Program Guidelines

The Early Childhood program provides the following guidelines which promote child development principles, age appropriate activities and Catholic faith development.

1. Teachers should be certified.
2. Class size should be maintained as follows:
   1. 3 year olds – maximum of 8
   2. 4 year olds – maximum of 10
   3. 5 year olds – maximum of 12
3. The principal catechist must be an adult.
4. Parents need to understand and support the philosophy of the program.
5. Approved textbooks and materials should be used.
6. Creative art experiences, music and movement activities should be used as often as possible.
7. Each lesson should be carefully planned.
8. Spontaneous prayer is the heart of every lesson and should be inserted throughout the class.
9. While scriptural themes are basic to the program, scriptural readings are not appropriate for this age group.
10. Strong, positive images of God are stressed.
11. Special celebrations are planned with the level of the child in mind.
12. Human, concrete experiences from the everyday life of the child form the basic “content” of this religion‐readiness program.

To learn more about our guidelines, please contact us at (213) 637-7359 or email us at:
meacosta@la-archdiocese.org