The Image of God series teaches the Catholic religion with a textbook and teacher guide for each level and for sacramental preparation. Ignatius Press also publishes the Faith and Life series. Image of God is clearly designed for daily lessons in a classroom setting while Faith and Life can more easily be adapted for other scheduling options.
The Image of God textbooks for the early grades use crossword puzzles, coloring activities, plays, and more to enhance the lessons. Later grades include more thoughtful activities and questions to challenge the older student. Lessons are filled with Scripture, lives of the saints, contemporary stories, and solid church doctrine to help train the young mind.
The detailed teacher's manuals have reduced images of the pages from the student text. They add lesson and unit-review worksheets, activity suggestions, vocabulary words, recommended resources (books, videos, music), lessons about special liturgical celebrations and holidays, prayer services, topics for family discussion, and practical application ideas.
Notes on each level text follow.
Who Has God's Life (grade one): Simple activities and colorful drawings to teach the little ones about Jesus and His Church. Introduces the very basics of God's love, grace, and the sacraments.
Who Loves Me Always (grade two): Prepares children for the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion. Teaches children how they can participate more fully in the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Who Is Our Example (grade three): Highlights the mystery of God and the Trinity. Forming a moral conscience and recognizing how God wishes for us to act are emphasized.
We Celebrate the Sacrifice of Love: The Mass (supplement to 1st- through 3rd-grade courses): Children are introduced to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass through photographs and the actual text of the Mass.
We Follow Jesus (grade four): Children learn how God created everything from the angels to the universe to people, all out of love. Students are taught that through the grace of Jesus, we sinners can be redeemed.
Our Mission of Love (grade five): Our creation in the image of God is accentuated. The birth, function, and mission of the Church are introduced. Deeper learning of the sacraments, grace, and prayer is emphasized.
God's Merciful Love: The Old Testament (grade six): Centers on an extensive study of the Old Testament, with a special emphasis on the book of Genesis.
Confirmation (supplement) student book - Using Scripture, Vatican II documents, and the lives of the saints and popes, Confirmation candidates are prepared to spread and defend the faith. Emphasis is placed on serving the community, fruits of the Holy Spirit, apologetics, and more. This can be used whatever year students make their confirmation.
Jesus, the Way, the Truth, the Life (grade seven): This is essentially a New Testament survey course stressing four key truths of the Catholic Faith: God, creation, Christ, and the commandments.
Eighth grade has two student books and two teacher's editions. Lord Give Me Eternal Life, the first eighth-grade book, offers a much deeper study of the Sacraments, with a full chapter dedicated to each Sacrament. The final chapters highlight grace, the virtues, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ With Us Now and Always: A History of the Church, the second eighth-grade book, is a deep study into the history of the Church. It covers from Pentecost through persecutions, heresies, and the age of reform to the modern world.
[Maureen Wittmann/C.D.]
