Two resources from Our Sunday Visitor

These two resources from Our Sunday Visitor are part of a series with many other titles. These are glossy, colorful (perhaps "too" colorful?), professional and attractive looking publications filled with informative text presented in short segments. These should be ideal for CCD parents to take home for their personal use. Keep in mind that while these are categorized "magazines", they are more like pamphlets, with just 8 pages each. For a Catholic homeschool parent, these may serve as an attractive aid to the issue at hand.

Catholic Parent Know-How: Preparing Your Child for First Reconciliation, revised

ISBN/UPC:1592762506

Author: White, Joseph & Arista, Ana

Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing

Description: This colorful, glossy magazine updates parents while giving them the skills and insight they need to teach their children about the faith. Short, informative articles offer parents knowledge, inspiration and confidence to help their children prepare for First Reconciliation. Affordable and engaging. Magazine, 8 x 11, 8 pages. (2006)

Catholic Parent Know-How: Ten Things Your Child Should Know Before Leaving Home

ISBN/UPC:1592761909

Author: Dalton, Sean

Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing

Description: This eight-page, colorful, glossy magazine helps parents know how to help their children use their freedom responsibly. Through examples from the life of Christ, the articles in this resource will help parents teach their children how to make good decisions about friends, peer pressure, temptation and the myriad of worldviews they may encounter when they leave home. Magazine, 8.5 x 11, 8 pages. (2006)

In Preparing your Child for First Reconciliation, gospel passages on forgiveness are nicely highlighted on the center spread, and on the back page there is a child-friendly Examination of Conscience that may prove to be helpful. On page seven I have some problems with the text, specifically a statement on the left column saying: "Seven year olds have a hard time understanding abstract concepts such as God' forgiveness of our sins"... Uh? No, that is simply not the case. On the contrary, children seem to grasp it much more easily than adults.

In Ten Things Your Child Should Know Before Leaving Home, the prayer on the back page may help some parents who are anxious about their children leaving, but of course a good old novena, perhaps to their patron saint, would probably work even better. The Ten items are mostly good advice: no. 3 Know Your Faith, no. 5 Always Respect Life and no.8 Choose your Friends Wisely are my own top three-- with the addition of no. 9, a no-brainer: Pray Daily!

Reviewed by Ana Braga-Henebry