The Power of Praying the Rosary with Students

October and May are two months that the Catholic Church devotes to Mary, the mother of Jesus. One of the things I love doing with my students during each of these months is praying the rosary. We gather to pray the rosary with the entire school, which is great, but I also love praying the rosary with my students in our classroom or outside.

When we pray the rosary as a whole school we have a short introduction to what the rosary is and why we pray it. Then we have our older students lead the entire school in prayer. We have our older students, who are not leading the prayer service, sit with the younger students to help them along and teach them how to use a rosary properly (we call them mass buddies or prayer buddies). We encourage students to bring a rosary from home, but we also provide them if needed. You can grab some very cost effective rosaries here. 

I also love taking my students outside and sitting in a circle to pray the rosary. This is something that we can do even in COVID times. Spread your students out, allow them to quiet their minds and get in touch with creation. Then, lead them in prayer. I promise you, this is something they will want to do again and again!

Another suggestion to make praying the rosary more meaningful is to dedicate each decade of the rosary to different people. Here are some ideas:

• Family (mom, dad, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins)
• Classmates
• Friends
• Neighbors
• Priests & Deacons
• Religious Sisters
• Pope Francis
• Teachers
• Those who are sick and in the hospital
• For people who have recently passed away
• Those suffering from cancer

I teach 4th grade and I know it can be difficult for students to remember each part of the rosary and what comes next, so I’ve created a little cheat sheet for your students to use. Grab this freebie by filling out the form below.