Grow in Love
An Introduction for Parents and Families
Welcome to the Grow in Love website. We hope that this page will provide you with some information about the Grow in Love series.
If your child is using the Grow in Love series in school, he/she probably attends a Catholic school. In Catholic schools, children spend some time each day learning about God. This is called Religious Education. What Religious Education we teach children in schools is laid out in a publication called the Catholic Preschool and Primary Religious Education Curriculum for Ireland.
The Grow in Love programme contains stories, poems, art, drama and music activities all designed to help your child to learn about God. We want and need you to be part of this learning. Your child’s Grow in Love book is laid out in such a way that there are two pages to be completed each week. Your child will do one of these in school, and you are invited to do the other one with your child at home. Examples of things that you will be asked to do together include:
- Retelling a story your child has heard in school, such as a story from the Bible, or the life story of a saint such as St Patrick.
- Drawing or colouring a picture based on what your child has heard at school, such as the Christmas or Easter story.
- Saying a prayer together. The words of all of the prayers that your child will learn by heart are listed in the back inside cover of their book.
- Chatting about your child, their friends, their feelings, your family, etc. Again, this will be related to what your child has done that week in school.
In all things, including Religious Education, you are your child’s first and best teacher. What is done in school only complements and builds on what you do at home. That is why Grow in Love is designed to be used both in school and at home. It also provides links with the local parish community.
Grow in Love offers you the opportunity to teach your child about the faith that you chose for them in Baptism. Here are some other simple things that you can do at home to help your child to grow in faith:
- Create a Prayer Space in your child’s bedroom using religious articles such as a cross/crucifix, holy water, a candle, etc. Your child will have a prayer space in their classroom, so they will be familiar with this concept.
- Place a holy water font at the front door and bless yourself as you leave the house.
- Do acts of kindness with your child, such as donating their good quality toys and clothes to a local charity shop.
- Make the Sign of the Cross when you pass a church.
- Visit the church at a quiet time and chat to your child about what they see.
- Bring your child to Mass.
- Pray simple prayers such as the Morning/Night Prayer, Grace Before/After Meals and the Our Father/Hail Mary as a family.