wpeF.jpg (8771 bytes)

 Holy Cross Religious Education Program
Grades 1 - 5 Schedule & Outline 2009-2010
Includes First Eucharist & First Reconciliation Preparation

187 Hampstead Road, Derry, NH 03038   (603) 437-7550
-

Last Update: 06/30/09

First and Second Grade:
First and second grade is a special time for our young people and represents the second step of preparation and initiation into our Church. A special blend of curriculum and activities help our youngest Church members experience the awesome presence of God and Jesus in their lives and the lives of others.

The second grade retreat will highlight the second grade year and complete the preparation for the sacrament of First Communion. The retreat is scheduled for April 10, 2010.

Third and Fourth Grade:
Grades 3 and 4 will be introduced to wonderful programs this year. Coming to the Church, will help our third graders understand how to become faithful, loving members of the Catholic Church. Coming to God’s Love is written to help fourth graders grow in living as friends of Jesus Christ and as members of his Church and prepare them for their Reconciliation Service.

Our 4th grade Reconciliation Retreat will be held on February 13th.

5th Grade: Moving Back to Sunday Mornings!
Based on feedback from parents and teachers, we have moved our 5th grade program back to Sunday mornings this year.  Our 5th graders are learning that, through the sacraments, we are to become signs of God's love by welcoming, forgiving, healing and serving others. Our focus will be on learning how to live as Jesus’ disciples, sharing his good news with others.

Parents are reminded that 3rd, 4th and 5th graders are expected to attend Mass each week now that they have received their First Holy Communion.
  .
Elementary Program Schedule of Classes and Events 2009-2010

Regular Sunday Classes

 Special Events & Retreats:

2009

2010

    
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
  Our program consists of the classes shown in the schedule. Classes meet
  from 8:30 to 9:45 and from 10:30 to 11:45 Sunday Mornings.
 

 

 

Make-up days may be added for any Snow Days we encounter.
 
First Communion Preparations—Grade 2
If your child is in the second grade this year, they will be preparing to receive their First Holy Communion in April 2010. There are two basic requirements that need to be met during this preparation year. The first is to be sure that Holy Cross has a copy of your child’s baptismal certificate on file. If your child was baptized at Holy Cross, just let us know—all the information will already be on file.

The second requirement is to attend the First Communion Retreat. The retreat is designed for the second graders and a parent and is held in the Church Hall. The retreat usually begins around 10:00 and ends with an invitation to attend 4:00 Mass. We have scheduled Saturday, April 10th, 2010 as the retreat for this year’s class. You will receive a great deal of information from your child’s teacher as these events draw near.

Reconciliation Service—Grade 4
Fourth grade students spend a great deal of their year better understanding the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This preparation ends with a day-long retreat with their parents in March. Like the First Communion retreat, the day revolves around the student and their parents and ends with an invitation to 4:00 Mass. This year’s Reconciliation Retreat is scheduled for Saturday, February 13th, 2010 and will be held in the Church Hall. If you have not already submitted a copy of your child’s Baptism certificate, you will need to do so before the retreat. Fourth grade parents will receive a great deal of information from your child’s teacher before the retreat begins.

The Elementary Grade Series:
The Coming to Faith Series
The text series selected for the Holy Cross program, Coming to Faith, initiates children into the heart and beauty of Catholic teaching. Based on the four sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: the Creed, Sacraments, the Commandments and Prayer, the curriculum carefully blends child development with faith and moral development.

The Coming to Faith series invites young believers into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through an understanding of and participation in the sacramental life of the Church.

Each chapter ends with Faith Alive at Home and in the Parish. These tear-out pages summarize the lesson for the parent, engage the family in creative activities, and encourage an at-home review of the chapter’s contents.

All texts have been found by the Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism, National Conference of Catholic Bishops to be in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

All texts also contain the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur as official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error.

Visit www.comingtofaith.com to find a wealth of information, activities and resources for students and families.

     
      Grade 1               Grade 2                Grade 3              Grade 4

 


       Grade 5

  

The 1st - 4th Grade Texts:
Click on the textbook title to link to the publisher's website

Grade 1: Coming to God
 Coming to God has been written especially to help first graders to come to know and love God more and more. In Coming to God first graders will find wonderful things to think about, to talk about, to do and to learn by heart. They will find:

  • stories about children who love God just as they do;
  • prayers to help them listen and talk to God;
  • stories from the Bible, especially about Jesus, God's own Son;
  • the story of our Catholic Church;
  • action prayers to help them celebrate God's love for all of us.=

Grade 2: Coming to Jesus
Jesus is God's own Son and our Brother and Friend. In Coming to Jesus, second graders will learn more about Jesus and what it means to belong to Him. This is a special year, a wonderful year. Second graders will learn about receiving Jesus, our Bread of Life, in the most beautiful way of all in the sacrament of the Eucharist. They will also be learning about Jesus' healing in the sacrament of Reconciliation. Coming to Jesus will be inviting them to:

  • read and listen to stories from the Bible about Jesus;
  • understand the celebration of the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist;
  • learn how, as Jesus' friends, we should treat others fairly and help those in need.

Grade 3: Coming To The Church
Third graders will learn about the community of Jesus’ friends we call the Church, how the Church began and grew, and that the Holy Spirit guides the Church’s life. Highlights in their teaching include:

  • stories from the Bible about Jesus;
  • stories about people in the Church who have tried to live as friends of Jesus;
  • what Jesus wants our Church to be like today;
  • how their parish is their home in God’s Church; and
  • how celebrating the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation will help them to grow as a disciples of Jesus.

Grade 4: Coming To God’s Love
Fourth graders discover how the commandments of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ help us to live happily and freely as God’s people.

Every time they use this book, the young people are encouraged to ask the Holy Spirit to help them: be faithful followers of Jesus Christ; live faithfully the commandments of God and of the Church; find ways to be signs of God’s love to everyone; thank God by words and actions for the gift of God’s love; think about ways Jesus wants them to continue his work and be a peacemaker

 

 
=

Return to Homepage