CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Introduction

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a catechetical programme especially for pre-school learners (3-6 years old) based on the approach of Maria Montessori. She believed that young children needed to know God and feel secure in His love. Her approach was adopted by Dr Sofia Cavaletti and Gianna Gobbi in the development of a religious formation program known as "CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD".

Through their interaction with the Catechist and a specially prepared environment known as the Atrium, children experience an authentic and personal relationship with God

Even from their earliest years, they experience the love and care of the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for His sheep.

How is CGS Different?

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is a Montessori approach to faith formation that is profoundly biblical, sacramental and prayerful - where the young child embarks on a joyful journey to know and love Jesus.

CGS believes in the inherent relationship between God and the child:

“Before you were born I knew you; before you were born, I consecrated you”(Jer I:5), and nurtures that innate relationship.

The Atrium is the place which enables the child to build an authentic and deep personal relationship with Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

CGS introduces Jesus as a real person,

living at a real time, in a real place on our planet Earth.

CGS tells the child stories of the life of Jesus using three-dimensional figures, which the child sees, touches and feels.

These stories are told not in the catechist’s own words but with the words of Scripture.

The Holy Spirit, who is the Teacher in the Atrium, brings the Word to the heart and mind of the child.

CGS gives the child time to grow in meditation and contemplation: using the Montessori principle of self- discipline, whole-person education and respect of the individual, to help the child prepare his body and mind for contemplation.

THE ATRIUM

Walk into a CGS Level 1 (L1) Atrium and you will see a room filled with child-sized catechetical materials and furniture neatly arranged.

The Atrium Environment respects and cultivates the needs of the 3 to 6-year-old child, his or her capacities, and the level of development in terms of the child’s physical and spiritual formation.

It invites the child to move closer, to see, to touch, to feel, to imagine, and to ‘work’.

It is the place where the spiritual life of the child is nurtured; a place of work that becomes prayer and conversation with God;

a place where the child grows in the knowledge of Jesus and His love.

The Atrium is not a classroom, it is a place of worship - a spiritual environment.