VBS Day 2

 

VBS Day 2 was another success!

We met Duke, the horse, and learned that Friends and family help us STAND STRONG!

 

We also learned the story of Esther, the young Jewish girl who was made queen!  At first she couldn't tell anyone that she was Jewish, because she might be killed. But she stood strong and told the king the truth. He listened and saved other Jewish people because of her bravery!

You can see some activities about this story with a Veggie Tales activity sheet here.

(If you would like to see the videos larger, click on the title of the video on the top and it will bring you to YouTube). 

Check out our slideshow of all of our activities today :

You can also see another video that just has clips from Bible Adventures where we learned more about the story of Esther.

Make sure you spend time as a family looking over the Coloring Sheets that came home. Also, each child came home wearing a bracelet that is supposed to be shared as a family. Make sure you do it together!

VBS Day 1

We had a fun and fabulous first day at Kingdom Rock VBS today!

 

We started off in Sing and Play Rock where we met Truman the bulldog and learned the Bible Point for the day: "God's love helps us.....STAND STRONG!"

We played fun games, ate tasty snacks, watched Chadder's adventure, acted out the Bible story, made fun experiments and sang and danced our socks off!

Check out the slideshow below to get a little glimpse of what we did! You will notice our famous VBS prayer in the middle. This prayer might be a great way to start praying at the dinner table at home! 
(Click on the top of the video where it says "Day 1" to watch it bigger on YouTube)

First Communion Jeopardy

For our last class, we played "First Communion Jeopardy". 

I created a Jeopardy PowerPoint game to play with our class for the last day. 

If you would like to use the game, you can click on the link and it will open up in Google Docs. Click to "open". Click save in the upper left corner. Save to your computer. 

First Communion Jeopardy

It would be a great way for families to practice before First Communion!

Stations of the Cross and Practicing Communion

On Saturday we did Chapter 14. We also did the Stations of the Cross in the Worship space.

During Stations of the Cross:

We talked about what was happening in each one and read our papers (that we brought home).

You can go through the Stations of the Cross with your child right here:

Stations of the Cross for Kids

Why Stations of the Cross?

From the website:

Stations are places where people wait while they are going from one place to another. A school-bus stop is like a station. People wait at train stations or bus stations or airports. Think of some stations where you have been.

Stations are also places where people take time to think about Jesus as he went to die on a cross. They are “Stations of the Cross.” They show us how much Jesus loved us.
You do not have to think of all of the Stations of the Cross on one day. You may want to stay at one Station with Jesus for a few days before you move to another Station. Whatever you decide, Jesus is with you and he loves you.
As you "visit" each station on the website with your child, look at the picture and ask him or her "What is happening here?"
At church we looked at each painting around the church and talked about what was happening.

The most anticipated part of the class today was having the chance to taste the bread and wine before our first communions. EVERYBODY tried the bread AND the wine. Miss Stephanie was very proud of us.  She said we were her first class ever that were respectful the WHOLE time. No one said "gross"!

We practiced the important parts of taking communion:

-stand quietly in line thinking about Jesus
-hold your hands together in front of your chest (left over right)
-bow your head before you receive communion
-say "Amen" after the minister says "The Body of Christ"

-pick up the host with your right hand and put the WHOLE thing in your mouth.
-say "Amen" after the minister says "The Blood of Christ"

-take a small sip out of the chalice
-sit down in your seat quietly and say a prayer

We encourage everyone to take the wine during the First Communion. Everyone did great during class! We talked about how some people "dip" the host in the wine, but technically that isn't allowed. Some people are worried about germs, but it is actually less santitary to dip because a lot of people accidentally get their fingers in the the cup, and fingers are proven to be more filled with germs than mouths! (Just something to think about!)

Pictures of us practicing here:

Homework:
169-172 in the book
Finish Reconciliation books

Wishes and Prayers

This week we did Chapter 12 about prayers for others.

O God, hear me and answer my prayer. 
Based on Psalm 17:6

We took time to think of wishes we had. We thought of wishes we would want for ourselves, wishes we would want for our neighbors and family, and wishes we would want for the world.

Here you can see us sharing about our wishes. The kids did a great job being creative and thoughtful. What a caring group of kids we have!





When we pray we can tell God about the needs of other people. We trust God to bring them comfort.

After reading the chapter, we broke into groups of 4. Each group came up with a prayer scenario. They worked together in their groups to think of the situation, write out notes, and decide parts. Then we all sat down to watch the performances. There was a lot of thoughtful discussion about when people need prayers and how we can pray for them.

Make sure to let your kids see the video! They were so excited about their performances!



We learned about Jesus and prayer. We also learned about the Prayer of the Faithful: the last part of the Liturgy of the Word at Mass, when we pray for the needs of people everywhere.

Now we know...
Jesus is with us when we pray for others. 
Jesus asked God to help his friends tell others about God's love.

Homework
Pages 147-148 (review of chapter 12)
Pages 151-152 (preparing for chapter 14)

Chapter 10 and Prayers

In class on Saturday, we did the short chapters on Ash Wednesday and Lent.

Then we also did Chapter 10.

While doing the chapter on Lent, we each wrote our own special Lent prayer. We practiced on scratch paper and then wrote on nice paper. These prayers would be perfect to say at dinner as a family during lent.

We talked about writing prayers and parts to include.

First, we said we should start with the Sign of the Cross.

Then we brainstormed openings.

After that we each wrote a:
praise (telling God we know He is wonderful)
thanks (thanking God for something he has done)
ask (asking for special prayers for someone in need)

Then we talked about various closings.

And then ended with the Sign of the Cross.

We put a lot of thought into our prayers and we hope they are used throughout the season of Lent.

Here you can see us working on our prayers and also see a few of us reading ours.

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We also passed out Operation Rice Bowl bowls. They are to be put together at home and change can be collected in them throughout the week. Bring the bowls to Mass every week during Lent and there will be a time for the kids to bring up their change and dump it in a basket.

I explained to the kids that Operation Rice Bowl is important to me because my sister works for Catholic Relief Services (she is stationed in Cairo, Egypt but is in Turkey right now working with Syrian Refugee Camps) and sees first hand what they money does. CRS is an amazing organization and is usually named one of the top charities that gives the highest percentage of it's income to charity instead of as overhead costs.


Watch this video about Operation Rice Bowl. It is kind of long but it is a great opportunity for you to sit with your kids and talk about the difference between our lives and the lives of the people Operation Rice Bowl is helping. 

Homework: Chapter 10 Review

John the Baptist and The Lost Sheep

Today we went over chapters 8 and 9 in our book.

Here we practice the story of John the Baptist. Others question John about what it means to repent and he answers!

Today we also heard the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep. 
“Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent’” (Luke 15:3-7). 

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We broke into groups of 3 and drew pictures of this parable. We worked really well together to decide who would draw what and how we wanted it to look. 

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Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Blaise. Ms. Barb came in to speak to us about St. Blaise and then she said a blessing over each of us. 

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Homework:
 Pages 105 and 106 in the book
The Word of God paper in our folders

Don't forget how important it is to get the homework completed each week! It shouldn't take more than 10-20 minutes at the most! It is a great chance to show your child that you value religious education and this special first communion year!