The Kingdom of Heaven is Like.....

The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through....

The Kingdom Parables

In the Atrium we present the parables Jesus gave us to describe the kingdom of heaven.  One of those is the simple illustration given in Matthew 13: 33.  After a very short reading from Scripture we mix 3 T flour, 1/4 t. quick rise yeast and 2 T warm water in one bowl and in another bowl mix just the flour and water.  If you set these aside for 30 - 45 minutes the children will be able to see a difference in the two.

You could spend time discussing with the children important points like:

• the kingdom Jesus talked about was very different from any other kingdom
• when you mix the flour and yeast together you can't separate them
• something so small (the yeast) can make a huge difference in the dough

      .... or you could just launch right in, which is what we did!

I used clear glass bowls so that each child could have his or her own and so that we could see the air pockets more easily later.

Not for eating!  But feel free to smell :)

The children can practice patience and some self control, resisting the urge to keep stirring or touching the dough until the time is up.  Once it's time to investigate your dough again, you can always call the students back together to talk about what happened.  I intend to re-present this work the next time we meet or after we've discussed some of the other parables.  It slowly becomes clear that something small can become big!

Wowza!

There are some good resources on this work, including:

• a mention of this work in a Level II Atrium
• some photos of this presentation at what looks like an awesome Christian Montessori!

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The Liturgical Calendar (or the Church's Year)

"Purple and Green, Red and White....."

With the Liturgical Calendar the children see the importance of preparing for the 3 big feasts of the church:  Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.  They also see how important the "growing time" (i.e. Ordinary Time) is!

Today we unveiled one of the the most impressive works of the Level 1 Atrium:  the Liturgical Calendar, which teaches that Christ is the center of our year and that there are cycles and patterns to our worship.  This particular calendar (made from a sort of masonite material that was just leftover packing stuff from a furniture shipment) is MUCH bigger than I've ever seen.  These are usually the size of a large dinner plate and are usually made of wood.  This just goes to show:  you can make these works with whatever you have handy and modify to suit your group.  The gentleman who made this is a seasoned grandpa, so he made chunkier pieces that are safe both because they are too big to choke on and because there are no pointy pieces.

For single use with just a few children you could make this with construction paper or make necklaces with colored pony beads (thanks to Dominican Sister Mary Charles for the necklace idea!).

Your liturgical calendar needs to have 3 concentric circles.  The outer ring separates the year into the Cycle of Easter and the Cycle of Christmas (the largest rings seen above).  The medium-sized ring should be made of 52 equal-sized wedges (in our design the 3 feasts of the year--Easter, Christmas and Pentecost--become rays that take the place of 3 of those wedges).  The smallest ring defines the seasons:  Advent, the Christmas Season, Ordinary Time, Lent, and the Paschal Season.

Once the wood is cut and primed, you're ready to paint!  

 It's a confusing puzzle to create and to put together, so just keep singing the song to yourself as you go:

"Purple and green, red and white
Are the colors of the year..........
Purple for preparation,
White is for celebration,
Green is the growing time,
Red is for Pentecost."

Paint the Pentecost wedge with red.  Later you can add the dove as the symbol for the Holy Spirit.  Note:  some atria use flames as the symbol for the Holy Spirit.  You just need to be consistent across the works in your room.

I wanted the lettering to look nice, so I used a compass to create a guideline.

I found a pretty font, printed out the words I needed for labeling, wrote them onto my calendar pieces and then went over that with a Sharpie.  These steps took a LONG time of careful concentration!

I also made a control chart by tracing all of the calendar pieces onto an old piece of foam core,  labeling everything and coloring it in.  That way the children can move everything from the puzzle to the control chart and back again. 

So far, the only complaint I've had is that the symbol I painted for Pentecost looks like an airplane instead of a dove!

Lots of focus!

One important thing to point out:  while a clock goes around clockwise, we use this calendar counter-clockwise to remind us that "God's time is not our time."

Many thanks!

Thanks very much to this friend of the Legion of Mary for creating this work!

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Puzzle Map of Israel and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Almost done!

It takes a lot of clamps and patience to make a puzzle!

I've been wanting to finish materials for a Level 1 Atrium for YEARS and, thanks to a recent visit by "Tesla," I am now that much closer to finishing all of the materials.  Squeee!!

This Friday afternoon project is the Puzzle Map of Israel.  Inspired by this I wanted to get a watercolor effect, so I used some gouache and wiped it off periodically.  Now that it's painted I need to seal it.  Maybe it will be ready for Monday's class?

Does anyone know where you can buy those little knobs for each piece?

This is a close up of the knobs I used:

Search for "wooden button plugs" online

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CGS: Making the Chasubles and Chasuble Stands

Making Chasubles and Stands for Your Atrium

An Atrium is a place where young children learn to fall in love with God. My Montessori classroom is sort of part Atrium, in the sense that many of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd materials are here and I occasionally present a lesson from my Level 1 training (for 3- to 6-year-olds).

Ever since this post, I've had a couple of requests for more info on the chasubles.  Before I explain how we did it, please know that SURELY there must be easier, more rational ways to go about this process!  I was too cheap to buy the new Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Manual, so "real" directions may even be in there?  My dimensions were based on seat-of-the-pants reasoning!  A friend made the chasubles and matching altar cloths (in purple, green, red and white satin) 5 years ago, so the dimensions for the stands (made just last summer) were based on their dimensions.

The Stands

Materials

Wooden rods bought at a hobby store (I think 1/2 inch square in profile)

Wood for the base (we just used scraps)

Glue

Small Nails

(and if you decide to store them on a tray) Wooden tray from a hobby store

The "arms" of the stand are not equal in length.  One is about 5 inches long and the other is slightly shorter.  They are glued to each other.

Close-up of the tippy-top.  The "stem" or trunk of the stand is tapered like an arrow.  The arms are fastened to the trunk with a single nail from above.

This is a little over a foot tall.  It should be tall enough for your chasuble to clear the  base.

The bottom of the trunk was whittled, just enough to insert into a hole in the base.  It is rotated so that the arms sit at a  45 degree angle to the base, allowing all of the stands to fit into the tray at once (see first photo at top).  A nail from underneath and some glue holds everything in place.

The Chasubles

Materials

Green Satin

Red Satin

Purple Satin

White Satin

Pretty Gold Ribbon/Trim
Matching Thread
**Note:  If you are planning to make matching altar cloths, buy enough material for that, too!

A mom whose daughter was in my school made these for me.  Originally I asked for chasubles just the right size to hang on a little handtowel holder (that's a make-do alternative to a real chasuble stand).  These are not meant to be worn by children or dolls!

In this view of the underside you can see the tiny underturned edge and the stitches where the gold cross was made.

Each square is equal to one inch.

Here's the altar with the cloth for this season.  It's just a simple hemmed rectangle (measure to fit your altar).  I have one in each color, and when we change for a new season it's a great excuse for a procession!

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