Family Formation Grades (K-4):
What is Family Formation? Family Formation is what the title implies--formation for the whole family. Having parents be apart of the religious program allows for a stronger connection with parents, children and the church catechists.
Who can participate? Families with children in grades K-4. We invite famiies who homeschool or send their children to Catholic School to also participate, as this program is geared at not only in forming the whole family, but strengthening the bonds of community in our parish.
How does it work? Parents and children come on the 1st and 3rd wednesdays. The first wednesday there will be class for the children and a speaker for the parents to attend. The third wednesday there will be an all inclusive class. Meaning there will be one teacher teaching all children while parents ovserve the class. On the other weeks of the month there will be a take home folder that you as the parents get to work with your children at home.
How will I know what to teach? Each month parents will receive a packet of lessons to do at home. We provide all materials, instructions and support. Parents do not have to be experts in the Faith, just willing to devote about an hour a week to quality family time in sharing the Faith.
What if I have a busy schedule? The nice thing about this program is that you can taylor it to your family's schedule on the other two wednesdays of the month. No more having to skip Faith Formation because of dance or hockey--you can schedule Faith Formation whenever it's convenient for your family. Some families continue to mark out Wednesday nights or some do it on Sundays after church. It's all up to you! All you need is to take time to review the materials and 1 hour to complete the lesson with your children.
What about my older children? We are exctied here at St Joseph's to be able to offer two additional classes. There will be a class offered every wednesday for grades 5-6th and another class for grades 7-9th. These classes do not require the parents to be there unless the parents wish to attend.
What will we be learning? The Faith Formation classes teaches children the fundamentals of their Faith and it encourages older children to have critical thinking skills to be able to be free to ask questions about their faith. Allowing them to be better equipped to defend their faith as they approach adulthood. The 7/9th class will be learning the Bible and the importance of knowing how the catechism and the Bible work together to give us our Catholic Faith.