Children in preschool through fifth grade are welcome and encouraged to attend our Children's Liturgy Program. This program runs during the 10:30am mass on Sunday mornings. The children are dropped off downstairs in the classroom between 10:15 and the start of mass.  We share a children's version of one of the readings (usually the Gospel), then talk about how it relates to their lives. We also do a simple activity to help pull it all together and give them something concrete to share with you.  Our program teaches children the basics, such as the sign of the cross and the Glory Be. Music is incorporated each week. Children rejoin their families upstairs for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Why not have them downstairs for the full length of the mass?   While it is important for children to understand the Gospel on an age appropriate level, we also want them to experience the community and ritual of the mass. Sharing the Eucharist is an important part of our faith, even for those who are still too young to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Having the children's program for the first half of mass seems to be the best balance.