Traveling in Time & Space

And we're off and running!  Sunday dawned and by 9am we had catechists and children ready for a new catechetical year.  Because all of the Atria are multi-age (Level 1: 3 to 6 year olds; Level 2:  6 to 9 year olds; Level 3:  9 to 12 year olds) each child moves through the Atrium over a period of 3 years.  For the children entering a new level, it's a moment of excitement and realization of growth.  Those who are returning for their 2nd or 3rd year in a level come with experience to share and also excitement knowing that, now they are older, there will be new things waiting for them.

Children in the Level 2 Atrium--the 6 to 9 year olds, are entering a period of development where there is an explosion in learning.  Their minds are newly oriented to the realities of time and place and for the first time they are able to travel in history.  One of the big "works" in this Atrium is called the "Fettuccia"(Italian for ribbon).  It is a long ribbon used to show the unfolding nature of time and our place in it.  The first year in the Atrium the children are oriented to the ribbon, the 2nd year they are introduced to a timeline on the wall that includes text, pictures and quotes from the Bible which give a framework for God's work of creation and redemption, all leading to the moment of Parousia when God will be "all in all."

Above you can see three 8 year-olds from the Monday level 2 class working on recreating the timeline with text cards and pictures.  The children were particularly interested in the part of the timeline called the "blank page."  This phrase refers to the time in history in which we live, where we, along with God, decide what will happen.  Children at this age are beginning to develop a moral conscience.  They are excited by the idea that their choices and actions make a difference in their world.  Sofia Cavalletti & Gianna Gobbi, the founders of CGS, called these lessons an "education to hope."  What a gift to give our children as they begin to discover the brokenness of our beautiful world.