Children and Faith

simple ways to guide your godchildren

My husband and I have three daughters who at young ages already express some big opinions about life, including a four-year-old who complains about going to church. She knows what she wants, what she doesn’t want, and isn’t afraid to say…

Q. We’re only a month into the new school year, and already we’re off to a rocky start with my son’s second grade teacher. Each day when I pick my son up from school, I find myself on the defense as “Miss Brown” complains about my son’s…

Q.  At the start of the year, our children’s school handed out iPads to every fifth grade student. Consequently, though we had successfully implemented a strict family policy about when and how our daughter was able to interact with the…

by Fr. David J. Endres Editor's note: This column, Outside Perspectives, addresses a religious topic and seeks to find a common element in another faith while emphasizing the Catholic Church's teaching. Across Christian traditions, the rite…

A teacher and catechist shares her hard-earned wisdom

Nine practical ways to help children grow into considerate, grateful, generous, empathetic, and successful adults.

Q. We have made the conscious decision to limit our family’s exposure to media. Our teens (16, 14, 13) do not have cell phones, their access to a computer in our home is limited to school-related purposes, and our television is locked with…

Q. For years, my husband and I looked forward to having grandchildren, and when our grandkids were little, it was a truly wonderful time. We used to have them at our house and would spend time together baking cookies, reading to them,…

by John J. Boucher Once, while setting up for a workshop about “adult children,” three parents approached me. Maria lamented, “I brought my kids to Mass every week, but only one out of three is now willing to go to church.” Frank added, “My…