MIDDLESEX TWP — It can be hard for children to wrap their minds around some of religion's concepts. It's much easier for them to wrap their hands around toy sheep, a robe or a chalice.

In making the lessons of Scripture real enough to touch, a novel religious education program at Holy Sepulcher Roman Catholic Church is deepening children's understanding and their faith.

The program, called Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, started in Rome about 50 years ago and is based on the educational philosophy of Maria Montessori, who advocated an instruction method that incorporates all the senses into the learning process.

The program started at Holy Sepulcher in December and has 13 children enrolled. The program is one of the religious education options offered at the church, including traditional Continuing Catholic Doctrine, or CCD, classes.

"It is structured on the Mass and on the Bible," said Celine Mitchell, director of religious education for Holy Sepulcher. "Everything is hands on."

While the Catechesis program was designed for three different age levels for children between 3 and 12 years old, Holy Sepulcher is currently offering Level 1 of the program in three different sessions. Two sessions for preschoolers are held on Wednesday afternoons. A session on Tuesday evenings focuses on children with special needs.

The weekly lessons involve parables from the Bible, Mitchell said, and particularly the parable of The Good Shepherd. Through a variety of materials, children can literally wrap their hands around Bible stories.

Christine Weber of Penn Township said she sees the program making a difference with her son Alex, 11. Although Alex, who has Down syndrome, has attended traditional religious education classes, Weber said the hands-on approach has increased her son's understanding of the scripture.

"When he can sit down and learn hands-on by exploring, it makes a lot more sense to him," Weber said. "He looks forward to it every week."

His participation in the Good Shepherd program has also helped Alex during Mass, his mother says.

"While he has always been very attentive in church, now you can see that it means something to him."

Part of the beauty of Montessori-based religious education is that it can meet the needs of children with a wide range of abilities, including those with special needs.

When 7-year-old Chloe Ciora of Penn Township was enrolled in traditional CCD classes, she began asking questions that were well beyond her age level, said her mother, Michelle Ciora. When the option of a Montessori-based religious education program became available, Ciora enrolled both Chloe and her 4-year-old brother, Mark.

"This answers the questions for her, and provides the interest for her," Ciora said. "Since she can read, she is able to read the Scripture herself as she goes through the actions. It is actually strengthening Chloe's belief."

"We read from the Scripture," Mitchell pointed out. "We don't use baby words. We do a lesson and reflect on that doing different activities. It is learning through exploration."

At a model landscape of pastures and grassland, for example, children can use toy sheep to visualize a complicated concept. "While you're reading," Ciora explained, "they can put the sheep into the fold, and show how the sheep come back out of the fold, and show how they follow the shepherd. When they listen to you reading, they can do the actions exactly when they should be in the story. It's wonderful."

The room in which the Catechesis is held is called an atrium, Mitchell noted.

"In the early church, the atrium was a room before entering the main worship space. It was where people who are learning about the faith spent their time."

Inside Holy Sepulcher's atrium is a child-sized alter where catechesis participants learn about the different parts of Mass.

"It's like a prayer when we are in there," Mitchell said. "We use our quiet voices, quiet hands and quiet feet. We wear slippers in the atrium. We take our shoes off because we are on holy ground."

All the program materials were made by hand, Mitchell said, a challenge in getting the catechesis up and running. Another challenge is the education needed for the program's instructors. The two principal instructors each completed 100 hours of training in the Montessori method.

The results are worth the extra effort, Mitchell said.

"Jesus had this charisma to draw people to him. Once you see this, you want more," she said. "With this method, the children are so drawn to the words of the Scripture and participating in the Mass. It's kind of like a no-brainer. Why would you not do it?"