Lessons from a First Grade Religious Education Classroom

When I signed up to become a RE teacher, I thought I knew what I was doing. I had led tons of groups for my home parish’s Vacation Bible School and had nine years of Sunday Religious Education classes under my belt. I would get to hang out every week with six- and seven-year-olds, and meet some upperclassmen who could help me navigate my new school. I quickly realized that I had a lot to learn, about myself and about the faith, and the people in this classroom were the ones who would teach me. 

It’s well known that a room full of first-graders gets rowdy when students don’t want to listen it becomes frustrating. But the women that I taught helped me to find ways to see the good. When our prayer intentions became silly the other teachers knew how to adapt. A prayer for pizza turned to us asking God to keep us fed, healthy, and strong. A prayer for a cow (who sounded like a chicken) became a prayer to be good stewards to God’s creation. Even when our students did not want to be serious there were always ways to make our prayers fruitful. One student struggled to sit still, always moving, talking when others were, etc and I began to wonder if we were getting through. Then, one day, they came up to me and asked if we could go to the adoration chapel again. It was little reminders like that that reaffirmed us in what we were trying to do. At the end of class, the team of teachers would discuss what happened that day, funny stories, new ideas for how to help our students focus, and there were always at least two or three moments where we would see the love of God in our students, and their earnestness to know more about Him. 

I cannot count the times that I was humbled this past year. As a seven-year-old corrected me or brought up a Bible passage that I don’t remember. There are times that I needed one of my co-teachers to explain a concept to me before I taught it ten minutes later. At first, I felt embarrassed and inadequate as an instructor but I have since realized that we don’t have all the answers. The wisdom of the Catholic Church is so expansive that there is always more to learn and we each know different things about our faith. While we taught our students as much information as we can, to help them begin to understand the Mass; tell them about Mary and Joseph; show them how to navigate the Bible; our task was not only to inform. We were sent to show them the love of God and teach them how we can be more like Him. Our lessons so often went back to the concept of love, receiving it from God and our families, or showing it to those who we meet every day. We are all learning, and sometimes an elementary schooler knows more than I do, but the goal is for all of us to walk on that path together.
  
During this time I was reminded how full of wonder the Catholic faith is. I have found that as we get older we can get used to our faith. As children, we are amazed  This truly became evident to me as I sat and read to my students from Exodus 3, when Moses comes upon a burning bush and hears the voice of God. As we read I would pause and ask my students questions to keep them engaged. 

“What do you think you would do if you saw a bush on fire?” 

“Probably run away.”

“But what if it was God trying to talk to you?”

“Then I would stay.”

We continued on in this way throughout the story, trying to place ourselves in it, how we would feel if we were Moses. By placing ourselves within the Bible story we got more of a sense of how mysterious the Lord is and questioned what our own actions would be if we were put in these situations. When I find myself in a rut with my prayer life, unmotivated to read Scripture, I try to read it to myself the same way I do to my students, asking questions, emphasizing events that are out of the ordinary in our everyday lives in order to recognize the power and goodness of our Lord. 

For each lesson I taught my students they taught me one back. Children have not dealt with the same questions about God or the Church that we face as we get older. As we turn to our peers and our elders for clarity and guidance, we should also turn to those younger than us. Those who hear Bible stories and are still surprised by what the Lord can do, those whose sense of wonder is less tarnished than ours, they will bring you back to the basics of our faith and show you God’s love in countless little ways.