as understanding it. The goal of the Annunciation Religious Education Program is to create a program of lifelong faith formation rooted in Christ, promotes faith growth at home and encourages participation in Church life.
The first catechists in any child’s life are the family members with whom he or she lives. What happens at home – both positive and negative – provides lessons for life. In the family, faith is shared as part of the unfolding of daily life. The home or “domestic church” provides a real place in which a child learns to live his or her faith as well as understanding it. The goal of the Annunciation Religious Education Program is to create a program of lifelong faith formation rooted in Christ, promotes faith growth at home and encourages participation in Church life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens in the event of a snow storm?
How can we can teach our kids our Catholic faith at home?
Is it really that important that my kids attend Mass?
What happens when the Religious Education year ends?
- Information on snow cancellations will be available on NBC Connecticut and WFSB, both on television and online. You also have the option to sign up with NBC Connecticut or WFSB to receive a notification on your mobile device in the event our classes have been cancelled.
How can we can teach our kids our Catholic faith at home?
- As children learn by example, the best way to teach them is to add Catholic habits into your everyday routine as family. An ideal way to start is by taking a few minutes to pray together every day, and work up to praying a rosary together as a family. A great place to incorporate this is in the car on the way to school or extracurriculars. If you take it seriously and they see it's important to you, it'll be more important to them as well.
- Check out the "Basic Catholic Prayers" link above for more information.
Is it really that important that my kids attend Mass?
- The Catholic Mass is Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary made present again. The Eucharist is not merely a symbol or a sign, it is His body, blood, soul and divinity. As such, for Catholics the Eucharist remains always the center of our life and the source of strength for all we do. Nothing else approaches its importance. As the great 20th century Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (commonly known as Padre Pio) once said, "It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the holy mass". Worship is the way that we acknowledge & thank God for what is most important in our lives. Prayer and worship link the physical world with the spiritual world. This is why we must place the highest priority of our week on worshipping God with each other at Sunday Mass each week.
What happens when the Religious Education year ends?
- God does not go on vacation from us! We need to continue to celebrate our Catholic faith and honor our Sunday Mass commitment even as we travel & relax during the summer months. Here are some opportunities for continued faith formation in the summer months for our children and families to help to renew them in the Catholic faith & help them to be ready to learn again when they return for Religious instruction in the Fall.
Some suggestions:- Take pictures of the Catholic churches visited during vacation. God does not take a vacation from us. Find Catholic churches to attend during the summer months of vacation and take pictures. Mass times can be found on diocesan or parish websites.
- Collect church bulletins. To see what other churches around the country are doing. This enables our young people to see the many ways parishes serve their communities.
- Take a statue of the Holy Family with you on vacation. Take pictures with it at each vacation stop. This reminds us that God is always with us wherever we go.
- Make a collage of vacation pictures. Pictures that remind us of God’s gifts to us. Sunsets, beaches, man - made objects (cathedrals, parks etc). All demonstrate the beauty of God at work in the world.
Please direct any questions or concerns to:
Sue Skipp: Director of Religious Education (860) 666-3562
email address: dresue@annunciationnewington.com
Terri Hermann: Coordinator of Religious Education
email address: creterri@annunciationnewington.com
Sue Skipp: Director of Religious Education (860) 666-3562
email address: dresue@annunciationnewington.com
Terri Hermann: Coordinator of Religious Education
email address: creterri@annunciationnewington.com