My Catholic Faith Delivered

They have pricing info so far on the Faith and Life series. I’m interested in the Didache as well. Strongly considering signing up. I’m not giving up the one-on-one and the group discussions as those are vital, but this should free [...]]]> Really exciting news landed in my reader box today:

My Catholic Faith Delivered

They have pricing info so far on the Faith and Life series. I’m interested in the Didache as well. Strongly considering signing up. I’m not giving up the one-on-one and the group discussions as those are vital, but this should free up some time so I can do some of the fun liturgical stuff as well which is usually what falls through the cracks. Besides that, I am excited about the Steve Ray videos incorporated into it, and all the neat features they’ve built in. An enthusiastic two thumbs up for Faith and Life Online!

Bush Quietly Saved a Million African Lives

What Do You Want, an Engraved Dismissal?

We can’t have that…

Evangelization Training for Catholics: Learn to Share the Authentic Gospel Message!

license to exterminate our unborn

and this video — warning: may not be suitable for your children

My 13-year-old is amazing. Okay, I probably shouldn’t say that before I’ve explained why. [...]]]> If you want an explanation of the title, ask my kids. I don’t know exactly what that means. Except my 18-yo kept saying, “Mom, you got owned.” Whatever. (Am I allowed to say that at 41?)

My 13-year-old is amazing. Okay, I probably shouldn’t say that before I’ve explained why. But wow.

Yesterday, he was doing some research on Environmental Science, for scouting. So I gave him some help, a book, some links, etc. At lunchtime I went into how some environmental activists can take it to extremes and slide off into the extreme end of the spectrum into “anti-life” territory, as in: we need to stop having children because the world can’t possibly support all these humans! Or some such nonsense. His next statement took me by surprise (surprise because I ddin’t expect it to come from a 13-yo’s mouth, although in retrospect, I should have known): “What’s the point of preserving the environment if there’s no one to enjoy it?”

And then today. I’m getting ready to place a huge order for art supplies. I only need $8 more so I can take advantage of a $20 discount (LOL, funny how that works). So I asked them what specific art supplies they’ve been wanting. The 10-year-old: more paints. The 7-year-old: body crayons. The 18-year-old: (what I thought I heard) ceiling wax. (My head: is she planning to redecorate her room before college?) She meant, of course, sealing wax. And the 13-yo goes — “Hey, me too!” I frowned. Isn’t that a girly thing? 18-yo concurred.

Then he goes, “The Emperors used them, and they’re not girls!” We laugh and I admit that he’s right.

But he goes one step further:

“The Pope uses them!”

Yeah, yeah. I got owned. What can I say. I love homeschooling! And I love my kids. They make it so much fun.

I also post this as an encouragement to myself and other homeschooling mothers who worry about their children’s writing skills. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it in the past but Aisa was very resistant to formal writing classes/lessons. I [...]]]> Since this is my blog, I’m allowed to brag once in a while, right?

I also post this as an encouragement to myself and other homeschooling mothers who worry about their children’s writing skills. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it in the past but Aisa was very resistant to formal writing classes/lessons. I tried so many books on her — The Latin Road to English Grammar, Voyages in English, Exercises in English, an online writing course, etc., etc. Finally around the 10th grade I gave up. I just continued to feed her good and great books, fueled by my own passion as well as hers, and just let her write, as she wished. Mostly on her blog. There was very little (emphasis on the VERY) in the way of formal writing in our homeschool. I did give her Format Writing to do on her own (because by that time I was frustrated with her non-cooperation and I frankly didn’t have time to go through her work and put up with the little annoyances of back-and-forth argument about what to do and how to do things. I don’t want to give the impression that she’s argumentative or stubborn. She’s very sweet, but I had to learn to strike a careful balance between giving her advice on her writing and basically just keeping my mouth SHUT. Most of the time I ended up doing the latter, just to avoid unpleasantness. Sometime before 12th grade I gave her The Elements of Grammar, figuring if she at least read that short book she’ll have the basics, even if we never did anything with it.

Well, she finished high school a year early and took several months off to relax and travel with us. She starts college in the fall. She’ll be in Honors English and asked a couple of people to write recommendation letters for her to submit to the committee. Yesterday, she got this from her Anglo-Saxon lit teacher, and needless to say we are mighty proud of her:

July 22, 2009

To Whom it may Concern:

I highly recommend Aurora (Aisa) P for entrance into your Honors Experience program. Her writing ability and critical thinking skills stand out in my memory as exemplary. I had the pleasure of teaching Aisa in the Fall 2008 semester of Virtue and Heroism: An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Literature. This class is presented to junior and senior homeschool students as an honors-level writing and literature class. Its structure was based on the honors seminar classes I had in college and emphasized critical, text-based interpretation of literature and written analysis. Assignments included reading Anglo-Saxon works in translation, answering 3-4 analysis questions weekly, and writing a final paper incorporating elements of the semester-long study.

Aisaʼs writing throughout the semester was pointed and precise, supported with detail from the text. It was technically proficient, devoid of grammar errors and small mistakes, and submitted punctually. She followed directions precisely, except where combining answers to two questions on an assignment produced a more complete essay. She also far exceeded the minimum paper length, and yet her work was focused and didnʼt ramble. Her vocabulary is expansive, having been fed from a steady diet of great books.

In addition to writing competently, her thought was well-formed. The question on the final paper was to sum up the virtues of a good Anglo-Saxon man and woman. She drew connections between the class-assigned literature to works she had read in different courses, and to her contemporary faith and to her extra-curricular role leading a youth group. Chesterton was quoted alongside Bede, and Peter Kreeft, along with Beowulf. She was able to see the big picture, and often compared or contrasted one weekʼs assigned reading with that of a previous assignment. These skills are often found in upper-college level work; finding it in a younger student is a rare treasure.

Aisaʼs insights and academic ability would make her an excellent scholar in your honors program. I would be happy to answer any questions you have, and can be contacted by phone and e-mail. With my highest recommendation, I hope you accept her in your program, beginning her freshman year.

Sincerely,

Starting today and until baby’s here and we’ve recovered, here’s our coursework:

Religion: Pray the Liturgy of the Hours with Mommy at 9, 12, 3, 6 and 9. English: Read a book (approved by Mom) and blog about it. Math: Do 1 Math lesson. Science: Watch one episode on the Physics DVD [...]]]> I am officially TIRED.

Starting today and until baby’s here and we’ve recovered, here’s our coursework:

Religion: Pray the Liturgy of the Hours with Mommy at 9, 12, 3, 6 and 9.
English: Read a book (approved by Mom) and blog about it.
Math: Do 1 Math lesson.
Science: Watch one episode on the Physics DVD or read a book and blog about what you learned. (Do experiments when the kits come.)
History: Read a book/chapter (approved by Mom) and blog about it, or continue work on your History lapbook.
Music: Listen to classical music radio online.
Help Mom clean/declutter/reorganize the “room of the day”.
Clean your room for 15 minutes.
Play outside for 15 minutes if weather permits. Otherwise, play in the basement/practice your forms.

Extra credit for taking dictation from 6-year-old to document what *she* learned.

So I don’t understand, but I will hope right along with you. I will have faith, the same faith I’ve always had, not a new one brought about by this one human man. I [...]]]> I have no words of my own, as my heart is still too full to speak, but I echo Jennifer’s:

So I don’t understand, but I will hope right along with you. I will have faith, the same faith I’ve always had, not a new one brought about by this one human man. I will teach my children to pray. I will teach my children to cherish and protect the newest of lives and those that are not so new, but just as precious. I will teach them to conserve, starting with our own backyard and our own consumption. I will educate my children. I will teach them to love one another [snip]. My family and I will financially support those in the world who live in poverty, just as we always have.

To quote:

The education of children is a very delicate procedure. It is more delicate than the most highly trained neurosurgeon. For he only operates on matter, the brain, or the neurological system, or the spine. The teacher, the educator, operates on the very [...]]]> from Fr. Bonaventure of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

To quote:

The education of children is a very delicate procedure. It is more delicate than the most highly trained neurosurgeon. For he only operates on matter, the brain, or the neurological system, or the spine. The teacher, the educator, operates on the very soul of the child, and so that education must be rooted in the education of Christ. It must be rooted in the Divine Technique; otherwise, we have missed the point. And we are falling for the trap. The most common form of idolatry in our day and age is the idolatry of success. My children must succeed. We have failed to realize that the only criteria for success is to hear these words at the end of our lives: “Come, Child, into the home that my father has prepared for you from the beginning.”

No one is required to be a billionaire…. and everyone is required to educate children in the way of Christ. And anytime we fight against Christ, we destroy the heart of our children. That energy that we become so impatient with that we see in a child is an energy given to them by God, and it is in need of formation, not destruction.

It is not in the personality we have received from God that determines our state. It is in whether that personality is sanctified under the mantle of grace so that the gifts God has given each and every one of us are given back to him through the intercession of His Mother and put at the disposal of mankind.

He also talks about allowing kids to veg out in front of the TV or video games, so that we are not burdened with actual parenting tasks. And asks us what would have happened to us if Christ had this attitude and treated us more as a burden.

Towards the end he talks about Joseph (the forgotten saint) and points to JPII’s Guardian of the Redeemer.

Powerful, timely homily. And so seldom heard from our pulpits.

Hat tip to Brenda at the forum.

Portuguese armory entertaining magistrate beautiful laughter doublet fierce flourishing Saracens ancestor possessions murmured accounts cathedral question courtyard roused attention deceived

Why Shakir Can’t Read (H/T Crunchy Con Rod Dreher)

Thank you, Henry Cate

for Paco, but Aisa may also use it after graduation — I dropped the ball on formal Logic and Philosophy studies a couple of years back. After doing Angelicum Academy’s Harry Stottlemeier, we used several books from The Critical Thinking Company. I wasn’t confident enough in my own ability to teach logic, but [...]]]>

for Paco, but Aisa may also use it after graduation — I dropped the ball on formal Logic and Philosophy studies a couple of years back. After doing Angelicum Academy’s Harry Stottlemeier, we used several books from The Critical Thinking Company. I wasn’t confident enough in my own ability to teach logic, but the Traditional Logic books (and subsequent books) look really good. I’m excited again. And mom’s excitement sometimes can make or break a particular course of study!

… primariliy to help us out with our Henle Latin studies. We finished Latina Christiana 1 & 2 last year) and have moved on with Henle, but the going has been sloooooow….. I’m hoping the study guide will put me back in the right frame of mind to tackle learning and teaching Latin at the same time. Greek has been put off for a bit…. but maybe we can do it as a fun study while we’re in Italy next year.

Yay, a history spine we can be excited about again! For the past several years, we’ve been using The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia for our spine, with various living books as supplements. But it’s been dry and dragging recently…. I think having the book almost in tatters doesn’t help. At least it’s been well-loved. But it is time for a change, and I’ve been looking forward to using this book from the Catholic Schools Textbook Project.

I’ve been doing the planning and buying piecemeal for the upcoming schoolyear. The pregnancy virtually stopped all formal schooling the past couple of months. Thank goodness we school year round or we’ll never catch up. So now I still have to send in the assessment tests, put together the kids’ portfolios, overhaul the study (argh, started in March and currently at a standstill), and THEN do our planning right after… at this rate, we’ll be back to normal schedule by… hmmm…. October . But hey, that’s why we’re homeschoolers, right? We make up our own schedules. And anyway, the senior is still planning to graduate by August. I can’t imagine the feeling — being DONE with a schoolyear just as we’re beginning… LOL. Should be fun. I’m not sure how the younger ones will like that. DD-17 will be planning her graduation party while they have to work-work-work…

Especially appropriate since today is Independence Day. Real education, real learning is about the freedom to become the best person one can be. It’s about enabling children to respond to that call to brilliance.

7/22/08: ETA:

I had put the book on my “next” list, and it’s still there — but you may want [...]]]>

Especially appropriate since today is Independence Day. Real education, real learning is about the freedom to become the best person one can be. It’s about enabling children to respond to that call to brilliance.

7/22/08: ETA:

I had put the book on my “next” list, and it’s still there — but you may want to read MacBeth’s review.

the 4Real thread that has all the links

but I’d like you to read this one at least:

Homeschooling and Constitutional Rights

Much food for thought, huh.