EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Elementary School Family Life Education
After nearly four decades, Fully Alive is gradually being replaced by the new Family Life education program, Blessed & Beloved.
Catholic Family Life Education is closely associated with Religious Education. In Ontario Catholic schools, it accounts for 20% of the Religious Education program, and is usually taught once a week. Family Life Education, is intended to pass on a distinctively Catholic view of human life, sexuality, marriage, and family. Its goal is to complement the efforts of families and to support what parents are doing at home. The entire program, from Grades 1 through Grade 8 is designed to encourage children to become the people God wants them to be — to be both blessed and beloved.
Blessed & Beloved has currently been approved for use from grades 1 through 6 in our Catholic elementary schools. Writers have begun writing the grade 7 and 8 program of Blessed & Beloved, which is scheduled to be available in September 2027. At that point, Fully Alive will be retired, and Blessed & Beloved will be the only Bishop-approved Family Life education program in Catholic elementary schools. For 2026-2027, teachers will continue to use Fully Alive, but additional resources have been provided to ensure alignment with the Religious Education curriculum.
Blessed & Beloved is designed to provide children and their families an opportunity to reflect on and be guided by the wisdom drawn from Christian human experience. Its focus is on the ordinary experiences of daily life—family relationships, friendships, marriage, birth, death, joys, and disappointments. Much of the writing in the Wisdom books of the Old Testament reflects this desire to teach the art of daily living.
Fully Alive parent resources for grades 7 and 8 are available on the Institute of Catholic Education (ICE) website.
For more information on the Blessed & Beloved program please contact your local Catholic School Board.
Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ
Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ is a Religious Education program sponsored by the Catholic Bishops of Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories and developed in collaboration with Catholic educators from across Canada.
The program is based on the Catholic Elementary Curriculum Policy Document for Religious Education, Grades 1-8, which has been approved by the aforementioned Catholic Bishops and Regional Assemblies of Bishops. It reflects the content of faith expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and follows the rationale and methodology of the General Directory for Catechesis.
The Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ program is organized into units which follow the cycle of the liturgical year.
The Bishops of Ontario have approved Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ for use in all Catholic schools from kindergarten through grade nine.
For more information on the Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ program please contact your local Catholic School Board.
