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April 8, 2020Genesis Early Childhood Program
Continuing to assist parents in the formation of young minds and hearts!
This has been a tough change of pace for many of us, and we can never forget that these changes impact young children as much as and if not more than adults. We have heard from many of the families of children that we serve at Genesis that the children are really struggling to understand why they can’t come back to school to see their friends and teachers. Our Faith Formation publisher Loyola Press has sent us a free lesson on COVID 19 for children. It would need to be adapted for 3 and 4 year olds.
We all need to remember to just get back to the basics with kids schedules--adequate sleep, nutritious meals, prayer time, reading time etc. Remember children are not able to attach words to feelings in the way adults can. Their frustration may manifest in an outburst or meltdown versus a verbal statement, “It makes me mad when I can not go to school, to a birthday party or to Church.” Kids learn by modeling, so be sure to model for children of all ages feelings and how to cope with current events.
During this time at home, take advantage of the slower pace by setting up a good family prayer routine. The rhythm of the day reflects these opportunities for a visit with our Lord. Praying before meals and before bedtime can be great ways to establish children’s prayer throughout the day. Even the youngest children can learn simple rote prayers--Prayer Before Meals, Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. Keep your expectations reasonable. Don’t begin with a Rosary and expect 20 minutes of rapt engagement from a 2 year old. Begin with a single rote prayer. Over time add some general visiting with Jesus or read a short passage from a children’s Bible. Loyola Press has some additional great family resources from their God Made Everything Early Childhood Series.
Genesis continues to send out enriching activities and content to assist families in the development of the youngest children in our community through this time with unique challenges - you can see videos uploaded by Genesis ECP on the CtR YouTube Channel. We will continue to do so for the remainder of the school year as well as continuing to plan for next year. Genesis still has a few openings for the 2020-2021 school year available. Please contact Melanie Gehrt at melanie.gehrt@ctrcc.com or visit our website for more information or to register.
