Our parish has gone through some major changes this summer, with the coming of a new priest in charge- many of them for the better IMO. One of the big ones was a switch in our religious education program. We used to have the traditional Religious Ed program that met on Sunday mornings between the masses, run mostly by volunteer parents and staff at the church and the school. However it was becoming more and more of a ‘drop off’ luxury for many parents who did not really practice the faith. They let their kids be catechized for one measly hour on Sundays, but then not practice any of the beautiful Catholic faith at home or in their families (some didn’t even bother going to mass, even though they were already at church for RE class pick up and drop off). I’m not saying this to judge the parents, but mostly to say the system was failing them (or at least enabling them to fail). Soooo… our parish has made the switch to the Family of Faith program, which I’m SO excited to be using.
Basically it’s a Family Catechesis program- as in the WHOLE family grows in faith. Instead of a drop off once a week, you are trained once a month in how to teach your children the Catholic faith as parents. I feel like this goes so well with St. JPII’s message of the domestic church “Catholic parents must learn to form their family as a “domestic church,” a church in the home as it were, where God is honored, his law is respected, prayer is a normal event, virtue is transmitted by word and example, and everyone shares the hopes, the problems and sufferings of everyone else. All this is not to advocate a return to some outdated style of living: It is to return to the roots of human development and human happiness!”
Also, as a homeschooler- I was obviously ecstatic about what is basically homeschooling religious ed. I mean we were doing that anyway, might as well get credit for it through our parish too!
Now about the program. I love it. It’s set up as a 4 year rotation, that basically takes you through the whole Catechism in those four years. Year 1 focuses on the part about Who God is, what is faith, what does it mean to believe… etc, and uses the Apostles Creed at its core. You dissect the Apostles Creed over the course of the whole year.
Why I love it:
It’s steeped in the Bible and Catechism (not just fluffy and basic “God loves you” messages, and David and Goliath stories)
It has a variety of activities to suit everyone’s ‘style.’ By that I mean, there’s read-and-find it in the Bible for you readers, crafts for people like me (they want you to make a scrapbook!), coloring pages for those who don’t want crafty crafts but still like crafts (probably a lot of you guys reading this), activities that don’t involve reading or writing, discussions for car rides, and probably more I haven’t seen yet. SO it appeals to a variety of parents AND kids, a variety of life styles, and a variety of time commitment ability.
It’s beautiful and well put together. I love a well made product. These books are nicely laid out, printed in color, and just beautiful to look at. There’s a parent guide, that explains what you are explaining to your kids, and a student book with all the pretty coloring and activity pages. Each month has a couple pages with highlights of what you’re learning, what you can expect your kids to know by the end, the saint of the month, vocabulary etc.
I love teaching my own kids. I feel like it’s our duty to teach our children our faith. This is a loud and clear ‘ok’ from my church and parish that I’m not just allowed, but encouraged to take ownership of my child’s education in Catholicism. I feel like it’s going to benefit so many of our parish’s families, as well as give confidence to parents that they CAN teach their own children.
My daughter already loves it. Ok, ok, she loves crafts and coloring and a scrap book is right up her ally. I have tons of old scrapbook supplies for her to use and even the activities that aren’t intended for the scrapbook, have become scrapbook activities (more on that in a later post I hope). She asks me daily to do Family of Faith activities. Downside, there are not enough activities to do one everyday, sorry Eva. Upside, there’s not enough to do one everyday (so there’s more time for math and science).
This is Eva’s scrapbook. We added the Abraham quote (it was in another subject’s curriculum and it fit well with this topic). The story behind the Hebrews decoration is that her cousins and friends also have faith and love. (7yr olds can be so sweet)
My only criticism of it:
If you are in a sacrament year- it doesn’t exactly work 100 percent for that. It’s a great way to teach the complete faith, but it’s not set up to do a 1st reconciliation or a 1st communion prep. I’ll be supplementing my own various things to prep my daughter for 1st Reconciliation and 1st Communion, plus our parish will have a crash course offered this fall and one in the spring for each 1st sacrament. That aside, this program can work for any year you are in, for any age, for any family and any parish. So it’s versatility outweighs it’s ‘lack’ of 1st sacrament-specific training.
I don’t often write reviews, but I felt compelled to write about this one because it’s a topic I’m passionate about. If you’re worried about Family of Faith coming to your parish, don’t be. It’s a wonderful program. Sometimes change can be hard, but this change will transform your family into one who worships together, learns your faith more deeply TOGETHER, and grows in holiness…. TOGETHER!
Thanks for reading,
Kristen
PS This is not a paid review. Actually Sophia Press doesn’t even know I wrote a review. I wonder if I should tell them… :p
I’ve followed your posts for a while now so thanks for all the wonderful ideas you share. I work for a diocese and am currently working with a parish using this program. I love it too! I also supplement them with other ideas but overall I think it’s a valuable resource and style of family learning.
Thanks!
Kristen, what a wonderful review. So happy you’re enjoying Family of Faith!
Our parish is on year two of this program. We have made slight adjustments, do know that we are a small parish with only 18 families in our K-12 program.
When we have the parent meeting, we also have the youth meet. NOT to be confused for “teachers” teaching the “youth” as we believe parents are the primary catechists. Instead we (teacher-like adults) provide activities for K-4 that go with the monthly theme, while 5-8 grade uses a dvd Bible study, and our HS students to a dvd program too. It has been beautiful to see families all come (even down to babies).
We also have a Wednesday night Family Mass once a month in which the youth and families lead the ministries and our priest gives a family-focused homily. The third event of the month is an outreach service project or a faith building event (family Rosary, adoration, family reconciliation, etc).
We have already seen the tremendous rewards to using this program as all are strengthened. Families come together to truly learn and express their faith.
As a side, I do think it isn’t as much of an adjustment for us homeschoolers. I found helping lead this program at our church was easier with my family-centered style of homeschooling too.
Blessing!
Thank you for sharing how it’s going in your parish, Rachel! I agree, it’s an easy ‘adjustment’ for homeschoolers who are used to teaching their children. I love the idea of a Family Mass night to give special focus to the families of the parish. I hope that one day we can grow our program to some of the same things yours does!
Hey Rachel and Kristen, with the Covid 19 thing going around, our parish is taking the “opportunity” to make the Sophia Press work for the parents, the primary educators! We are doing like Rachel is, “holding the kids hostage” with a “like” activity time of the month and the parents are learning about the catechesis of the month in church. By the way, we have mass first at 1pm on Sunday for the Faith Formation families and then we break up “almost” end of the mass. Parents stay in church for the “educational” part and we bring the classes back in for the final blessing and THEN the mass is concluded! This is once a month until Jan. 2021. Who knows what’s in store then. We use BLESSED for the 1st Penance Readiness and 2nd Communion Readiness. Attendance does not mean sacrament is done. This will be done on a 2nd meeting on another Sunday just for the sacrament. We shall see what will happen for the rest of 2020!
Oh, I forgot Kristen, I designed a special K-1st mini book of saints to go with each month of Sophia Press. I also put together a Mini Bible for them to go with it. We are on Volume 2: The Sacraments. 2020/2021. Your printables are perfect for us! Thank you!
Hi Ladies,
Thanks so much for all the great information. My wife and I (I’m the DRE at our parish) are hopefully going to be using the Faith and Family program with our families for the first time in the fall. We have always used that old drop off on Sunday model, but we’re sick of it for all the reasons given. Any other pointers/thoughts about things to do/consider would be AWESOME!
Kristen,
I work for Sophia Institute for Teachers. Would you give us permission to use for the public the “family storybook” photo you shared on this website?
Thank you,
Norma T. Molina
Educator Support Specialist
Sophia Institute for Teachers
Absolutely, share away!
Thank you very much, Kristen!
By the way, please know that we have great books for sacramental preparation in our Spirit of Truth series (First Reconciliation/First Holy Communion and Sealed in Fire for Confirmation) Please feel free to look at our website.
Our A Family of Faith series volume II is specifically for The Sacraments as well! I hope this helps in response to your review from a while back. Thank you very much for this advertisement though!