The
standards and benchmarks of our Catholic Formation curriculum are
the result of correlating the outcomes established for the Diocese
of San Jose and the objectives found within the Legionaries of
Christ Religion curriculum for grades 1-8. The standards follow the
four sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
namely:1 The Christian Revelation: Faith
2 The Celebration of the Christian Mystery: Sacraments
3 Life in Christ: Morality
4 Christian Prayer
Father Marcial Maciel, L.C., Founder of the Legionaries of Christ, wrote in a letter entitled Educating Our Youth, “Our vision of the human person is a vision of faith… That is why we present Christ to our students as a model for their lives. This is the risen and living Christ, the Christ who is at work in history and in the hearts of believers through grace—not just some historical figure, a prophet from Nazareth 2000 years ago. For us, Christ is the ultimate life-model because he is the embodiment of human perfection. Christ is an ideal to aspire towards, not an idea. He is a real person and each of us is called to an eternal and redeeming friendship with him.” (1996)
The standards and benchmarks represent what we expect children to be able to achieve at various levels of their education, from Pre-Kindergarten through High School graduation. The difficulty of the material presented, the complexity of what students do with the material, and the sophistication of their skills change as students grow older. Each course focuses more heavily on particular standards.
The Christian Revelation: Faith (Click for More...)
Preschool to
Kindergarden: In Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students
are awakening to the wonder from which all authentic pursuit of God
comes. At this stage, the curriculum is directed to feeding and
deepening this natural wonder. Among many content areas, students
will be able to recognize God as Father and friend, value God's
love as a Father's love, recognize that Jesus' fundamental teaching
is love, begin to discover and value the gift of the Eucharist,
become familiar with the mystery of the Blessed Trinity: God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and know Mary, the
Mother of Jesus, and Mother of the Church as our Mother, who cares
about us and helps us get to Heaven. Students will also become
familiar with important Bible stories and learn about the basic
practices of the Church in the celebration of the Sacraments.
Lower School: As students move through the lower school, their capacity to understand the richness of the faith deepens and broadens. As they make their First Communions and First Reconciliations, the sacramental life of the Church also becomes much more of a lived reality for them. By the end of lower school, students will be able to understand that, as Christians, we should imitate Jesus Christ, and that love should be the focus of this imitation, recognize and appreciate the mystery of Salvation and the Passion of Christ, culminating in the Resurrection and the Ascension, know the history of the creation of the world, focusing on the responsibility we have for created things, know the consequences of sin and the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, assume the truths of Christian revelation, and remain faithful to Christ, recognize that God calls each person to eternal happiness and salvation, and we should give a personal, convinced, and free response to His call, and understand the importance of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, in the Church and in the life of every Christian. The students will also deepen their appreciation and understanding of the Scriptures.
Middle School: As their capacity for reasoning increases, students will build upon their prior knowledge. Some highlights include acquiring the ability to identify the different stages of Revelation in the Bible, recognize the value and meaning of Tradition as one of the ways through which God speaks to us, describe the mission entrusted to the Apostles to transmit the Gospel to all nations, relate the different ways the Apostles fulfilled their evangelizing mission, recognize that the Magisterium of the Church preserves God’s message, identify and describe the different stages of the History of Salvation from Noah to the Incarnation, the founding of the Church and the Apostolic Age, describe the origin and history of the Church as key parts of the history of Salvation, and explain the dignity of the human person identifying his origin and characteristics of intelligence, will, and freedom.
Lower School: As students move through the lower school, their capacity to understand the richness of the faith deepens and broadens. As they make their First Communions and First Reconciliations, the sacramental life of the Church also becomes much more of a lived reality for them. By the end of lower school, students will be able to understand that, as Christians, we should imitate Jesus Christ, and that love should be the focus of this imitation, recognize and appreciate the mystery of Salvation and the Passion of Christ, culminating in the Resurrection and the Ascension, know the history of the creation of the world, focusing on the responsibility we have for created things, know the consequences of sin and the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, assume the truths of Christian revelation, and remain faithful to Christ, recognize that God calls each person to eternal happiness and salvation, and we should give a personal, convinced, and free response to His call, and understand the importance of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, in the Church and in the life of every Christian. The students will also deepen their appreciation and understanding of the Scriptures.
Middle School: As their capacity for reasoning increases, students will build upon their prior knowledge. Some highlights include acquiring the ability to identify the different stages of Revelation in the Bible, recognize the value and meaning of Tradition as one of the ways through which God speaks to us, describe the mission entrusted to the Apostles to transmit the Gospel to all nations, relate the different ways the Apostles fulfilled their evangelizing mission, recognize that the Magisterium of the Church preserves God’s message, identify and describe the different stages of the History of Salvation from Noah to the Incarnation, the founding of the Church and the Apostolic Age, describe the origin and history of the Church as key parts of the history of Salvation, and explain the dignity of the human person identifying his origin and characteristics of intelligence, will, and freedom.
The Celebration of the Christian Mystery: Sacraments (Click for More...)
Preschool to
Kindergarden: Students will begin their encounter with the
sacramental life of the Church and come to appreciate them as a
place to encounter Christ, his love and his salvific work.
Lower School: As students move through the lower school, their capacity to understand the richness of the faith deepens and broadens. As they make their First Communions and First Reconciliations, the sacramental life of the Church also becomes much more of a lived reality for them. By the end of lower school, students will have been exposed to the Church's general teaching on the nature, form, matter and grace of each sacrament, and will understand their connection to the Church and, through the Church, to Christ's redemptive work.
Middle School: As they prepare for Confirmation, middle school students are brought to an understanding not just of the Church's sacramental theology but to an appreciation of how that theology developed in history through different challenges and contexts. They will also develop an understanding of why the Church does what it does. This understanding will lay the foundation for their spiritual formation as they prepare to live the grace they have received in the Sacraments.
Lower School: As students move through the lower school, their capacity to understand the richness of the faith deepens and broadens. As they make their First Communions and First Reconciliations, the sacramental life of the Church also becomes much more of a lived reality for them. By the end of lower school, students will have been exposed to the Church's general teaching on the nature, form, matter and grace of each sacrament, and will understand their connection to the Church and, through the Church, to Christ's redemptive work.
Middle School: As they prepare for Confirmation, middle school students are brought to an understanding not just of the Church's sacramental theology but to an appreciation of how that theology developed in history through different challenges and contexts. They will also develop an understanding of why the Church does what it does. This understanding will lay the foundation for their spiritual formation as they prepare to live the grace they have received in the Sacraments.
Life in Christ: Morality (Click for More...)
Preschool to
Kindergarden: As students begin their school career, they
are introduced to the idea of morality as a norm that makes us
happy and completes us. They are also introduced to the role of
their conscience and, through stories from the Old and New
Testaments, the importance of living an upright life of justice and
charity.
Lower School: In lower school, students learn the Ten Commandments as well as Christ's Commandment of Love, learn the teachings of Jesus and explain them through practical situations, understand that what Jesus teaches and asks from us is in our best interest, even if it is sometimes difficult, discover in Jesus’ teachings the way to help others to be happy and become familiar with the Cardinal and Theological virtues.
Middle School: As they begin to really make free and independent choices and seek greater freedom and responsibility, middle school students are lead to understand the Commandments and Beatitudes in detail, including understanding the virtue, value and various offenses against each of the commandments. They are also led in a much deeper way to understand moral living as the only path to genuine happiness and that it is a life in conformity with the nature of the human person.
Lower School: In lower school, students learn the Ten Commandments as well as Christ's Commandment of Love, learn the teachings of Jesus and explain them through practical situations, understand that what Jesus teaches and asks from us is in our best interest, even if it is sometimes difficult, discover in Jesus’ teachings the way to help others to be happy and become familiar with the Cardinal and Theological virtues.
Middle School: As they begin to really make free and independent choices and seek greater freedom and responsibility, middle school students are lead to understand the Commandments and Beatitudes in detail, including understanding the virtue, value and various offenses against each of the commandments. They are also led in a much deeper way to understand moral living as the only path to genuine happiness and that it is a life in conformity with the nature of the human person.
Christian Prayer (Click for More...)
Preschool to
Kindergarden: At this age, students know and practice basic
prayers of Christian life, value prayer as the way to be close to
Jesus and as a means to show confidence in God and acquire the
habit of daily prayer.
Lower School: In lower school, students are exposed to a much greater breadth of the Church's tradition of prayer while still maintaining the essential habit of daily prayer. Students acquire the ability to pray with confidence and purity of intention, understand that prayer is useful, necessary and powerful, that God likes us to ask Him for things, and that He will give us everything that is good for our salvation.
Middle School: As they prepare to begin the adult practice of their faith, students in middle school value prayer as a sure means for living as a child of God, identify the action of the Holy Spirit in our prayer, recognize the characteristics our prayer should have, explain what Jesus teaches us with His prayer, and identify possible obstacles in our prayer.
Lower School: In lower school, students are exposed to a much greater breadth of the Church's tradition of prayer while still maintaining the essential habit of daily prayer. Students acquire the ability to pray with confidence and purity of intention, understand that prayer is useful, necessary and powerful, that God likes us to ask Him for things, and that He will give us everything that is good for our salvation.
Middle School: As they prepare to begin the adult practice of their faith, students in middle school value prayer as a sure means for living as a child of God, identify the action of the Holy Spirit in our prayer, recognize the characteristics our prayer should have, explain what Jesus teaches us with His prayer, and identify possible obstacles in our prayer.