Why Kids Should Write Their Prayers- The Importance of Copywork

Copywork has an important place in education. We have decided to copy all of the major prayers for Lydia’s First Holy Communion journal, and here’s why.

hail mary mix up

Do you see that? That’s a monk swimmin’. Doesn’t ring any bells? Well, it’s a line in the Hail Mary prayer. Remember? “…Blessed art thou, a monk swimmin’, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

Oh, wait. That’s right- it’s “Blessed art thou Amongst women.” Silly me.

Well, to kids, this kind of confusion happens all too often. Songs, the pledge of allegiance- tons of words get jumbled in kid’s heads, and their brain fills in what they think they hear. While it doesn’t really matter that much if they’re singing made-up-words to songs on the radio, we want our kids to know the actual words to important prayers, and the Hail Mary seriously has nothing to do with A monk in a swimming pool!

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So we will be copying the prayers. I want to make sure that she’s saying all the words right, because apparently with children, you never know.

Soon I will be posting printable copywork for the most common Catholic prayers to do at home with your children as well. No more monks triathlons in this house!

More Hilarious Kid Prayer Mix-ups

  • Lettuce Pray
  • Let us spray
  • Blessed is the fruit of the loom Jesus
  • Pray for us singers, now and at the hour…
  • “As we forgive “JOE” who trespass against us.” Joe is our middle child.
  • Our father who art in heaven, Harold be thy name.
  • lasagna in the highest
  • If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soldier tape.
  • holy Mary, mother of God, play with our scissors, now…
  • Hail Mary, full of grapes…
  • Give us this day our jelly bread…
  • …Halloween thy name
  • Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is crispy

After I shared this post on facebook, you all started sharing your funny prayer mix-ups, and I couldn’t help but update this post to include them! Keep ’em coming on facebook and in the comments. Too funny!

Comments

  1. Reminds me of a picture in CCD class of the Nativity. In one of the drawing there was some random guy in the manger, when asked the little boy said “That’s Round John Virgin”.

  2. How true! I remember praying the Hail Mary with my older kids years ago and asking my son to pray louder and he promptly yelled, “Fruit of the Loom!” instead of fruit of thy womb…

    Copy work is important.

  3. This is so great! I really hadn’t thought of that before. I will definitely be doing this. They need to work on their handwriting anyway.

  4. Catholic Child says

    Well, what can we say? We’re in tears laughing over here! We’re all for learning prayers by reading, writing, and practicing them! 🙂

  5. My fave: Our Father, who aren’t in heaven….

  6. Here’s another one…

    deliver us from all eagles (instead of deliver us from all evils)

  7. In a former life I was a 4th grade Catholic school teacher. I had one of my classes write down the words to the our father and was shocked at what I read. I wish I could remember specifics now, but it’s been too many years. I think I need to go ‘test’ my own kids now…

  8. We used to get:
    Otter Fodder who art in heaven
    Hallowed be MY name
    I kingdom come
    I will be done

    And my favorite
    ….Lead us not in-tootin-tation

  9. Oh my Jesus, give us some sins…

    We do a Litany of Saints after bedtime prayers and my son recited: “St. Augustine of Rhino, pray for us. St. Bernadette Superhero, pray for us.”

    My daughter, at age 3, overheard a conversation about snakes and chimed in, “yes, like the ‘snake of His sorrowful passion.'”

  10. Great idea! Love the printable copy work 🙂

  11. Cindy Coleman says

    Definately! I am teaching 2nd grade PREP this year and I will be preparing the children for both receiving their first Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. Already planned on making them copy their prayers for homework as we go along. We always pray together at the beginning and end of class, until last year I thought all my 3rd graders were secure in their prayers. Then we had reconciliation as a class and one student couldn’t do his penance because he couldn’t say his prayers on his own. We sat in the front pew of the church and he couldn’t get beyond a few words at a time. never again.

  12. My 2yo refers to the Holy Family as Jesus married Joseph.
    Trying to correct that one…

  13. Growing up we responded “Thanks Speedy God” instead of “Thanks Be to God”

    My 2 year old just mixes all the prayers together:

    “Hay-yo Mawy, Foo of Gwace, Da Load is with thee. HoSAAAAAAna, Hosanna in da highyest”

    We started this and my daughter actually looks forward to writing. Gracias!

  14. Cheryl Cowan says

    When our two oldest children learned the Act of Contrition prayer this was a common mistake – Oh my God I am hardly sorry for having …….. They are so sweet! Love this post!

  15. Little Catholic kids may ask who “Dolores Whitney” is, as in, “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, Dolores Whitney. . . .” instead of “the Lord is with thee.”

    Little Protestant kids may ask about “Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear”, as in, “Gladly the cross I’d bear.”

    And then there are the kids and adults who take full responsibility for the sinners of the world, as in, “. . . pray for OUR sinners. . . .” instead of “. . . pray for us sinners . . . .” in the Hail Mary.

    So, in addition to asking for written feedback when children are old enough, ENUNCIATE carefully when teaching the prayers verbally, which more likely occurs first.

  16. “Mary, mother of the mothers of our family, pray for us” instead of “mother of our family” I can’t even mention what DS say when we attempt to pray in Italian, my native language.

  17. I can’t WAIT for these! 🙂

  18. Do you know anything about guidelines for doing copy work when kids can’t read all the words in the prayers yet? I’ve been wanting to do this with my son, but he doesn’t read that much yet, so I wasn’t sure if it would be too onerous to copy a bunch of words he can’t read independently…Thanks!

    • Well, I am almost finished with the prayer copywork download I am working on, and it’s going to include dotted line letters for the little ones to trace that can’t really write them out independently yet. Everyone will have to know the ability of the child they are working with to make a good decision about what is best for that individual child.

  19. My favourite mixup is when I was preparing our son for First Holy Communion and I asked him what the two types of sin were and he confidently responded, “mortal sin and convenient sin.”

  20. Donalyn Deeds says

    I don’t have Paypal. Is there another way to order?

    • You can order as a “guest” through paypal where you just put your card number in. You don’t need a paypal account. 🙂

  21. Kathy Faberge says

    These mixups are so funny. I once had a First Communion student read the Lords’s Prayer by saying, “Our Father who art in heaven, hollywood by thy name. . . .”. Too funny.