I was excited to find this resource as I have been looking for ways to help families take ownership of their faith life together. This model of faith formation within the intimate relationships of family and the comfort of home really speaks to Jane Vella's principle of “safety” for faith education. I appreciated the identification of keywords that help make the goal topic of each day clear as well as the brevity of each prompt. Too many questions that look like an hour-long bible study just wouldn't be realistic and frankly intimidating for most parents.
The general format and most of the discussions are helpful but I would have liked the resource to be a bit more developed. My parents need more information about exactly how to lead these conversations; they need ideas on when they could fit this in to their already busy home routine. To some extent, this curriculum does not expect parents to be biblical scholars. The questions allow both parent and child to be the source of information. Still, I'd like to see more practical advice and skills to make parents feel at ease and confident in their abilities to lead. Perhaps a more detailed introduction to what lent is and why this practice of discussion is taking place. This would make the entire situation more comfortable for parents and child.
One of the things I think would be helpful to parents would be to take the initiative to translate the language into something more digestible for children. Many times it is suggested to seek a common definition for words that may be unfamiliar, but I'd like to see even more of this. Sometimes definitions are offered, but families need to evaluate whether they agree with these definitions. For instance, my definition of repentance is “to turn away from” which is different than what you may find in the dictionary.
I'd also like to see more than verbal discussion. I know families can't do craft projects everyday, but perhaps we could incorporate more things that are tactile or visual. Things that are readily available, household items, or visual elements that are available online. The author quotes or references bible verses, but I would like the exact verses cited so that families can look up and read the scriptures for themselves.
Overall, I do think this resource is a good idea and a good starting point. It can easily be adapted to your setting and developed further.