All Saints Catholic Academy Offers Unique Montessori-inspired Preschool

John Balchik setting the challice on the altar.

IRONWOOD, MI - by Victoria LaFave - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 – At All Saints Catholic Academy, preschool is a very involved time for learning about more than colors, letters and numbers. With the preschool program called The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS), religious education for three to six-year-olds is hands-on and interactive.

This unique preschool program has been offered at All Saints Catholic Academy (ASCA) for just over five years. Originated in 1954, CGS is a worldwide program rooted in the Bible, the liturgy of the Church, and inspired by the educational principles of Educator Dr. Maria Montessori. CGS has grown in recent years and is currently taught in 35 countries.

For little children who are too young to read Bible passages, creators of the program realized they need another way for these children to truly understand Bible stories. To help children understand these stories, a room called the atrium is created where the children can do hands-on activities and ponder a biblical passage or prayer from the liturgy by taking material for that text and working with it – placing wood figures of sheep in a sheepfold of the Good Shepherd, setting sculpted apostles around a Last Supper table, or preparing a small altar with the furnishings used for the Eucharist, for example.

Parents at ASCA are impressed with the hands-on activities provided by the CGS program. One such parent, Carla Murray, mom of Grace, said, "As a parent, I was amazed at how real God became to my children through their involvement in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I continue to marvel at the depths of their spirituality brought out by the experiences they had in the Atrium.”

Atrium was the place in the early church where the catechumens were prepared. For the child, too, the atrium is a place of preparation for involvement in the larger worshipping community.

Director of Religious Education Pat Niksich and ASCA Principal Betty Perkis traveled to Milwaukee and Minneapolis to train and become certified to teach in the CGS approach. The figures used to represent Jesus and other biblical characters are purposely miniature to help the children relate to the stories.

To familiarize the children with the articles of the Mass, the chalice, paten, altar cloth, candles and crucifix are arranged at their eye-level. According to the CGS training materials, the children “become acquainted with the historical character of the liturgy through the events of the Last Supper, Christ’s death, and His resurrection.”

One specific lesson rang true for many young children. “When I teach lessons, for instance, about the Good Shepherd, we use little two-dimensional figures of the Shepherd and his sheep,” Perkis explained. “This helps the children to not only hear the lessons, but to see them come alive, so they can really understand it, and see that the sheep always follow their shepherd because they know his voice.” Perkis noted that children aged three to six really relate to the story of the Good Shepherd, according to the creators of the program, Sofia Cavalletti and her co-worker Gianna Gobbi. Children of that age recognize and follow their mother’s voice, similar to sheep following their shepherd.

“It’s a very powerful program, because by using little child-sized figures, we let the stories teach themselves,” Perkis said. The little figurines were handmade by Perkis and Niksich, along with other community and church members. We even have our own little child-sized tabernacle that looks similar to the actual tabernacle. It’s made from a little pot, is covered in gold felt, and has a spring from a weed eater,” she chuckled.

The composition of the props doesn’t seem to matter to the children though. The children seem to love working with them no matter what they are made of. “The children really interact with them,” Perkis explained. “The props make it very real for the children.”

For example, in the geography portion of the CGS program, ASCA uses a sculptured map of Israel to illustrate the Holy Land. The students love to hear about where Jesus actually lives.

“I really knew we were getting through to our students, when, after hearing a lesson I taught on the geography of the Holy Land, a little three-year-old student told her mom, ‘Mom, come here, I have to show you where God used to live,’” Perkis smiled.

Following in the Montessori theme, the children are offered practical life activities. These are activities that allow the child freedom to work with material that is simple and needs little or no presentation. Some of these activities are bead stringing, dusting, plant care, polishing, flower arranging, matching cards, spooning, pasting and cutting exercises.

With the self-teaching principles of Montessori and the basis of Hebrew studies, Scripture studies, Roman Catholic liturgy and doctrine, Cavalletti and Gobbi developed The CGS approach. Cavalletti describes her motivation for the program, “If we want to help the child draw nearer to God, we should with patience and courage … seek to go always closer to the vital nucleus of things. This requires study and prayer. The child himself will be our teacher if we know how to observe him.”

Principal Perkis recognizes the value of the CGS program, as well as her and Niksich’s role. “We take very seriously our role of being the face of Christ, while teaching our students, and assisting the students in being the face of Christ to each other,” Perkis said.

All Saints Catholic Academy, 106 South Marquette Street, Ironwood, Michigan, one of the nine Catholic schools in the Diocese of Marquette, offers a Catholic-based education for students in pre-school through 6th grade.

However, children of all faiths are welcome to attend the school. ASCA is committed to forming the students into examples of Christ and to instill in them qualities that will enable them to become successful, productive Christian adults. ASCA also features music, physical education, library and computer curricula, in addition to a reading program and the other core subjects. Tutoring is also available in other subjects as needed. For more information on the school, contact Principal Betty Perkis at (906) 932-3200. For more information about the The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, call Pat Niksich at 932-1708 or check out the program’s website: www.cgsusa.org.

Victoria LaFave is an Independent Contractor for marketing services for the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Marquette. She can be reached 906/466-0070.