RELIGION

Religion

Overview

The Schola Rosa Religion curriculum is based in a guided sequence of conversations to have with students in order to guarantee all the tenants of the Faith are taught. Below is a summary of the books used in the Religion curriculum.

• An Illustrated Catechism for the Very Young is used for the Schola Rosa Preschool Curriculum.
• Our Holy Faith, Book 1, Course of Study and Teacher’s Manual (Provided in the Digital Library): The doctrinal content of this book is centered on the Apostles’ Creed. Within the framework of the Creed young children can be introduced to the basic truths of our faith, namely, the existence of one God in three divine Persons, Christ’s work of redemption and the founding of His Church, and the role of the Holy Spirit in giving life to that Church and in uniting its members through the bonds of faith, hope, and charity. The subject matter is divided into ten units. Along with the doctrinal content, these units suggest virtues to be practiced, fundamental prayers to be learned, and devotional practices. In addition, each unit concludes with lessons devoted to special feasts of the Church in order to acquaint the children with some of the more important saints and the way the Church remembers them in the Church year
• Our Holy Faith, My Father and Mother on Earth and in Heaven, Book 1 (Provided in the Digital Library): This book was written as an accompaniment to the Course of Study and Teacher’s Manual. Since vocabulary is limited for at least a few months, it was decided to provide a student book that would teach the child doctrinal truths and the life of Christ by means of pictures. The verbal material will aid the teacher in guiding the children toward a correct interpretation of the picture. The starred Catechism questions found at the end of the book serve as a basis for evaluating pupil progress in the knowledge and understanding of the doctrinal truths presented within the units. The entire Holy Communion Catechism will aid the teacher in preparing the class for First Holy Communion in Grade One.
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  Catholic Tradition

  Our Holy Faith, Jesus Comes, Book 2 (Provided in the Digital Library): This book is based on the First Communion Catechism prepared from the Revised Edition of the Baltimore Catechism. The pupil’s text does not contain everything that is covered in a course of study, but chooses certain important topics and highlights them for the child. Since the Teacher’s Manual is no longer in print, we recommend combining this wonderfully illustrated book with the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism and then following the syllabus provided in the Schola Rosa suite.

• Our Holy Faith, The Vine and the Branches, Book 4 (Provided in the Digital Library): The meaning of the liturgy and of the Liturgical Year will be explained in this book as students are guided to live through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ. Unit I reviews the doctrinal truths learned in Books 1-3. Unit II focuses on the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ; Unit III focuses on sacred liturgy and living what we believe, at the same time reviewing catechism. In the remaining units, students study the Liturgical Year.

Structure

K-1^st Grade: If you have a student in one of these grades, you will be using Our Holy Faith, Book 1 and the Our Holy Faith, Book 1 Teacher’s Manual. One to two lessons from the book are chosen each unit and minimum requirement. If you are able to do more lessons in a year, feel free to do so. The Teacher’s Manual contains enough lessons to complete one every school day of the year. Since we stretch this book over two years, we assign 2 lessons per week on the average.

 

2^nd-3^rd Grade: If you have a student in one of these grades, you will be using Our Holy Faith, Book 2 for two years. Book 3 content can also be found in Book 1 and Book 4, so we have opted not to include Book 3 and instead to focus on a repetition of the valuable lessons and catechism questions found in Book 2. Since there is no Teacher’s Manual, we have written lessons to go along with each chapter. Each lesson includes a synopsis of themes and a discussion. There is also a prompt for which catechism questions and answers to study.

 

4^th-6^th Grade: If you have a student in one of these grades, you will be using Our Holy Faith, Book 4 for all three years. Book 4 reviews previous religion lessons in the context of the liturgical year. Its richness in teaching the liturgical cycle is so important, we have opted to use it all three years. You may complete the entire book each year, or do lessons from each liturgical period as you see fit and as you see necessary given the questions asked by your student at a given time. Since there is no Teacher’s Manual to accompany this book, we have provided lessons for the minimum amount of study your student should complete in his or her first year. Each lesson includes a synopsis of themes and a discussion. There is also a prompt for which catechism questions and answers to study.