How did my lesson plan go? Well....I'm not sure. I don't know whether to be disappointed or not. I'm teaching my grandchildren their faith. One is 10 the other 6.
I started by explaining God. He created everything. He is great. I was only talking for a couple of minutes and I could see that the youngest was bored. So I started talking about their parish church. I gave them each a picture of their church. On the facade are six statues. I told them what each one was and showed them other pictures of that statue that were clearer. When I showed them St. Paul, I said that he is holding a sword because he was killed with a sword. The older one said, "Grandma!!! She's only six."
If they are upset because Paul was beheaded, what can I say about Jesus' crucifixion!!!
So I changed the subject to explaining the Mass. I told them the Mass is the reenactment of Jesus' Last Supper. Then I showed them Da Vinci's Last Supper.
Next was prayer. We tried to teach the 6-year-old how to bless herself. It wasn't easy. She kept skipping "The Son." I told the big sister to help her every night.
We finished by singing "Down in the River."
It took 20 minutes. I worked days--Days, on this lesson plan and we completed it in 20 minutes. But I won't be able to judge how it went until next week when we meet again. I'll see how much they retained.
As I was leaving I heard big sister say, "See, there was nothing to be afraid of." This sentence made me reflect on the six year old. What did she learn? I'm not sure. I think she was confused; she didn't know what to think. And now I know that she was nervous and afraid. Poor kid. No wonder she had such a terrible time learning to bless herself. May the good Lord help her and me.
