Next week, I’m digging in for an intense week that includes 30 hours with 40 8th-graders.
I can’t wait.
No, really.
During the week of Confirmation Boot Camp, the kids arrive around 8:30 in the morning and leave around 2:00 in the afternoon. We have them bring snacks and goodies to share (and we provide some, too) and, though it’s an intense week, it also gives us the chance to bond.
We don’t use a regular textbook. We couldn’t get away from the conviction that these kids should be able to use a Bible and maneuver the Catechism. So that’s what we use with one addition: the Youcat youth catechism promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day 2011.
Woven throughout our lessons are opportunities for engagement. We use YouTube videos, interactive games, team builders, and tactile experiences. We also open every day and each of the day’s four sessions (each 45-minute session is followed by a 10- to 15-minute break) with a decade of the Rosary.
I thought about trying to blog my way through it (last year, I started sending a daily email update to parents and sponsors), but I’m making no promises. I do want to put together a few resource lessons and ideas for Amazing Catechists, but I won’t get to that before … well, sometime after next week. 🙂
Please keep us all in your prayers. Thanks!
