Songs, popcorn teach about God

There are two main rules in Chris Carbone's classroom: "Have fun," and "Ask questions."

She teaches pre-K faith formation classes at Sacred Heart parish in Sidney, where children learn about "God's goodness, family, the world and all the good things in their life," according to Paula Ciborowski, the parish's K-6 religious education coordinator.

Ten to 12 kids begin their faith formation in pre-K every year, taking classes in the hour between the two Sunday morning Masses.

Songs and popcorn

Hands-on, active experiences are vital to a successful pre-K program, said Mrs. Carbone, who uses both a published religious education textbook and her own tried-and-true methods: lively songs, coloring, reading out loud, and even such familiar items as popcorn and cupcakes.

Pre-K faith formation is often the first time the children are exposed to a classroom and structured lessons, Ms. Ciborowski noted.

As a result, many little rituals have been established for the students by Ms. Carbone: starting every class day with a colored paper with their name on it, and adding a bead to an elastic band in the classroom to mark the passage of time.

Prayer lessons

An integral part of the pre-K lesson is the "share prayer," when children are invited to share their thanks and concerns. They begin with the Sign of the Cross, are invited either pray aloud or to themselves, and end with an "Amen."

Before the "share prayer," Ms. Carbone lights a candle. When asking them what the candle means, the children usually say "God," she noted.

"'God' is their answer for everything. I say, 'Jesus, and Jesus is the light of the world, and what did Jesus tell us? To be nice to everybody.' And that's pretty much what my whole year revolves around."

Flood loss

In late June, flooding from the Susquehanna River filled the church basement, ruining everything stored there, including books, learning tools, crosses, toys, furniture and catechists' personal items.

Although the room is being repaired for the new school year, replacing what was lost is going to be difficult, Ms. Ciborowski said.

"Everything was gone -- all the little wonderful goodies that the catechists gathered throughout the years," she said. "We're starting all over again. This is like a new slate for us. We'll all be experiencing new things this year."

Starting over

As a result. Ms. Carbone has to re-think a number of her old lessons. For example, she won't be able to use a particularly effective, but out-of-print storybook about the life cycle of a caterpillar for an Easter lesson on change, she said.

For other catechists, the damage means sharing upstairs space until the basement rooms are restored.

It also means that the students will have to learn new songs. Gone are cassette tapes, filled with the lively, bouncy songs Ms. Carbone taught to the children as well as tambourines she distributed to the kids.

"I picked up a lot of stuff through the years very inexpensively, and I make do with what I have," she vowed. "If there's anything we can make noise with, that's fine."

Good time

"The kids have a good time," she said. "Before you know it, they're bounding into the class and are excited to be here."

Ms. Carbone said that she gets "more out of [being a catechist] than you can possibly imagine. I see kids blossoming. It's magnificent.

"I think the innocence of the children is unbelievable. They teach me things that you've lost sight of, take for granted or am too busy to see."

(9/14/06) [[In-content Ad]]