Let our youngest Catholics explore their faith

A ground-breaking new series of books, designed specifically for our littlest Catholics, is now available from Garratt Publishing.

The Little Catholic Explorers series of books is grounded in contemporary early childhood education theory and practice.  Comprising two sets of four books, one series exploring the Church, and the other on Prayer, Little Catholic Explorers helps engage pre-schoolers and those children in their first years of school with our faith.

Written by leading early learning and religious educator Dr Jan Grajczonek an Adjunct Professor with the University of Notre Dame, the series is underpinned with an inquiry learning approach that respects children as capable of engaging with, and exploring, each topic competently.

The books follow two main characters, Anna and Josh (and their dog Monty), as they set out on a number of explorations to learn more about the church and prayer. They are curious and eager to investigate for themselves. They ask questions of each other, pay attention to others’ actions and observe their surroundings closely, looking for answers and insights.

Each page in all books has one of the children asking a question.

Sometimes the other child knows the answer but at other times the children look for clues to find out, either in illustrations on the page or in the simple glossaries at the back of each book.

The language in these books is simple and repetitive, introducing Anna and Josh to key church and prayer vocabulary, such as baptismal font, and gospel, as well as to why, where and how people pray.

A simple glossary at the back of each book scaffolds children’s inquiry skills assisting them to find their answers. Each book also includes teacher and catechist background notes for the topic as well as suggested children’s experiences and activities.

Young children have a thirst for learning and love nothing more than to be able to investigate, explore and learn about their world in seemingly independent ways. Contemporary early childhood education theory and practice views young children as curious, capable and competent, as having agency and voice in their own learning. Inquiry learning plays an important part in early childhood education.

Research into children’s spirituality also informs us that every child has an innate spirituality which entails a deep capacity for:
·         awareness sensing, that is, for sensing who and what is around them,
·         value sensing, knowing what is innately good and fair, as well as
·         mystery sensing, possessing a sense of wonder and awe, of transcendence.

Children’s relationships are pivotal to their spiritual nurturing, identity formation and sense of belonging. These in turn affect their sense of community, including school and parish communities.

Contemporary early childhood education informs us that young children being curious, capable and competent can learn about the Catholic religion by investigating different aspects of the religion themselves. The Little Catholic Explorers series of books enables and activates such learning.

The Little Catholic Explorers series makes a valuable contribution to young children’s religious literacy in contemporary ways, making it an engaging, supportive and worthwhile resource in any primary school’s religion program, in Catholic kindergartens, or in any parish kid’s activities.

The Little Catholic Explorers series is now available.  Each series (a set of 4 books) are $39.95 or $33.96 for Sophia Club Members.  Both sets can be purchased for $69.95 with Sophia Club Members only paying $59.46.

To purchase the 8 books now click here

To purchase Little Catholic Explorers: The Church, click here

To purchase Little Catholic Explorers: Prayer, click here