My children surprised me with this video last week. They decided to offer our litany this month to our family's special saints. This one's a keeper--those dear voices do me in every time. (Apparently, even Karoline's favorite doll has a patron saint.)
Blessed Feast to you all!
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Jesus was beaten until He bled. And He was given a crown of thorns.
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Jesus was given a heavy cross to carry.
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He carried His very heavy cross up a steep hill.
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He was crucified.
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The Seven Last Words:
Jesus died.
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He was taken down from the cross and He was wrapped in linen.
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And was placed in a tomb.
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With a stone rolled across it.
And now we wait.
[Note (because I don't want to forget): Karoline keeps trying to put Mary's figure into the tomb. She insists, "She wants to be with her Jesus!"]
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Guest Post By Mary Beth
I was in charge of St. Patrick's Day today. I printed out a lot of activities from various places for Nick, Katie, and Kari! I hope you enjoy!
Our Bulletin Board! All ready for St. Patrick's Day!
They Had Their Faces Painted and Ready to Go!
Shamrock Stamping With Do-a-Dot!
Irish Flags! Nick, Katie, and Kari all did this with Do-a-Dots!
Connect The Dots! Nick used Stockmar crayons and Katie used Crayola Paint Pens.
Rainbows! Katie and Kari used the gems from gnomes and gnumbers and Nick Do-a-Dotted his and then added Elmers 3D glitter for sparkle!
Kari found this little work on the montessori shelves and since it had all of the colors of the rainbow I told her that she could use it!
Picture Puzzle! Nick did this with black and green Stockmar Beeswax crayons and yellow do-a-dot!
Math Sheet! I printed this out for Katie because she said she didn't have enough!
Map of Ireland! Nick did this with green and orange do-a-dot and spread it with his fingers.
Maze!
Custom made bookmarks (with Katie and Kari) and cards!
Our doorknob hanging leprechauns! Mine is the one pictured though (mine with a little help from Karoline)!
Pipecleaner Rainbow by Karoline! This game was inspired by Montessori Journey. We had stickers and I made my own version!
Most of what we've done in the schoolroom today! Leprechaun Hats!
Moving down to the kitchen we had plenty to do, starting with a craft from Wildflowers and Marbles.
We loved them at Valentine's day and now with Mint Oreos we love 'em even more!
Shamrock Shakes!
All that green!
Teatime!
Our Supplies for the sit-down work:
Gems
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The Holy Father is exhorting us and so we listen. Truth be told, I haven't made it through all of Sacramentum Caritatis. I'm still working on it. But this stands out to me:
Similarly, the better-known prayers of the Church's tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung.
It's no secret that we have a bit of a "start and stop" relationship with Latin around here. The same tow-headed boy who groaned on the way to Fr. M's Latin class when he was twelve, has now informed us that he desires a Classical Curriculum in college. Alrighty then. And the only thing he'd change about his home education? More grammar. Who knew?
Alas, God, the Pope, and Michael are telling me it's right and good to learn Latin (and Greek, but that's a different post). And we will. But I'm putting away the Latin books until next fall. Then, someone else can help me teach.
In the meantime, and most urgently, in light of the above quote, I'm going to buckle down and learn these prayers with my children. I am so blessed to be a parishioner at a church which has been working towards this for eight years.
The Latin curriculum for the foreseeable future in this house is A Guide to Gregorian Chant by Rosemary Renninger. This CD comes with a very complete liner with the entire texts of 25 common chants used throughout the liturgical year. Prayers are spoken and then sung using Roman liturgical pronunciation. The spoken tracks are clear and lyrical which aids memorization. Truthfully, it isn't my children's favorite CD, but I'm counting on them thanking me later!
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“The same things that the Book of the Gospels explains by means of words, the iconographer shows by means of his works.”
St. Basil the Great
For as long as we've been a "Real Learning" household, religious education has taken place largely within the context of the liturgical year. The cycle of feasting and fasting, the celebration of the life of the Lord, the joy of the communion of saints--all have richly blessed our life as a family and all have richly educated our children in the truths of the faith.
My children are sensitive to the changing colors and the changing seasons of the life of the Church. For Advent--one of the purple seasons--we have a multitude of well-established traditions in our family. Advent is full and rich and somewhat predictable. The children know we go from St. Nicholas to Our Lady of Guadalupe, to St. Lucy and so on until we arrive at the Christmas Vigil. It's a lovely, tradition-filled, rhythmic season.
We have far fewer traditions for Lent, far fewer markers along the journey. I have several atrium presentations and each year, we wonder together over the days leading to the Passion.
But I was looking for something more--something visible and tangible and steeped in tradition. Two of my children have Orthodox godparents. Every year that I can remember, the Orthodox Pascha has fallen on a different date than the Roman Catholic Easter. This year, the calendars line up. And this year, Katherine has blessed us with a beautiful look inside the Eastern church. A perfect rabbit trail! I can use those those beautiful ancient Lenten traditions and the icons that go with them and together with my children, we can learn about the history of the early church and the life of our Lord.
We played a little catch up. Using Katherine's essays on the five Sundays leading up to the Lent, we looked anew at Zaccheus. See, there he is up in that tree.
Those essays are no longer available, but similar essays appear in Great Lent. We studied the icon of Zaccheus and then colored one of our own. Each of the older children wrote a narration of the story and then a meditation of their own for their liturgical year notebooks.
And so it followed for each of the five Sundays leading up to Lent.Each icon is lesson unto itself, a lesson that deepens every time we look at it. But this isn't the lesson of a catechism book, nor is it a work of art. The lessons in the icons sow the seeds of prayer. The idea here isn't so much to illuminate our minds, as to touch our souls. We learned a great deal about the stories or the saints depicted to be sure, but the knowledge isn't for knowledge's sake--it's to bring us deeper into the icon and so into a deeper union with the mystical truths that are there.
We've read before the story of the Publican and the Pharisee, of the Prodigal Son, of the Last Judgment, but this year, we learned to look at those stories anew with the icons as our windows.
In true rabbit trail-, real learning-style, we are going to continue our studies throughout Lent. The icons will be our curriculum. We'll look at the creation of man and his expulsion from Eden, the road to calvary, the ladder of divine ascent, all from a contemplative perspective. Just as we approach the works in the atrium, using physical objects and figures with a reverence and a sense of wonder, we will look to the icons in a spirit of prayer.
I ordered a few books to help our study:
How to Pray with Icons is a little book I ordered from Seton Home Study. There are colorful icons as well as explanations of gospel events and brief prayers. The emphasis is not on art--indeed, I will use something entirely different for picture study to emphasize this to my children--but on icons as windows into heaven.
The Story of Icons is a truly beautiful book that takes the study much deeper than the book above. It's a natural for those of us who want to more after first experiencing this gateway to heaven.
Of course, one of the first books I turned to when I began planning this study was Brother Joseph The Painter of Icons. Brother Joseph is truly a living book on iconographpy, because adults and children alike read it and are drawn into to the story of the creation of icons.
I also ordered The Icon Book and several other icon coloring books. I think that in coloring these icons, even my very oldest children will gain an appreciation for the truths they tell. With the coloring books, I did splurge and buy some new colored pencils. Crayons just won't do these justice.
Duplicate sets of Icon flash cards make a nice matching game and give the children even more to look at and contemplate. Paidea Classics offers icon ornament kits for Sundays during Lent and Holy Week.
I see the introduction of icons into my home to be as exciting as the introduction of the atrium materials for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. There are striking similarities. Both are tangible, touchable, visual methods of wondering with a child about God. Neither of them get between God and the child. Both of them encourage the child to go again and again to the same "presentation" and to come away with a deeper personal meaning each time. Finally, both have as much potential to impress a truth upon the "teacher" as they do to impress the child.
The dictated or written narration of the story told with an icon, together with a meditation or prayer written by the child is more than enough "academic religious education" and these pages become priceless personal notebooks.
Usually, a rabbit trail in my house includes reading for me. I have found that my own passion for (or at least interest in) a subject makes a big difference in how well it is received by my children. We are all learning together. So, Michael and I will begin with the icons and then delve a little deeper into the early church as well. I've linked all my lenten reading on the sidebar to the right. Incidentally, Mike Aquilina has a blog that offers daily food for thought from the early church fathers.
As we progress through Lent, towards Holy Week, we will have personal encounters with visual reminders along the way.
We'll look carefully at the triumphant journey to Jerusalem, both with icons and with carefully chosen figures and felts.
We'll talk about Christ's great love for us as the bridegroom of the Church. On Wednesday, we'll discuss the sad betrayal of Christ by Judas.
On Holy Thursday, our thoughts will turn to the icon of the Last Supper, the Mystical Supper, and to the presentation of the work in the atrium that we call "The Good Shepherd and World Communion."
On Good Friday, we will ponder His passion. The children will enter into the work of the atrium and see Jesus as He is hung on the cross and then they will carefully, lovingly, take Him down and put Him in the tomb.
On Easter Sunday,they can rush to the tomb and roll the stone away! They can gaze in wonder for as long as they like at the Resurrection of Our Lord!
For children who are used to picture study and trained in the habit of attention, "really looking" at an icon is as natural as breathing. And for a child who has grown in an atrium and is well accustomed to wondering and pondering, the invitation to do so while studying an icon seems almost superfluous. They just do it. So often, our talking, and even our writing, is superfluous. The deepest truths, the truest connections are made in silence. As Saint Basil the Great wrote, “With a soundless voice the icons teach those who behold them.”
Many, many thanks to Katherine for her generous contribution of time and knowledge towards my education in designing this study for my family.
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Helen sent me a little red book in early December that has captivated me. It's called Achieving Peace of Heart by Narciso Irala, S.J. The book is a compelling guide to mental and emotional health and happiness. I hope to write about it later with regard to the sage spiritual advice found there. In the first few chapters, however, what struck me is how much Fr. Irala sounded like Charlotte Mason. His antidote to the exhaustion and confusion of our fast-paced world is to slow down and concentrate fully on one thing at a time. He wants us to cultivate what Miss Mason calls the "habit of attention."
I've been thinking hard for over a month now about this call to simplicity and concentration. And I can see how the last year has really been an advent of sorts. It's been a preparation for a serious commitment to simplicity and attention in all aspects of life--from the spiritual to the academic.
While I will certainly share more about peace of heart, right now, my thoughts have been most definitely on peace of education. The process--during advent,no less--of reflecting upon Michael's education and preparing college portfolios has given me ample opportunity to assess what works for our family.
Charlotte Mason education works. It's academically sound and produces a well-educated child. It is a peaceful, integrated education.
The Domestic Church works. A fully-integrated life of prayer at home with our spouse and our children, celebrating the liturgical year and the life of the church gives children spiritual peace of heart.
That's it. Living books, narration, nature study, Latin (yes, I said Latin--stop laughing, MacBeth). And God, real and present and tangible.
Sounds like a plan.
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I got this one from Mike Aquilina.
1. Favorite devotion or prayer to Jesus?
The Infant of Prague Novena.
2. Favorite Marian devotion or prayer?
The Rosary. I shoot for twenty decades a day and I still can't adequately articulate its effect on my soul.
3. Do you wear a scapular or medal?
I wear the scapular medal (purchased in Chicago at the Shrine of St. Therese) because I am truly allergic to wool and an Our Lady of La Leche Medal sent to me by my friend Mary.
4. Do you have holy water in your home?
Yes. I like to collect Holy Water fonts. I also have Lourdes water in my medicine chest.
5. Do you offer up your sufferings?
Yes, though I still don't truly, truly understand it.
6. Do you observe First Fridays and First Saturdays?
No. But First Friday is a goal this year.
7. Do you go to Eucharistic Adoration? How frequently?
Not nearly as often as I would like. One of my latest lamentations is how long it takes to get to church. When we first moved here, it took eleven minutes. Now, with traffic, it can take as many as 45 minutes. Problem is, you can never know exactly how long it will be because the traffic is unpredictable. I'm trying to figure out how to schedule to get there more often.
8. Are you a Saturday evening Mass person or Sunday morning Mass person?
I prefer Sunday morning.
9. Do you say prayers at mealtime?
Yes.
10. Favorite Saint(s)?
The Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, St. Therese,St. Josemaria, and (sneaking this one in) John Paul the Great. Oh and I've been told that St. Anthony must reside in an apartment in my house--somewhere...
11. Can you recite the Apostles Creed by heart?
Yes.
12. Do you usually say short prayers (aspirations) during the course of the day?
Absolutely, all day long. Lately, my days are heavily sprinkled with prayers of thanskgiving.
13. Where is your favorite place to pray?
At the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
14. Bonus Question: When you pass by a automobile accident or other serious mishap, do you say a quick prayer for the folks involved?
Always.
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Blessed are you, holy are you!
Rejoice and be glad for yours is the kingdom of God!
As a devout Catholic family, we are open to life. We've always been open to life. Because of God's great grace (and a courageous priest--thank you Fr. Lyle), I will never look back on our years of fertility and wonder if God had more children in mind for us. We greedily accepted all those that were offered.
But it has certainly gotten more difficult. Oh, not that we want them less. If anything, I want them more. My prayers for the blessing of children have reached a fevered pitch of desperation as I confront the reality of my forties. Please, Lord, send me more before it's too late!
What has become more difficult is the recognition that this is a fallen world and that all our joy is bittersweet. I offered my labor for a dear friend who had recently confided that she was pregnant again, two years after a heartbreaking stillbirth. Throughout labor, I was painfully aware that life and death are but a breath apart. And I was overcome with fear. It was a fear that my friend knew all too well and one that she had faced when she embraced life once again.
A few weeks later came the heartbreaking news that her newest baby would also be born into heaven before she ever held him. As I cradled my newborn and wept for my friend, I wept for myself as well. Gone was the nonchalant innocence, the notion that if we want a baby, we can have a baby. In its place is the awe-filled recognition that life on this earth is very precious indeed. And that openness to life--conception, pregnancy and childbirth--is also openness to exquisite pain.
My phone rang several times that night and the next day. The news of this latest loss rocked the worlds of some very steady, faithful women. We needed each other--we needed to sort the feelings of loss and pain and hopelessness. And we need to be reminded by each other of faith. Like so many candles lit from a single flame, we consoled each other, we held each other up, even as we mourned the loss of the little row lights that had been snuffed too soon.
I talked with my pastor about it all last Sunday. And he said to me, in his forthright, blunt, German way, "It's not about you. It's not about your friend. It's about the baby. Sometimes women forget that the whole idea is getting a new soul to heaven. That baby's there. Mission accomplished." He went on to say that I might not want to be so blunt when I spread the message, but that that really is the bottom line. New souls for heaven.
And with that reality ringing in my ears, I had the holy privelige of bringing another baby before God to be baptized this week. Choosing a date for Karoline's baptism was tedious. My husband's travel schedule and the priest's schedule and the Holy Day schedules all bumped up against each other. I ended up with a date two weeks later than I wanted. I ended up with All Soul's Day. And I wasn't thrilled with it. Seemed sort of morbid for a baptism.
But yesterday, in that church, I prayed for those women whose lives and whose stories were so much a part of my pregnancy--for Missey Gray, the homeschooling mother of five who died in childbirth last winter and for Nicole, a dear friend who learned she was dying of cancer as she gave birth to her third baby. And I prayed for Donna, who gave another baby to God. And then, there was Betsy. So much pain mingled with such utter joy. Birth and death, saints and souls, truly life in the Catholic Church. And that water, that holy water, looked to my eyes to be the tears of those mothers who so loved their children. Please God, just grant us the grace sufficient to do your will with these precious souls.
I listened as the dear priest who has baptized all my children reminded my husband and me again that the goal is heaven and that we were solemnly promising to pass on the faith and to educate our children for heaven. Heaven. No matter whether we hold them for a lifetime or hold them not at all, the goal is to return them to God.
And so yesterday, this precious, precious baby girl became what she is, a child of God. Please Lord, let me always remember that she was created for heaven.
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With the very first cool breeze and the trial run of the school buses rumbling through my neighborhood the week before school begins, I take my cue to make a clean sweep. Never one for school shopping, I forego the crush at Target and celebrate the new academic year by deep cleaning our “schoolroom” and everything else within my reach. I find comfort in ordering and organizing our materials. I love to haul big bags of trash out to the curb. There is something beautiful about a fresh place to begin anew.
My children have been known to catch the bug as well. The ones who are naturally orderly love to line up freshly sharpened pencils on a newly scrubbed desk in anticipation of year full of academic adventures. And even those who are not so inclined can be persuaded to turn over a new leaf in honor of the new school year. The calendar is inscribed with the new schedule of activities. The pantry and freezer are stocked with autumn staples. All is prepared for the year ahead.
What a perfect time for confession! We can all line up in the quiet sanctuary and, one by one, sweep our souls clean of even the smallest specks of dust. Particularly for little ones, there are no big messes, no mortal sins, just small bad habits which lie like a layer of fine dust between them and the brilliance of the Lord. Sweep it away! Begin again, fresh and ready and shining for God.
It is not necessary to clean my house so thoroughly every autumn. We can and do homeschool in a messy house quite frequently. It’s not necessary to carefully pencil in the activities; I’ve flown by the seat of my pants before (though I don’t recommend it). It’s not even necessary to plan meals and stock the pantry. The grocery store is only a mile away. And, some will tell you, it’s not necessary to go to confession more than once a year, particularly if all one has to confess are venial sins.
But, if we believe in the real grace present in the sacrament, if we acknowledge that the priest can says the words of absolution and the Holy Spirit will shine away even the smallest speck of dust on our souls, why would we stay away? Why we would not take to the seat of mercy even our smallest failures? Is it fun to clean? Do I like to crawl around on my hands and knees and ferret out every last little Lego and stray crayon? Do I enjoy vacuuming under the desks and chairs and cleaning keyboards? Not really. But there is an immense sense of peace when the job is well done. And the house stays cleaner longer. It’s easier to avoid the near occasion of sin when one begins with a spotless soul.
Most people don’t like the actual act of confessing. They are not happy about spilling every shortcoming and imperfection. They don’t relish the idea of exposing the dirt. But they leave that confessional looking visibly relieved. There are fewer creases in their foreheads. Their shoulders are lifted a little higher. They have the hope a clean slate offers. They know the grace of being forgiven. They have heard those beautiful words of absolution . Clean and fresh and new again, they go forth to embrace all the goodness this new season and our great God have to offer.
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Prove it! God (Wellborn)
Prove It! Church (Wellborn)
Prove It! Prayer (Wellborn)
Prove It! Jesus (Wellborn)
Did Adam and Eve have Belly Buttons? (Pinto)
Boys to Men (Gray and Martin)
You Can Become A Saint! (Budnik)
We’re On a Mission From God (Bonacci)
Rome Sweet Home (Hahn)
Surprised By Truth (Madrid)
Surprised By Truth II (Madrid)
Welcome Home (Claveau)
Your Questions: God’s Answers (Kreeft)
This IS My Body (Shea)
By What Authority? (Shea)
The Screwtape Letters (Lewis)
Real Love (Bonacci)
Witness To Hope (Wiegel)
Letters to a Young Catholic (Weigel)
Catechism
For discussion:
Catholic Christianity (Kreeft)
For memory:
Things Every Catholic Should Know
For narration:
Church History
To be narrated:
A Life of Our Lord for Children (Hunt)
The First Christians (Hunt)
The Great Adventure (Cavins)
Salvation History (Hahn)
Mrs. Carroll's History Sampler Series
Stories of the Saints
To be narrated: Vision Books for Youth
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Kim Fry talks frequently about starting with the little ones and building on that foundation. She doesn't mean just planning the littles' curriculum first and then planning the bigger kids'. She means to look at what you want the youngest ones to know and then to add layer upon layer so that the entire family's education looks like a rich tapestry. This makes so much sense--it is one of the beautiful joys of home education. And it is most evident in the way we approach handing on the faith in our home.
We want to begin with the knowledge that Christ is the Good Shepherd, the tender caretaker, who will call the child by name and protect and comfort her throughout her life. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program is a tangible way to do that. An atrium is a place set apart for a child to encounter and fall in love with God.
Maria Montessori had such a place in her Children's Houses and Sofia Cavaletti has taken the idea into this century. Works in the atrium introduce children to the Good Shepherd and teach them parables and prophecies and the history of the salvation of man, using hands-on materials and a respect for the silence necessary for the child to encounter God. It's a concept rooted in liturgy. Moira Farrell has captured the essence of the atrium for mothers teaching their children at home. Her albums are a great beginning, though not exactly what you find in an institutional atrium. It's a double-edged sword. Montessori education was designed for groups of same-aged children. That was Dr. Montessori's premise and she played off the effects of children on each other. When we bring it home, we gain and we lose. We lose some of the peer consort group influence. But we also gain because we experience the presentations as a family. And, in many instances, parish atria are crippled by the "after school" culture. Remember, Montessori's students were in her Children's Houses all day. They were well-trained and well practiced in the disciplines of silence. Children who are trained to listen to God in the company of their families are blessed indeed.
Modeled after the atria in Maria Montessori's schools over a century ago, this method of listening to God with children has been developed over time by women such as Sofia Cavaletti (who is Catholic) and adapted by folks like Jerome Berryman and Sonja Stewart (who are not Catholic). The books they've written and the oral tradition of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training that is based on their work are true treasures. But the work of Moira Farrell--together with the materials designed and made available by her mother, Julia Fogassy--are what enable home educators--who believe that all of life is an opportunity to learn and home is the most beautiful of all classrooms--to make their homes into atria, and so to bring to life the Domestic Church. And, of course, there is ongoing discussion of the atrium at the 4reallearning message boards, to help you flesh it all out.
For as long as there have been children in my house, there have been storybooks. Stories embed themselves in a child's heart and live there forever. It makes good sense to tell children stories of the saints and of traditions and of the Bible. Jesus left us a treasury of stories; it is our joy-filled duty to share those stories with our children. And so, we do. We have shelves of picture books that grow into shelves of chapter books that grow into a full-blown spirituality and apologetics library. We read about God and his followers throughout the day, every day.
My preschoolers have delighted in The Catholic Children's Treasure Box. Very old-fashioned in pictures and words, these books touch children in a way that is inexplicable. They are pricey--collect them slowly; they're well worth the investment.
This year, we are blessed to have Catholic Mosaic to bring together some of the best of children's religious picture books in an organized manner and to offer suggestions for using those books. I've gushed about this concept before and I'm still gushing. It's a great idea. Handing on the faith through stories is an age-old idea that we all must make our own. While with most reading lists, the library is often the first place to look, I recommend purchasing most of the Mosaic books. The books will become a part of the family, to be read again and again, layer upon layer, as children grow and understand more deeply. The titles can be gift suggestions for grandparents and godparents and anyone who is interested in supporting the growing soul of the child.
Environment and atmosphere matter greatly when it comes to living holy lives. Truthfully, we are striving to make our entire homes shine with the presence of the Holy Spirit and envelope us with the comfort of Our Lady's mantle. We've tried to incorporate our atrium into our learning room. We've stored our picture books on two hand-me-down nightstands, placed below the Mary shelf we made in May. On the top of one nightstand, one book is highlighted--the book which is most closely represents the current feast of the Church. On the other nightstand is the Bible stand, a Good Shepherd statue, and a candle, all on a cloth appropriate for the liturgical season. That is our prayer table.
On the floor next to the prayer table is the Good Shepherd work. With this, the concept of the Good Shepherd is first introduced and then, as the child grows closer to Christ, is expanded to include the meaning of Communion.
Several years ago, when my oldest daughter began her time in our parish atrium, I wanted a tanglible way to record what she was learning and to integrate it with our story books. At the same time, Alice was preparing her daughter for First Communion. She generously shared her ideas for a First Communion notebook. I adapted those ideas for Mary Beth's unique experience and we began a family tradition. Slowly, over a child's fifth and sixth year, my children create notebooks with narrations of all that they see and do and hear in the atrium work and all that they learn from the stories. The preschool experience of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and lots of stories of faith naturally grow into their first real academic "publication." These notebooks are treasures for the child and the parent alike. I love this time of preparation and of growing closer both to God and to my child.
On the next shelving unit, I've stored several atrium works. In the little baskets are small parable sets. Below them a child finds Noah's Ark, the ten commandments, the nativity, and several other presentations. These rotate, depending on interest and season. For instance, after our baby is born, I will present the baptism work and leave it there for my little ones to practice again and again. Following Moira's outline, but adapting it to our family, we can strike a balanced program that is uniquely ours but blessed by the talent and hard work of others.
The next table is the miniature altar. We've done those presentations again and again and the older children like to present them to the younger ones. Slowly, layer upon layer, an understanding of the Mass and an appreciation for the Mass is cultivated. As the children grow, this early experience will blossom into notebook projects like the lovely Easter Vigil notebook Alice designed and shared so generously a couple of years ago.
The liturgy is to be infused in our homes, to influence our choice of menus, home decoration, and family celebrations. And then there is handwork. Small children love to make something beautiful for God. I am indebted to the Alice for the wealth of ideas at Cottage Blessings and her capable and inspired moderation of the Living Faith message board. That's probably more than enough (especially when you have an occasional themed tea party). But to have just a little extra inspiration, there are A Year with God and the well-loved classic, The Year and Our Children to provide ideas for bringing the liturgical year to life.
These elements--the atrium, the stories, and living the liturgical year--are the foundation of our "religious education program." From this foundation, the children grow to gain an understanding of catechism and apologetics, Bible history and morality. Hour by hour, day by day, year by year, we watch each child grow closer to God in his or her unique way. But each one of them, from the time they are very little, has personal relationship with the Good Shepherd and a solid understanding of His message.
Earlier in the preschool series:
Next up: Practical Life
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A few months ago, a friend suggested we pray a daily rosary. Actually, she suggested a fifteen decade daily rosary. We were both tired, frustrated and stressed to the limits. We had exhausted all the typical remedies for this state of being. Veterans of this Catholic home education large-family lifestyle, we tweaked our diets, our exercise plans, our chore systems, our sleeping (well, we tried), our school plans. We both changed parishes (we live two time zones apart but somehow we both were in the wrong church). All the tried and true remedies for burnout and frustration were failing us. As our families grew and our children got bigger, the stakes went up. We recognized that nothing on earth was "working" to gain for us that much needed peace. Our souls were restless indeed.
All of this we shared with each other. We hashed out all the usual solutions, we swapped meal plans and chore plans and lesson plans. Independently, we took it to prayer. That's when she came back with the absolute certainty that she was supposed to pray a fifteen decade rosary every day. And she was pretty certain I was supposed to do the same. Only glitch was that she had this revelation while I was reading Rosarium Virginis Mariae. I was increasingly sure that I was supposed to shower my soul with the light of those five Luminous decades as well. Fifteen for her, twenty for me.
I bought a CD so that I could turn driving time, walking time, bed time into rosary time. Really, the Holy Spirit did the pointing and clicking this time. I bought Praying the Rosary with St. Therese of Lisieux.
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This beautiful CD has it all. Lovely Gregorian chant in the background. Soothing voices of prayer. And every Hail Mary is preceded by a quote from the Little Flower. Those quotes have worked their way into my soul, they are becoming me... or I am becoming them. Either way, through the powerful intercession of the Blessed Mother, that elusive peace is happening.
My daughter, always looking over my shoulder as I blog, objects to the "Just for Mom" category. She reminds me that she hears the CD all the time, too. And she is increasingly devoted to both the Blessed Mother and the Little Flower. Those quotes are touching her.
My friend and I exchange emails, coveting each other's decades. All is not peace and green pastures. Life is still happening. And it is really, really hard sometimes. There are days when I beg her to offer all fifteen of hers to me and days when I reciprocate. We rarely pray the whole thing at the same time; instead we snatch decades throughout the day. And maybe that is better, kind of like booster shots for the soul. We've shared some pretty amazing success stories. And we're both pretty sold on the power of ALL those decades.
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There is a growing box of books and assorted curricular materials in the large walk-in closet that is our home library. In it, materials I have purchased but no longer use (or may have never used) are being gathered to sell or donate. For now, though, it stands as a staunch reminder not to buy, sight unseen, every good idea about which I read. Often, one person's good idea becomes my bookend. Instead, when purchasing curriculum, it is better for me to sit here one day--or maybe for several weeks-- and think to myself, "I wish there were a book that did___"
For more years than I can count, I have thought, "I wish there were an organized way to integrate the Liturgical Year, great literature, notebooking, copywork, simple crafts, and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd." Such a project was daunting. In order to pull it off, one would have to be immersed in living the Liturgical Year. One would have to spend hours researching the wealth of beautiful religious picture books available out there "somewhere." One would have to have a grasp on the concept of notebooking and a sense of how the faith is taught in a Montessori atrium. Then, one would have to make the time to put it all together in a useable format. Some of us dreamed of a such a resource. One of us did it.
Cay Gibson, together with Hillside Education, has done a masterful job of creating a lovely, living mosaic of literature-based catechesis--a Catholic Mosaic.
When a child learns the faith within the context of the Liturgical Year, "religion" becomes a living, breathing part of the rhythm of life. It is integrated into her being as fundamentally as a heartbeat. In early December, she just knows it is Advent; that's the way it's always been. She thinks, "Our color is purple because we are waiting, preparing." She looks forward to celebrating the feasts that are nestled in among the fast. St. Nicholas, Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucy--all her favorite, familiar friends are met with joy. And when she is older, she will not merely turn the calendar to the last month of the year inside a dry, secular cubicle, she will instead continue to live the richness of the first season of the Church year. And if, for some sad reason, she does not, something will seem terribly out of sync, for that will not be the normal, habitual beating of her heart from the beginning when she was a child in the Domestic Church of her parents.
When the faith is taught within the context of living books a lyrical song is sung, a beautiful image embossed upon a child's soul. Those carefully chosen books become family traditions. "This is the book we read for St. Brigid's feast; this for John Paul the Great's birthday; this for Pentecost." Children learn the stories of the saints and they develop real, living relationships with those holy men and women who cheer them from heaven and intercede on their behalf. The saints of those stories are faithful friends for small children who grow into spiritual giants and guides for well-formed adults. The books Cay has chosen are of the highest quality--living, breathing books that will infuse children and the adults who share them with the breath of the Holy Spirit.
When notebooking is introduced to the teaching of religion and academia meets theology in the context of the rhythm of the household, you have real learning. No one can tell where "school" stops and "church" begins, where "church" stops and family life begins. Instead, there is a lifestyle of learning within the heart of the Domestic Church. It is education within the bosom of the family, just as the Creator intended. Catholic Mosaic offers a plethora of ideas for organizing just such an education. It's all tied together and keyed to the calendar. We can do this! We can have an environment in our homes that is this rich and meaningful!
There will be no used copies of this resource available. Mothers who forego home education to send their children to school will hold on to this book in order to read the stories at bedtime and do the crafts on rainy Saturdays. Mothers whose children have grown and gone will pass the book to their daughters and daughters-in-law. It is a resource destined to become dog-eared and jelly smeared.
At 4Real, we've embraced this resource with great zeal. We are talking about it. We are adding more books and more ideas and we archiving the success stories. Come join us. We are piecing together a life in our homes that is reminiscent of a mosaic in a fine cathedral-- something truly rich and beautiful for our Lord.
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There's been much hurrying and scurrying in the Catholic homeschooling blog world these days. Under the tutelage of Alice in the Cottage, much crafting is happening to honor the Blessed Mother. The flurry of activity is amazing and much of it is being discussed on the 4Reallearning Boards . There is a Marian notebook project, a lively discussion of crafts, devotions, and gardens, some talk about the legends surrounding Mary's flowers, and a hunt for Marian images.
We're been off to a bit of a slow start here in our home (I've many ideas and not a whole lot of energy), so I was much relieved to read the following Mary Vitamin today, thanks to Helen at Castle of the Immaculate:
“The month of May, traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, has just begun. From her, let us learn the Gospel simplicity of children who entrust themselves to their Mother. May Mary lead us to Christ in joy and in suffering, 'now, and at the hour of our death'. Amen!”--John Paul II, May 5. 1996
May 5th! That's today! It is as if our dear Papa reached down, patted my head and said, "Take a deep breath, May is one of the long months.And it's just begun!" Sigh. A long month; we've plenty of time!
I couldn't find the small shelves Alice described, so we got one long shelf to create our Mary shelf. They cut up old Christmas cards and decoupaged the top of the shelf and then painted flowers on the face of it. On it, the children have hung rosaries and displayed the rosary books they've been working on. They collected all things Marian from around the house and made a small holy water font from Sculpey left over from our ornament project (photos of that to be posted some other day in this long month of May, after the ribbons are tied and I actually find a silk tree and many more images).
We enlivened the perpetual Mary altar with some new flowers and beneath it we placed a basket full of silk flowers. One day very soon, we will make a salt dough wreath. Then, the children will glue silk flowers on the wreath as they do good deeds. The wreath will be our centerpiece until Advent. (Many thanks to Kim Fry for this idea.)
The Mary Garden is really taking shape. Today, the girls planted Alyssum. Mary Beth has posted some lovely pictures on our family's nature blog, Blossoms and Bees. Dawn, of Marigolds for Mama, tells us that Alyssum is also known as "Blessed by Mary" or "Mary 's Little Cross." They are such sweet flowers that I caved and broke my "no annuals" pledge. We planted three flats of them!
It's a long month of celebration. A month of glorious reflection on the young woman who said, "Yes!" to the will of God. A month to draw ourselves closer to the Blessed Mother and--even as we bustle about our own households and we are the grownups who make things happen in our homes--to snuggle into the mantle of the Gentle Mother, inhale her sweetness, and be like little children safe in her arms.
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We awoke this morning to a chorus of Alleluias! The stone was rolled away; He is alive!
And, after the fast, of course, we must feast. The table is set.
We discussed the menu on The 4Real forum, but the children and I tweaked it a bit today. To see pictures and more recipes, visit Kitchen Comforts.
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Jesus said, "Amen I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." They began to be distressed and to say to HIm, one by one, "Surely it is not I?" He said to them, "One of the Twelve, the one who dips with Me into the dish...It would be better for that man if he had never been born."
While they were eating, He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take it: This is my body." (Mark 14:18-26)
And likewise the cup, saying, "This is My blood, the new covenant, which will be shed for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
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I wonder how Jesus felt when the crowd wanted him to be their king?...
I wonder who the people were who shouted,"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"?...
I wonder why Jesus the King rode on a donkey instead of a horse?...
I wonder what kind of king Jesus would be?...
I wonder what it would be like to live in Jesus' kingdom?...
--from Young Children and Worship
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I have been discouraged this Lent by my inability to DO all the things we usually do around here during our season of preparation. I just haven't been able to prepare to prepare. Sometimes, we choose our Lenten sacrifices. Sometimes, God chooses them for us. Lent began early for me this year, shortly after the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God. I didn't even know I was pregnant, but boy, did my body. I haven't been upright for more than a few moments at a time since. This is my fifth autumn baby; I'm beginning to get good at giving up all eating as I know it for Lent! I'm also learning that I can be a good mom just by being, not always by doing. We've done a lot of snuggling, had a lot of heart-to-heart conversations. Still, I miss the Lenten preparations. It's the DOING that I've sacrificed.
God sends us people to help carry our crosses, too. Stephen's Godmother has come in (a bit like a lady with a magic wand) and tied purple ribbons on all our religious art. She also cooked and cleaned:-). Everywhere we look, we see simple reminders of the season.
And early yesterday morning, I prayed for the strength to just do the important things. Lo and behold, I finally got around to setting up the first three installments of Jesus' Journey to Jerusalem. It's all I did for the day, but it was wonderful to present "Jesus and the Children," "Bartimeus and Jesus," and "Jesus and Zaccheus" for the first time to the littlest ones. Each of them returned to the work again and again throughout the day.One of the most beautiful things about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (Montessori's approach to religious education) is the spiritual benefit for the catechist. Every time I present a work, I gain a new insight into that component of our faith. And every time I wonder aloud with my children, I understand why they are God's plan for my journey to heaven.
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