Waterloo Catholics

Adult Formation, Enrichment
and Spiritual Growth

 

Home  

FAQ

Mass Times

Contact Us

Site Map/Index

Parent’s Guide to Children’s Religious Formation

Infants and Young Children
(Birth-Age 2)

The first three years of life are essential for a child's basic physical and spiritual formation. The child's experience during these years establishes life-long attitudes toward life, self, and other people.  In time, the child's relation-ship to God will be shaped by either trust or fear, depending upon these early experiences.

Parents of infants and young children create a solid foundation for the child's later religious and spiritual formation when they:
• Create a family environment that is warm, inviting, peaceful and
  emotionally safe.
• Satisfy the baby's basic needs for love, security, touch, good nutrition,
  and playful attention.
• Choose child-care providers who share similar personal values,
  parenting styles, and spiritual convictions.
• Invite grandparents, Godparents, extended family, friends, and parish
  members to share parenting responsibilities.
• Identify and resolve major differences between themselves concerning
  parenting styles, moral values, or faith issues.
• Establish a routine for personal prayer, study, and spiritual growth, both
  as individuals and as a couple. 
• Re-examine (and if necessary renew) their relationship to the Church
  and their participation in the parish faith community.

The Catholic parishes in Waterloo support parents of infants and young children by providing:
• Preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism.
• Day Care
• First Tuesday marriage enrichment.
• Welcome Home for inactive Catholics.
• Adult faith-sharing groups.
• Rites of Christian Initiation of Adults.
• Spiritual renewal and formation programs like Christian Experience
  Weekends, Marriage Encounter and Retorno.

•   •   •

Pre-School Children
(Ages 3-5)

Pre-school children discover that they are not alone in the world.  They need lots of encouragement, affirmation, forgiveness and unconditional love. Their relationship with parents and other significant adults will eventually shape their personal relationships as well as their relationship to God and the faith community.

Parents of pre-school children  make a critical contribution to their child's emerging religious formation when they:
• Use simple prayers and blessings regularly at meals and bedtime.
• Use simple rituals (a combination of prayers, gestures, symbols and
  songs) for special family occasions.
• Introduce children to basic Bible stories and Bible heroes, using Bibles,
  storybooks and videos adapted for younger children.
• Adapt or create family customs and religious traditions for special family
  occasions, holidays, and liturgical seasons like Advent and Lent.
• Teach children to appreciate and respect nature as part of God's
  creation.
• Teach children to care, share, be fair, honest and forgiving with friends
  and playmates.
• Introduce children to basic Christian attitudes about sexuality, money,
  time, human life, and death.
• Limit children’s exposure to conflicting values and lifestyles depicted on
  TV, in other media, and in advertising.

The Catholic parishes in Waterloo support parents of pre-school children by providing:
• Day Care.
• Parish religious education and faith formation for children, adults and
  families.
• Pre-School and Kindergarten programs.
• Liturgy of the Word with Children.
• Ministry of Mothers Sharing (MOMS)

•   •   •

Grade-School Children  
(Ages 6-12)

During the grade school years, children are becoming less self-centered.  They have a strong desire to belong and to participate.  They are keenly aware of the need for order, justice and reconciliation.  They are beginning to identify and internalize values they will use as adults to make good moral choices.

Parents of grade school children  shape their child's religious and spiritual life when they:
• Participate regularly as a family at Sunday Mass and the Sacrament of
  Reconciliation.
• Teach children to pray, using their own words, traditional prayers, and
  Scripture.
• Invite children to help plan and conduct family rituals and prayer
  services.
• Read the Bible and read or watch stories about Jesus, the saints, and
  Christian heroes.
• Are active as a family in parish or community service projects.
• Use discipline which is consistent and affirming, models forgiveness
  and reconciliation, and enables children to practice making good
  choices.
• Encourage children to develop their personal gifts and talents but avoid
  unfair comparisons, unrealistic expectations, and unhealthy competition.
• Explain basic facts and Catholic moral values about human sexuality.
• Help children evaluate the values and lifestyles they see depicted on TV,
  in other media, and in real-life.

The Catholic parishes in Waterloo support parents of grade-school children by providing:
• Parish religious education and faith formation for children, adults and
  families.
• Cedar Valley Catholic Schools
• Preparation for Reconciliation.
• Preparation for First Communion.
• Parish and community service projects.

•   •   •

Adolescent Children
(Ages 13-17)

Adolescents ask serious questions about life and faith.  This process of self-discovery is necessary in order to develop a mature, adult faith.  During this challenging time, young adults need guidance and support from adults who are honest and sincere, and whose daily lives reflect the faith they profess.

Parents of adolescent children  support their child's religious formation when they:
• Live their religious and moral values in a consistent and convincing way
  every day.
• Listen patiently to questions or criticism of their religious beliefs and
  practices.
• Explain their religious convictions and moral values without being self-
  righteous or judgmental.
• Continue to invite teens to participate in Mass, family prayer and family
  rituals.
• Encourage teens to participate with peers in religious activities and
  community service.
• Affirm teens when they choose other adult mentors like coaches,
  teachers, and grandparents.
• Choose a parenting style which invites the young adult’s participation in
  setting goals, boundaries and consequences.
• Clearly define what is acceptable behavior regarding sexuality, alcohol,
  and drugs.
• Encourage adolescents to explore vocational choices which are
  consistent with their moral and religious convictions.

The Catholic parishes in Waterloo support parents of adolescent children by providing:
• Columbus High School.
• CORE religious education classes.
• Waterloo Catholic Youth Ministry
• Preparation for Confirmation.
• Youth retreat and formation programs like Quest, Christian Leadership
  Institute, Teens Encounter Christ and Catholics In Action.

•   •   •

What Children Should Understand About Their Faith
Return to Parenting Homepage

Posted 07.16.10  •  Last Update 07.16.10