More about our ADVENTure Day

This is for Dorian, who asked very nicely in the combox.

Here’s the story on ADVENTure day:  Two years ago, our then-new DRE went with a new VBS program. (Pre-packaged.)  Instead of dividing the kids into grade-level classrooms, the kids were grouped into mixed-age crews that traveled from station to station through the morning. Crafts, snacks, games, music, Bible story room (that was me), all that.   It worked very well.   We volunteers didn’t have to be jacks of all trades (an actual music teacher teaching music!), and there was more intensity and liveliness to each room.

So she finished VBS #1 resolved to do more of the same during the year.

There was a living rosary in October (on the playground, visited by a pack of stray dogs, oops), but the real big invention was ADVENTure.  Instead of running K-5 classes on Wednesday evenings in December, we would host one school-day-long VBS-type Advent program on the first Saturday of Advent.  Parents could have free babysitting from 9-3, and catechists would have off the rest of the month. [6th grade and up have regular classes all month.]

Here’s what we do, and I’ll describe this year’s program, since she made a few tweaks that helped it run more smoothly.

Students are sorted into mixed-age crews of 15-20 kids.  Not random: 5th graders with K5, 4th with 1st, and 2nd & 3rd.  I noticed this year the 2nd/3rd groups were boys in one crew, girls in the other.  (Oh my. Those boys.  Had to take the markers away.  Fast.)  Youth from grades 6 & up volunteered to lead the crews from class to class.  2-4 youth per team.  They helped with the kids, and also managed potty breaks and other crises.

Catechists paired up and we manned several lesson rooms.  This year it was St. Francis & the Nativity, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Nicholas, and Church Year Calendar.  In each room we were issued a story book or similar educational prop, and then a craft to go with.  Our DRE gives us a fairly free hand to adapt the lessons to our teaching strengths.  I ended up subbing out the story book with a different St. Nicholas book from the library, and running more a discussion-style lesson with tidbits from the book, rather than just reading the story.  It worked well.

(Last year in the St. Nick room my co-teacher and I alternated teaching at each class period.  This year, different co-teacher, I taught the first class, and she never let me quit.  She did all the support work with getting supplies queued up and helping manage kids.)

Our DRE conscripted her grown daughter as slave labor to get all the craft supplies organized and do necessary prep-work so that everything was ready to go and in the classrooms Saturday morning.  I brought along my own sets of coloring sheets, wordsearch and crossword puzzles just in case I needed to fill time, and I ended up using them a bunch.  (For those 2nd/3rd grade boys, I fully subbed out the worksheets and sent home the craft, because the craft was.not.happening.  Just not.)  Some of the classes that finished early just sent the kids out to the playground with their crew leaders.  That was good.

Kids were each issued a bag with name-tag and grade affixed in which to collect all their papers and artwork.  [But, this year’s crisis: a bunch of the bags split open.  Note for next year: sturdier bags.]

Class periods lasted aproximately 30 minutes.  Additionally there were two movie rooms running double-period movie viewings.  The Knights of Columbus served lunch (hot dogs or bring your own) in two or three lunch periods, plus our resident snack lady (the one whose kids have the very worst food allergies — she is a master at making sure no one dies of peanut exposure) oversaw a snack period in the afternoon.  Students brought juice boxes (boys) or cookies (girls) to provide for the snack.  There was a nicer snack cart in the catechist supply room for grown-ups.

Having the movie, lunch and snack periods meant that each teaching pair got three break periods through the day.  This is essential.

At 2:45 we brought the kids out to the car line per our usual dismissal process, and parents picked up kids between 2:45 and 3:00.

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So there you go, Dorian.  Ask away if you have any questions.

And FYI last year our DRE also put together an Eggstravaganza on the morning of Holy Saturday — so fleshing out the long-established egg hunt with on-topic crafts and lessons.  Unfortunately I was out sick (it was either rest up or skip the Easter Vigil — pretty obvious choice), so I can’t report.   This year I firmly resolve not to catch any ailments.  Ha.

PS to Dorian: See how I am making a category name that is a tribute to your Catechist Chat series?  So that everyone will know I am truly your disciple?