How do you teach a twelve year old to pray? An intriguing proposal from our friends at The Jesuit Post:

Have you ever wanted to teach middle school? I thought not. It’s no easy task to get sixth graders to sit still, must less get knowledge in their heads. You can imagine my astonishment when I saw a room full of twelve-year olds, silent and still. My Chicago Jesuit Academy colleague Paul Mitchell found a brilliant way to teach tweens how to pray.

He lays out the Ignatian Examen in the simple and direct language of middle school. Paul’s genius is that his method works as well for this easily distracted 27 year old as it does for his students.

You can read the rest here, and view Paul's lesson plan here.

For more on raising faithful Catholics, see Elizabeth Kirkland Cahill's essay in the February 27 issue of America.

Tim Reidy