Mary Prays

John knew most of his basic prayers by two and a half years old, but has always been shy about them. Mary is anything but shy, which is why she happily agreed to let me videotape her! (Normally the children are not allowed to hold any toys during the family rosary, but Mary had earned this doll mere minutes before for a pottying accomplishment. So I invited her to teach her dolly how to pray.)









With only these two kids under my belt so far, my opinion is that the way to teach kids their prayers is to pray in front of them every day versus any specific memorizing method. Mary knowing her prayers (and she actually knows them even better than she performed on video--but isn't that always the case?) is no more remarkable than her having memorized the Madeline book. But it is cuter, in my opinion!

John wouldn't pray out loud until recently, although I knew he knew his prayers because I'd "catch him" praying alone (out loud) on the stairs or in his room and I'd spy on him. Now he is suddenly enthusiastic and prays the rosary in an exuberant, shouting voice. This may well have to do with competing with his little sister, as they both want to say the words first! The latest thing is that they actually beg, "No, let me say the words!" As if we're stopping them!

The prayers they know almost entirely are: Grace Before Meals, Grace After Meals, the Sign of the Cross, the Hail Mary, the Our Father, the Glory Be, the Apostles Creed, and the Guardian Angel prayer. I'd like to add in the Act of Contrition and I'd like them to learn some of these basic prayers in Latin too. If they can easily learn Frere Jaques, there's no reason they can't learn a Latin prayer!