By Michael Motes

Selecting a parish at random, contacting religious education coordinators for spur-of-the-moment comments, and asking the parents of youth enrolled in CCD programs for their evaluation have produced some interesting reflections on the past year of instruction in Sunday classrooms.

The parish picked was Immaculate Heart of Mary and the selection seems to have been a good one, as those contacted were very eager to respond and were obviously concerned about the status of CCD.

Perhaps this concern is best expressed by comments which suggest areas for improvement and which stress the responsibility that parents must accept in the religious education of their children.

Ms. Carol Homrich, IHM religious education coordinator for youth between the ages of 4 and seventh grade, has just completed her first year in the field.

“Although I am a newcomer, I feel very good about the year we have just finished at IHM,” Mrs. Homrich says. “I worked closely with our confirmation group and this was a personal highlight for me during the year. But what probably impressed me the most was the commitment of our teachers. Teaching religion must come from the heart and I feel that our teachers this year put their hearts into their work.”

In suggesting areas of improvement, Mrs. Homrich said, “I think one area is to establish better and more communication between the parents and teachers and also among the CCD parents themselves. I feel this could be accomplished by these parents attending adult education programs while their children are in CCD classes. Since the main responsibility of teaching religion to children belongs to the parents, this would present an opportunity for parents to broaden their own knowledge and experiences. Teachers are only instruments in the hands of God and for children to believe what the teacher teaches, the parents must set an example.

“Another way is for parents to show a more active interest in their child’s education by attending sacramental meetings,” she said.

The coordinator also feels that “in depth preparation for teachers will make them feel more qualified in their teaching. This we hope to accomplish by way of presenting a ‘Growing in Jesus’ program and by studying the NATIONAL CATECHETICAL DIRECTORY.”

Concerning the DIRECTORY, Mrs. Homrich says, “I am very impressed with it. I think it will be a valuable tool in the hands of our catechists and we plan to use it as a guide next year.”

Another newcomer to religious education at IHM is Lee Brunner, who has just finished his first year as CCD coordinator for the high school group.

“It was a good year for me as far as what I learned and in determining the direction I need to go in the future,” Brunner says. “I can’t complain since this was my first year, but I can’t say that it was a great year as far as education goes.”

“Our biggest need is for teachers who are really prepared to teach. Adult support and parental encouragement are also very important in the program.

“The change from a lecture basis to smaller discussion groups was a very positive approach during the past year. Right now we may not have the best reputation for CCD, but hopefully that will change,” Brunner added.

A fourth grade level teacher, George McNamara loved his year of working with the children, but used his own methods rather than relying on prepared textbooks.

“I hate to sound negative, but that’s the way I feel about the text we used,” McNamara said. “I’m of the old school of religion and studied in the seminary for six years and you can’t convince me that you teach religion by cutting out paper dolls and coloring. Even fourth graders are too smart for that!”

In his classroom, McNamara tried to get his students involved in discussions on assigned topics rather than following teachers’ manual instructions for arts and crafts.

“I tried to use basics, the way I had been taught and hope that this helped the kids,” he said. “I was amazed that many of my children did not know the most basic Catholic prayers, the Our Father or Hail Mary. We simply memorized these in the classroom and the kids seem to like this method. They could associate it with school plays they were in or learning a Cub Scout oath.”

“But the most crucial element in the teaching of religion to children is the parent. If we get parents involved, we’ll be much more successful in our teaching. It may be harder today with so many one parent families, but it is a job that the parent must accept.”

McNamara obviously did a good job in teaching his youngsters to notice the gifts of God in the world around them. He is extremely pleased with their fourth grade thoughts expressed in a prayer the children prepared last Christmas.

With the theme, “Lord Thank You,” some of the thoughts expressed were, “For this nice and kind world, and let the world stay like it is and we will try to clean it up,” “For being alive with a mother and father to care for me,” “For the happy faces and pretty flowers and for the world and love” and “For everything, the earth, sun, people, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and the best teachers in the world.”

The Adult Education program at IHM was ranked as “super,” by Mrs. Houston D. Smith, Jr., a parent with two children in CCD programs at the parish.

“I’m more impressed with the adult ed program than with the children’s program,” Mrs. Smith said. “I do not feel that the children get the fundamentals, but perhaps I am going back to the days of the Baltimore Catechism. Today the texts do not seem to have the grasp on the concepts that I received at an early age.”

“The children’s books this year were on a low level and offered no challenge. I think that there should be more of a grasp of fundamental concepts that would stick with the children. We need more emphasis on doctrine ideas. I don’t think the children have been challenged enough and what I see as a parent on the outside is not as exciting as what I wish I saw.”

James Nork, a parent of CCD students and former CCD teacher, believes that IHM’s program “was better than last year, but the need for improvement is there. I know that it’s difficult to find people with the dedication and talent to teach and perhaps this is the problem. The overall program is improving and I am pleased about this.”

A parent, who asked not to be identified, commented, “My kindergarten age child probably got more out of the program than anyone else in the family. One child didn’t have a very good year because the teacher had a terrible time controlling the class.”

“While I don’t think the high school students learned many facts, I am impressed with the sense of community involvement that my teen-ager developed. She seemed to have become interested in ‘spreading the word’ and informing others that God IS there and this certainly made the year worthwhile.”