A new religious education resource for Grade 7 Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education students will be available in time for the 2020-21 school year, trustees heard at Tuesday’s board meeting.
“Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ” is a resource developed by Canadian publisher Pearson that is also in use in Ontario and Saskatchewan Catholic schools.
Religious education co-ordinator Sandra Richard says the MHCBE currently uses the Pearson resource for Grades 1-6, but will be expanding its use to Grades 7 and 8, as well as kindergarten over the next couple years.
There’s also a Grade 9 resource being piloted in some of Alberta’s Catholic schools, Richard said.
“Since we’re a Catholic system everything is permeating with our faith, but in this program itself there’s a lot of hands-on items the kids can work through to see where God is within our everyday lives,” she explained.
It also assists in explaining church traditions and scripture, Richard added.
Catholic schools’ religion-specific curriculum must be approved by its bishops – in this case the Alberta and North West Territories Bishops – to ensure alignment with church teachings, she said.
“With the catechesis of the Catholic church there are certainly levels we have that recognize the development of the child,” Richard said, adding that the emphasis is on spiritual growth.
The resource includes books and a digital component, both which are purchased by the board.
“The digital part is probably the key component with the Pearson program and our teachers are saying they like that online version the best,” Richard said.
