The Joy of Love experienced by families
Family Life Update
Dr. Anne Jamieson
Institute for Catholic Education
“The Joy of Love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church.” These are the words of Pope Francis in the opening line of his teaching Amoris Laetitia – On the Love of the Family in 2016, where he encouraged an approach to families that was marked by encounter, accompaniment, and tenderness. This beautiful approach is an important way that we meet students in Catholic Education in Ontario.
Family Life Education focuses on families as a gift from God. It helps students explore what it means to be human, what God calls us to in loving relationships, and what our vocation is. Students learn about their own growth and development, and they learn that all stages of life are beautiful.
The Institute for Catholic Education has been working on an update of the elementary Family Life Education curriculum. All curriculum in all subject areas gets reviewed and updated from time to time. The Family Life curriculum for grades 1 to 8 was last updated in 2012. We are grateful for the many discussions with partners in Catholic Education and focus groups with parents and students across the province that have helped us. Educators and theologians have worked on the update. The Bishops of Ontario approve the final document.
The new Curriculum document should be ready later this year and will come into effect for the Fall of 2024. This will give everyone time to become familiar with the new document.
New student books and other resources will be developed to meet this updated curriculum under the leadership of the Bishops of Ontario. This will take time, of course. In the meantime, teachers still have access to the Fully Alive program, which is the only program approved by the bishops for Family Life Education at this time.
We will post updates for parents on our website (www.iceont.ca). Once the curriculum is available, there will be resources like Frequently Asked Questions and other pamphlets that will help parents learn more. We look forward to sharing updates over the next several months as more information becomes available.
As Pope Francis has said, “the Christian proclamation on the family is good news indeed”! (Amoris Laetitia, 1)
