St. Maria Goretti

Welcome to St. Maria Goretti’s Parish Religious Education! Do you have children enrolled in public school or a non-Catholic private school? Here you will find a welcoming place for your children ages 2 years old to 8th grade to learn about their faith, grow in spirituality and prayer, participate in service, and develop faith-filled friendships, and for your whole family to grow your domestic church within a supportive and uplifting environment.

Parish Religious Education (PRE) follows a school calendar. Please see the bottom of this page for a full calendar.

Parent & Child 2’s and 3’s
Parents and children will participate together in a weekly faith-formation experience that will celebrate our faith and encourage parent-child bonding through song, physical movement, and interactive play. One parent must remain with their child for the entirety of class. This class is offered only at the 8:30AM Sunday session.

Pre K 3’s and 4’s
For older preschoolers willing to separate happily from their parents. Children learn about their place in the created world using the Christ Our Life children’s curriculum “God Made Me” and “God Made the World.” Dedicated and enthusiastic catechists lead the children in songs, crafts, stories, and play. (Note: this curriculum is different from what is taught in the SMG Preschool, so children can enroll in both the SMG preschool and the PRE Sunday School class.) This class is offered at the 8:30AM and 11:30 AM Sunday sessions.

Kindergarten
For children just beginning their faith formation journey or those who participated in the preschool offerings. Children gather to learn how much God loves us through an introduction to Salvation History in Scripture, stories of the saints, highlights of the liturgical year, and a basic introduction to the doctrines of the Catholic faith, using the same curriculum taught in the SMG School. This class is offered at the 8:30AM and 11:30AM Sunday Sessions.
 

1st Grade
This is the required prerequisite year for entering 2nd grade Sacrament Preparation. Children learn the foundational elements of who God is, what it means to be Catholic, and how to live as a child of God. This class is offered at both Sunday sessions.


2nd Grade
This is the Sacrament Preparation year for Reconciliation and First Communion. The children’s curriculum is focused on sacramental life in the Church. Outside of PRE, parents and children journey together through a series of supplementary sacrament preparation events as well as an additional at-home faith formation component before receiving their sacraments in the spring semester. If your child is in 2nd grade, but has not received the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion, they must begin by enrolling in 1st grade PRE. This class is offered at both Sunday sessions, and includes an additional Sacrament Preparation fee.

For the 2022-2023 Important Sacrament Preparation Dates, click here.


3rd – 8th Grade
In the years following First Communion and Reconciliation, children develop the foundational knowledge necessary for a mature adult faith, across all six domains of catechesis: Creed, Sacraments, Scripture, Morality, Prayer, and Catholic Social Teaching. The PRE students use the Parish Edition of the same curriculum taught in SMG School. Students who continue faith formation after 2nd grade are better equipped to live, defend, understand and appreciate their faith as adults, and are better prepared for the Confirmation process, which begins in 9th grade.

For questions or for more information, please contact our Coordinator of Children’s Faith Formation, Tina Uhland, directly at t.uhland@smgonline.org, or complete the following form: