Catholic Preschooler "Curriculum"

I've been pleased with the progress of Natalia's growth in terms of spirituality, but I've noticed that she is now old enough to really benefit from some direct teaching.  The idea hit me when she asked who God was.  (Picture me with a blank stare and mouth on ground.) What do you mean?  We pray every day!  We participate in Mass every week!  We sing hymns, we talk about Jesus, right and wrong, say/sing grace.... It occurred to me that this is all great stuff, but it doesn't answer the basic question - who is God?

Now, without getting all philosophical, as I know that's not the point of her question, I started to think of where to start in teaching her our faith.  She is too young for the religious ed at our church - another year to go, it seems!  So here's what I've come up with as a starting point.

Basic Tenets of Catholicism

Basic Beliefs (faith, based on the Apostle's Creed)

God exists, God is Triune, God is creator of everything (us included), God desires to live with us in eternal happiness, God brings us to Himself upoon our death thanks to Jesus.  We can call God our Father because He made us and loves us and takes care of us.

Jesus opened the gates of heaven by dying on the cross and resurrecting, we will receive resurrected bodies also after we die, Jesus taught us how to live to please God and therefore get along with people both here and especially in Heaven, not everyone listens to Jesus or wants to do the hard work of getting along with others, Jesus continues to make Himself available to us in the Eucharist

God is also present to us as the Holy Spirit (not limited to the material manifestation of the Eucharist - no, I won't be using these big words with a three year old ;) ), we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us make difficult decisions, or to give us strength or courage to do something that is right but difficult to do, the Holy Spirit inspired various people to write down truths about God and His plan in a big book called the Bible

The Bible tells the story of how God made us and loves us even when we make mistakes, how we should live our lives in order to please Him, and why it's important to do so. The Catholic Church helps us undersand the Bible and allows us to meet Jesus "face to face" in the Eucharist.

Saints are people who are very close friends of Jesus, and we should all want to become saints.  We can talk to the Saints in heaven just like we talk to people still on Earth, asking them to talk to God for us and helping us with our lives.

When we make a mistake, God still loves us.  When we make a mistake, it is important to try apologize and try to make it right.  When we get older, we start going to Confession so that the priest can help us try to do better next time.


How to Live (morality)

The first gift God gave us is life.  The second is free will.  We must choose to love and obey God.

10 Commandments
1. love God more than anything else,
2. respect God's name
3. visit God weekly on Sundays at Mass
4. honor and obey parents and respect all your elders
5. never hurt anyone through your actions or words
6. respect yourself and others
7. don't take what isn't yours without permission
8. tell the truth
9. be happy with the relationships you have and don't be jealous of other people
10. be happy with the things you have and don't be jealous of what other people have

7 virtues
1. chastity/purity
2. temperance/self-restraint
3. charity/giving
4. diligence/integrity
5. patience
6. kindness
7. humility

precepts of the Church (minimum requirements)
1. attend Mass weekly
2. Confession annually
3. receive Communion during Easter
4. fast/abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
5. support the church financially)

How Catholics Worship (liturgy)

We celebrate how great God is by visiting Him and receiving Jesus in the Eucharist.  We learn about God's will for our lives by listening to the readings, we pray together as a family of children of God, we sing, we demonstrate how important God is by kneeling and bowing at key moments during the celebration.

Preparation - review of appropriate behavior, proper dress
Blessing self with holy water - facing altar
Genuflecting before entering pew (and when leaving pew, except when going to Communion)
Facing altar at all times, most especially during the Liturgy of the Eucharist
Paying attention and not distracting others from paying attention
Singing with others
Kneeling/standing/sitting with others
Communal Our Father
Sign of Peace
Donation basket
Jesus entering the physical realm in the consecrated host
Communion line to greet Jesus (before 1st Communion)
silent prayer/watching how others reverence Jesus in the Eucharist
Genuflecting, Sign of Cross when leaving

Prayer

Prayer is talking to God and/or the Saints.

Sign of the Cross - how, why (to remind us to think about God, love God, and do God's will), when (before and after prayer, when entering and leaving church)

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Grace
Angel of God
Angelus
Spontaneous prayer from the heart
Examination of Conscience (thank you, I'm sorry, please)

Apostle's Creed (next step, not yet)