Sharing a Level I and Level II Atrium
Level I Practical Life Skills material for the 3-6 year olds is covered with a small curtain while the Level II atrium is in session. This includes brass and silver polishing, grasping, spooning, and pouring. This also gets them ready for pouring cruets and makes the three year olds feel very comfortable and at home in the atrium.
This is the same bookcase but with the curtain over the Level I materials during a Level II atrium.
The Synthesis of the Kingdom of God Parables: the Mustard Seed, Pearl of Great Price, Grain of Wheat, and the Growing Seed are displayed on a silver tray. Also, The Found Sheep and The Wolf and the Hireling are kept in the tapestry box on the top of the bookcase. These are within reach of the Level II children.
The Moral Parables presented during our Sacrament Retreat
On a bookcase behind this one (seen below) is kept The Healing of the Centurion's Servant, The Forgiving Father, The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (first shelf), The Wedding Feast, the Ten Bridesmaids (2nd shelf) and The Good Samaritan (bottom shelf). This too is covered by a small white curtain during Level I atrium.
Displayed is the Invitation to the Wedding Feast. This is my favorite of all the moral parables. It suggests so much about what God wants from his people. It lays out four categories of human choice and what can happen when we have free choice and make wrong decisions. However, He wants us to all to come to the Wedding Feast. He is a forgiving Father.
I always compare this with the Good Shepherd when He says, "There are other sheep outside this sheepfold." But He wants one flock; one shepherd.
On this bookcase you can see the Missal Work for Level II and the White Control notebooks for the Missals (left) The top shelf houses the Level II Altar pasting work. I am the Level II catechist for this atrium. We have two atriums. So I've tried to keep everything out of the main part of the atrium for Level I catechists in that it flows like a Level I atrium only. I have a Wednesday and Thursday late afternoon/evening class and so I keep their Missal material separate on these two shelves.
There are also a file basket on the top filled with downloaded pictures of animals, people helping others, along with rocks and rock formations, sea creatures and ocean scenes, flowers and trees - all God's creations!
The posters displayed across the wall belong to this work also. It describes creation and how God put everything in place including this beautiful world of creatures and human helping others. On the four large tables are the foam board maps for the City of Jerusalem and the Pin Maps. Our trainer for Level II always said, "Big work means big tables." You can see why. Normally the children stand to do this work, but when necessary they can use the tables to sit and work too.
The children find the name of the city on the control map (left) and then look for it on the larger mute map and place the flag on that location. They are to do this with the mountain ranges, large land and mountain ranges as well as the bodies of water. They are four control maps for them to choose from. The red flag are the cities, blue for the bodies of water, green for the land masses and yellow
Displayed is the Invitation to the Wedding Feast. This is my favorite of all the moral parables. It suggests so much about what God wants from his people. It lays out four categories of human choice and what can happen when we have free choice and make wrong decisions. However, He wants us to all to come to the Wedding Feast. He is a forgiving Father.
I always compare this with the Good Shepherd when He says, "There are other sheep outside this sheepfold." But He wants one flock; one shepherd.
Missal Work and Prayer Journals
On this bookcase you can see the Missal Work for Level II and the White Control notebooks for the Missals (left) The top shelf houses the Level II Altar pasting work. I am the Level II catechist for this atrium. We have two atriums. So I've tried to keep everything out of the main part of the atrium for Level I catechists in that it flows like a Level I atrium only. I have a Wednesday and Thursday late afternoon/evening class and so I keep their Missal material separate on these two shelves.
The Gifts of the Kingdom are a very popular material for Level II. There are small boxes of Herbs in the picnic basket and below are two drawers - one with small boxes of rocks and the other is filled with seashells and different sea life. They like to sit in pairs and discover everything.
There are also a file basket on the top filled with downloaded pictures of animals, people helping others, along with rocks and rock formations, sea creatures and ocean scenes, flowers and trees - all God's creations!
The posters displayed across the wall belong to this work also. It describes creation and how God put everything in place including this beautiful world of creatures and human helping others. On the four large tables are the foam board maps for the City of Jerusalem and the Pin Maps. Our trainer for Level II always said, "Big work means big tables." You can see why. Normally the children stand to do this work, but when necessary they can use the tables to sit and work too.
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The Pin Maps |
for the mountain ranges.
The bookcase on the right shows where the Pin Map Flags are stored. They are covered on the top shelf. The large foam board maps are kept between the two bookcases behind this one as well as the City of Jerusalem foam board maps.
So everything has a place but does not disrupt the flow of the Level I children. It becomes the job of the Level II catechist to put everything back in place for the Level I catechists and their children. "A place for everything and everything in its place." That's the Montessori way.
The bookcase on the right shows where the Pin Map Flags are stored. They are covered on the top shelf. The large foam board maps are kept between the two bookcases behind this one as well as the City of Jerusalem foam board maps.
So everything has a place but does not disrupt the flow of the Level I children. It becomes the job of the Level II catechist to put everything back in place for the Level I catechists and their children. "A place for everything and everything in its place." That's the Montessori way.
In the photo below I've taken the pins and replaced them with small wooden pegs and small block bases. A lot less hurtful than getting stuck with a pin. We put up with that for years until one of the catechists discovered these posts with bases at Hobby Lobby. So much nicer now and more attractive.
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