Parent Page: Middle School Homeschooling

You are your child's primary teacher of the faith

The Catholic Church has always stated that parents are the primary catechists of their children - you are your child’s first and most important teacher of the faith. You will teach them the most by how you live, pray, and love. St. John Paul II said, "The family is the domestic church...the home is the Church in miniature." Here is a video about what it means for your home to be a mini-church. God has blessed you with children, so He will equip you to teach them the faith. Stay close to God in prayer and the Sacraments, and you will be an excellent teacher!

If you have not done homeschooling in the past and/or you are feeling overwhelmed, please email Amy at [email protected] to set up a time to talk more. We are here to support you!

Religious Education Homeschooling Program

This year, there is not a book to use for Middle School Homeschooling. Instead, you will work through 3 online, video-based programs. At the end of each unit, youth will be asked to complete a short assessment to show what they have learned. Assessments will be made available soon.

The first two programs are meant to be used as small-group middle or high school bible studies and can be accessed on Formed.org. These can easily be adapted to use as homeschooling programs. Youth and parents should watch and discuss the videos in these programs together. The third series, called "Understanding the Mass" is available on YouTube. Youth can watch these videos and complete the assessment independently, though parents are welcome to watch the videos with them.

Unit 1: Prayer (Known: Experiencing God in Prayer | Formed.org)
Unit 2: Sacraments (Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Explained | Formed.org)
Unit 3: The Mass (Understanding the Mass by Breaking in the Habit | YouTube)

Pacing

If you hope to finish the homeschooling curriculum before the end of the schoolyear, you should finish each unit within 2-3 months. Because you are not preparing for a sacrament, though, it’s okay for you to continue working into the summer months. Move at a pace that works for your family. Do more lessons when you have more time to do so and fewer when your schedule is crazy. During busy times, focus on praying and attending Mass with your family, rather than completing a lot of lessons. Aim to finish all three units by August.

FORMED.org

Formed.org is like a Catholic Netflix. It holds a collection of Catholic movies, audiobooks, radio talks, podcasts, studies, cartoons and more. Your religious education tuition fee helped to cover the cost of our parish Formed subscription, so you can now access all of the content Formed has to offer. For your homeschooling curriculum, you will be asked to watch various videos on Formed, but you are encouraged to explore other content on the site as well.

Before you begin, create a Formed account:

Visit formed.org/signup
Enter "01983" or "Saint Rose Saint Agnes" to find our parish account
Click "Next"
Enter your name and email address
Click "Sign Up"

Lessons

Known: Experiencing God in Prayer

The first series for you to work through with your child is called "Known: Experiencing God in Prayer." Prayer is our relationship with God, and it is foundational and essential to the Christian life. In this series, your child (and maybe you!) will learn new ways of praying and you will practice using them together. We hope that you and your child will build a daily habit of prayer that will grow throughout your lives!

This series includes 7 sessions. Four of the sessions include videos and three of the sessions are meant for you to practice the methods of prayer that are taught in the other session. Below are links to the videos and the leader guide for each session. You can view the full program and leader guide here. It will probably be best for you to download and print the leader guide.

Take your time going through this series and using the prayer exercises. It should take at least 7 weeks to complete.

Click here to take the Unit 1 quiz.

Session 1: Encountering God: The Heart of Prayer

Watch: Encountering God: The Heart of Prayer

In this first segment, you will be introduced to the first presenter, Ali Hoffman, who might be familiar to you since she and her dad made some viral lip-sync videos on YouTube that have received millions of views. There are places for you to pause throughout the video to discuss what Ali has shared. The leader guide gives you additional questions to discuss and scripture to read. To access a Catholic bible online, visit usccb.org/bible. If you do not have a bible at home, please email Amy at [email protected], so she can provide one to you.

Discuss: Episode 1 Leader Guide

Use the Leader Guide to guide your lesson. You can skip over the "Connect" activities. Focus on the "Discuss" and "Commit" sections. Be sure to open and close your lesson in prayer.

Session 2: Vocal Prayer

This session does not have videos. After each session that is guided by videos, you will have another session that is video-free and will allow you to actually practice prayer together. This series is not simply a lesson on prayer, rather it is an apprenticeship.

In this session, we will break open vocal prayer, the first building block of a daily prayer life. You and your child will not only discuss what vocal prayer is, but also learn where it comes from in scripture and tradition. You will end with a time to practice vocal prayer together.

In the coming weeks, it will be essential for you to have a Bible. If you do not have a bible at home, please email Amy at [email protected] and she will provide you with one!

To access a Catholic bible online, visit usccb.org/bible

Discuss: Session 2 Leader Guide

Use the Leader Guide to guide your lesson. You can skip over the "Connect" activities. Focus on the "Discuss," "Do," and "Commit" sections. Be sure to open and close your lesson in prayer.

Session 3: Letting God Speak: Meditation and Contemplation

Watch: Letting God Speak: Meditation and Contemplation

Often we approach prayer asking God for a list of things. While it is important to come to him with our petitions, we must make sure we give him time to speak to us. This most commonly occurs through Sacred Scripture and meditating on the Word. In this session, we will discuss how and why we read scripture as well as learn some practical tools in meditating with scriptures: Lectio Divina and Ignatian Gospel Meditation.

Discuss: Session 3 Leader Guide

Use the Leader Guide to guide your lesson. You can skip over the "Connect" activities. Focus on the "Discuss" and "Commit" sections. Be sure to open and close your lesson in prayer.

Extras:

Session 4: How to Meditate with Scripture

In this session, you will practice praying with scripture. Be sure you have a bible today!

To access a Catholic bible online, visit usccb.org/bible

Discuss: Session 4 Leader Guide

Use the Leader Guide to guide your lesson. You can skip over the "Connect" activities. Focus on the "Discuss," "Do," and "Commit" sections.

Session 5: Needing God: Petition and Intecession

Watch: Needing God: Petition and Intercession

Prayers of petition and intercession are an essential building block of a personal prayer life. The Catechism states that in asking “we express awareness of our relationship with God.” (CCC 2629), that we need him. In this session, you will learn and discuss the difference between petitionary prayer and intercessory prayer.

Discuss: Session 5 Leader Guide

Use the Leader Guide to guide your lesson. You can skip over the "Connect" activities. Focus on the "Discuss" and "Commit" sections.

Session 6: How to Do Petitionary and Intercessory Prayers

In this session, you will practice sharing with God our needs and the needs of others in petitionary and intercessory prayer.

Discuss: Session 6 Leader Guide

Use the Leader Guide to guide your lesson. You can skip over the "Connect" activities. Focus on the "Discuss," "Do," and "Commit" sections.

Session 7: The Struggle: Overcoming Obstacles in Prayer

Watch: The Struggle: Overcoming Obstacles in Prayer

In this final session, you will have a chance to discuss common obstacles in having a habit of daily prayer such as distraction, spiritual dryness, and sin. You will also be given practical tools to overcome these obstacles. You will conclude by taking the building blocks you have learned so far and putting them together and practicing what daily prayer could look like.

Discuss: Session 7 Leader Guide

Use the Leader Guide to guide your lesson. You can skip over the "Connect" activities. Focus on the "Discuss" and "Commit" sections.

Symbolon: Liturgy and Sacraments Lessons

Symbolon: Living the Creed

The second program for you to complete with your child is called "Symbolon: Living the Creed." Through this series, youth will learn about the sacraments of the Catholic Church. You do not need to complete the whole Symbolon program (though you are welcome to if you would like to). You should complete the first six sessions:

Use the "Living the Creed Leader Guide" found on this page, to guide each lesson. As with the first series (Known), you can skip the "Connect" activities and focus on the "Discuss" and "Commit" sections.

Click here to take the Unit 2 Assessment.

Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation

Confession

Since you learned about the Sacrament of Reconciliation in this unit, it's a great time to go to confession as a family! Confession is available at our parishes at the following time:

Saturdays, 3:00-3:45 PM - St. Agnes, Middleton
Sundays, 5:00-6:00 PM - St. Rose, Topsfield
Mondays, 6:00-7:00 PM - St. Rose, Topsfield
Fridays, 9:45-10:30 AM - St. Rose, Topsfield

Print this Examination of Conscience sheet to help your child prepare for the sacrament.

Additional Resources

Additional Resources for Parents

These are two great programs on Formed about the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist:

Understanding the Mass

In this unit, youth will learn about the parts of the Mass, through a video series called "Understanding the Mass" by "Breaking in the Habit" available on YouTube and a video series called "Elements of the Catholic Mass" available on Formed. Youth can watch these videos on their own or with their parents. When finished with the videos, they should complete the Unit Assessment. It will be helpful for youth to take notes or look at the assessment in advance, as there is a lot of content in this unit and there is no way to save and revisit the assessment.

Click here to take the Unit 3 Assessment

Elements of the Catholic Mass

There are many videos in this series, but they are all very short. Youth should watch the following videos:

The Meaning of Liturgy
The Church Building
Sacramental Signs
The Purpose of the Mass
Who says Mass is boring?
The Church Doors
The Altar
Bows in the Mass

The Introductory Rites

The Liturgy of the Word

The Homily, Creed, and General Intercessions

The Preparation of the Gifts

Eucharistic Prayer and Communion

The Concluding Rite

Additional Resources

Additional Resources on the Mass:

These programs are all available on Formed. Some are for parents, others for teens. You are not required to watch any of them - they are just additional resources if you are interested in learning more.