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Email a FriendPosted by Lina Martin on Monday, Sep 21, 2009 10:11 AM (EDT):
that is great arwen, i’m glad she did well! I am so hoping that wherever we end up, we have this style of catechesis, it just sounds so wonderful!
An Atrium Success
First day goes well despite reservations
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Monday, September 21, 2009 10:00 AM
Camilla had her first day of Atrium on Friday.
First of all, we brought home a cold. The kids woke up with runny noses this morning and I looked up the incubation period for the common cold: two to five days. If we didn’t catch it at Atrium, I’ll eat my hat.
But other than that, it went wonderfully.
I should have clarified in my last post that although ideally I would be able to leave Camilla at Atrium alone, I had no expectation that this would actually be possible the first day. What I was concerned about was whether the teachers would expect me to leave her there, or whether they would be okay with me staying so that Camilla would be comfortable enough to participate.
Fortunately, it was perfectly fine for me (and Blaise) to stay with Camilla. Several other mothers stayed with their children as well, and the teacher actually seemed happy that we were there to help out.
Camilla was shy at first, wanting to cling to me instead of sit in the circle with the other children. But by the end of the class when I took Blaise to the empty half of the room to nurse him, she was fine, and only stuck her head around the curtain once to make sure I was still there. I’m confident that she’ll continue to adjust with time.
And that’s good, because except for the shyness thing, Atrium was a big success. Camilla is a meticulous little girl, so the Montessori-style set-up of different “works” for the children to do is perfect for her. There wasn’t much catechesis in this first class, just a few songs and prayers, and the rest of the time the kids just got to play with the different stuff in the classroom. Camilla loved it.
She listened and followed directions quite well, especially for being one of the youngest kids in the room. I was proud of her.
(On a side-note: It was interesting for me to see my future in the boys in her class. I bet in a few years when Blaise is bouncing off the walls at his first Atrium session, I’ll be thinking ruefully of my sweet little girl sitting there so quietly!)
She chattered the whole way home about Atrium and how she can’t wait to go back. I’m very glad we decided to go ahead and do it this year. She’s ready. (Hooray!)
Comments
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Posted by Anne in NYC on Monday, Sep 21, 2009 11:06 AM (EDT):
Forgive my ignorance, but what is Atrium? Is it a preschool? A daycare? Full time or part time? Run by a Catholic organization?
Posted by Arwen Mosher on Monday, Sep 21, 2009 2:31 PM (EDT):
Anne, I’m sure you’re not the only one who’s confused! I should have been more clear.
Our parish does something called the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which is a Montessori-style hands-on Catholic religious education program for little ones. The room it’s held in is referred to as an “atrium” and thus it’s common to casually refer to the program itself as “Atrium.”
Our CGS is run by our parish, and it meets once a week for two hours just like the catechism classes for older children. At our parish, a child can start at age three.
I hope that answers your questions!
Posted by Lori on Monday, Sep 21, 2009 11:22 AM (EDT):
Atrium is the room where Cathechesis of the Good Shepard for preschoolers thru K is held. It’s RE for the young ones in the Montesorri style. My oldest son loved it last year. This year when I picked him up from school on the first day of RE he said, “how many minutes to religious ed?” Wow! That’s the kind of enthusiasm I like to see! This year he will be in it again (he’ll be 6 in Nov) and my middle child, a 4 year old boy will join too. I was so excited to see the 4 yo sit during circle time and participate in the group! My 2 1/2 yo dd and I watched and even she was fascinated by the class.
Arwen, I read this post and chuckled—my son just had his first day of Atrium yesterday! We are eager to see how he likes it, in part because we are considering a Montessori preschool for him.
Our parish started doing the program a year ago, and the response has been fabulous. Parents are thrilled with it.
I look forward to hearing your daughter’s future experiences! Will you give us updates?
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