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It’s May, and teachers and students everywhere are eagerly wrapping up the school year.
If you’re an educator, you’re probably putting some thought into what you’ll use in your classroom next fall.
If you’re looking for a Catholic religion curriculum, check out these excellent picks below.
These can be used for the classroom, the homeschool, and any kind of religious education program.
Word of Life
More than 500 parishes and schools use Word of Life, a new curriculum from the Augustine Institute and Ignatius Press that offers state-of-the-art digital components and a “teach-the-teacher model,” among many other impressive features.
Word of Life helps children, teachers, parents, and families discover their authentic Catholic identity and participate more fruitfully in the Church’s life and mission. It provides not only faithful teaching but aims to show why the Catholic faith is relevant in our modern culture.
Word of Life is built on four golden catechetical threads that provided an integrated approach to the Catholic faith: Salvation History, Christian Anthropology, Heroic Virtue & Character Formation, and Learning Through Discipleship. The materials engage young learners through a combination of print and digital materials, including online learning interactions and engaging video enhancements.
Word of Life supports parents as the primary educators of their children through enrichment pages and family faith pages providing practical ways to live the faith in daily life.
Word of Life Teacher Manuals are written for teachers of all levels of formation and seek to equip teachers with an engaging presentation of the materials with little preparation required. Word of Life grade K-5 student texts are available as bilingual student texts.
Into the Deep
Designed specifically for use in the home by homeschool parents, Into the Deep is a lush and gorgeous religious education program inspired by Charlotte Mason and Classical educational traditions.
With unit studies, picture studies, and full-year options, you can find many ways to include Into the Deep in your home. I use this program at home with my children and I’ve been very impressed with it.
We follow the pattern of Holy Mother Church by handing on the Faith through beauty, story, purposeful memorization, and long-term discipleship. Our resources stand alone in the world of religious education, because… Religion isn’t just another subject. We want our children to know about Jesus; we also want them to know Him. And that requires a different kind of teaching — a teaching that’s alive and after the heart. Our resources allow you to toss the textbooks while still stewarding your time and energy well.
While you: 1. Witness by your own prayer and walk with God 2. Live a sacramental life 3. Embrace the rhythm of the liturgical year... Let us be the FORMAL CATECHESIS that we pray will bolster and uphold your child’s faith.
Renewed and Received from Ascension Press
We are big fans of Renewed and Received, a “plug-and-play” sacramental preparation video class for First Communion and First Reconciliation. The videos are charming, beautiful, and theologically profound. (You can read our review here!)
Renewed: Your Journey to First Reconciliation offers children and their parents an engaging, interactive way to grow in their understanding of God’s love and mercy. Received: Your Journey to First Communion helps children understand and appreciate the incredible gift we’re offered in the Eucharist.
Catholic Brain
Catholic Brain offers an online Pre-K through 8th Grade Faith Formation Platform.
Over 1,000 videos, faith formation programs, sacramental prep programs, supplemental resources, eBooks, curriculum, assessments, quizzes, games, printable activities, lesson plans and much more!
Signs of Grace
Signs of Grace is specifically for children’s sacramental preparation and includes family faith formation.
Fun activities, entertaining videos with well-known presenters, engaging student guides, and compelling stories are all part of the Signs of Grace curriculum, helping children understand intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally that the Sacraments are a real encounter with Jesus Christ.
Allelu! and Alive in Christ
Allelu! and Alive in Christ are religious education programs from Our Sunday Visitor.
Allelu! & ¡Allelu! (Bilingual) engage and prepare children for a lifetime of faith with the most innovative and complete early childhood education program.
Alive in Christ for grades 1-8 invites children to hear God’s invitation to a personal relationship through his Word, helps them discover and learn the Church’s teaching in precise theological language, and teaches them how to live as Catholic disciples.
Be My Disciples and Stories of God’s Love
Stories of God’s Love for preschool (ages 3-4 or 4-5) and kindergarten is an easy-to-use, developmentally appropriate early childhood curriculum designed to engage children and their families in learning about their Catholic faith and in making the connections between Scripture and daily life.
The Be My Disciples religious education program empowers students and their families to answer Jesus' invitation to be his disciples and to develop the habits of lifelong discipleship.
Faith and Life Series
It’s a classic for a reason! Many of us were raised on Faith and Life Series, and you can count on this series for straightforward, old-school catechesis.
The Faith and Life Third Edition series presents Catholic teaching using the time-tested ecclesial methodology and spiral development of catechesis, in a beautiful, student-friendly, comprehensive format.
We Believe and Christ in Us
Sadlier Publications offers programs for all ages, including Christ In Us, We Believe, We Live Our Faith, God’s Own Making, and others. There’s also a preschool program called Discovering God.
This complete, enriching K–8 catechetical program is packed with engaging resources that support instructors, catechists, and families as they guide disciples in forming a robust lifelong foundation in the Catholic faith.
Christ Our Life
Written by the Sisters of Notre Dame, the new 2016 edition of Christ Our Life fosters children’s love of God while providing a rich knowledge of our Catholic faith. Christ Our Life comprehensively presents the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church and is the only program aligned with the Church’s mission for a New Evangelization, the NCEA: IFG ACRE assessments, and the Six Tasks of Catechesis.
Seton Home Study
You can purchase just the religion textbooks from homeschool curriculum companies like Seton Home Study. These religion books are designed to be taught alongside the Baltimore Catechism.
Our Holy Faith
TAN Academy offers religion textbooks in a product line called Our Holy Faith.
Give your child a solid foundation in the faith with the acclaimed Our Holy Faith series of religion textbooks for grades 1–8. Our Holy Faith has long been a great orthodox resource for families looking to impart the truths of the Catholic faith to their children… But catechesis is only half the battle; we also want our children to be holy. The Our Holy Faith series aims to engage your children spiritually as well as intellectually with various activities provided in the “For Me to Do” sections of each lesson.
Spirit of Truth
A newer curriculum from Sophia Institute Press, Spirit of Truth, is quickly growing in popularity.
Experience the fastest-growing Catholic religion textbook in the U.S. Lead your students on an immersive journey through the Catholic Faith… Most of all, Spirit of Truth helps young people integrate what they learn into their daily lives so they can become the saints God is calling them to be.
Didache Series
For high school students, the Didache Series is an absolute treasure. You won’t find better high school religion textbooks.
The Didache Series presents the life and doctrine of the Catholic Church in the context of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the teachings of Vatican II as witnessed by the pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. The series also draws from Sacred Scripture, the lives of the Saints, and the Doctors and Fathers of the Church.
The Didache Series has been published since 2003 at the invitation of Francis Cardinal George of the Archdiocese of Chicago, who requested a series of "texts that would set out clearly and adequately the teaching of the Catholic Church." Each textbook of the Didache Series has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church by the USCCB.
Saint Anne’s Helper
Saint Anne’s Helper is a nifty little resource for any Catholic educator, offering easy digital printable worksheets, activities, coloring pages, audio lessons of the Baltimore Catechism, and more.
Does your child need help reviewing the Catholic catechism answers? The Ten Commandments? Do you wish you had a catechism tutor to say the right words the right way so that your children can review on their own? Do you wish you had dependable Catholic content for penmanship and handwriting class? Well, you've come to the right place.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS)
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention CGS, which gives children an opportunity to spend time with Jesus and get to know and love Him in their own way. It’s like lectio divina for little ones.
Unlike the other curricula on this list, CGS requires special training to teach. CGS catechists undergo a rigorous formation process to impart the Gospel message in an age-appropriate way and prepare an environment for the child to encounter Scripture.
It’s a very beautiful program that nurtures a child’s relationship with God, so it’s worth seeking out an atrium for your children.
