Category Archives: homeschooling

homeschooling, Stay at home mom

Home, There is No Place Like It

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Happy Stay-Home-Mom Anniversary to me! Today marks four years since I made the commitment to stay home and be the primary caretaker of my five little blessings.



As a person who had the degrees and dream job which fullfilled my ego to the max and helped me feel fulfilled, I can honestly tell you that all of that glory would crash when I came home to find out that my baby had walked for the first time or said his first word – minus the person who brought him into this world, me. Then I felt like a failure and all of the fame and glory of my multiple degrees and fabulous job meant nothing. 


It wasn’t until I realized that my fertility and the childhood of my children was only for a specific and short period of my life that I truly understood why our grandmothers kept to the home and devoted their lives to creating great human beings. I have been home for four years now and at the end of the day, when all the floors are clean, my children are sleeping safely in bed tired from a fun day with mom and I’m sipping a glass of wine do I truly know that I am fulfilled. This baby making machine is happy that I am female and that I can have children…I have way too many friends who will never know the joy of hearing a little voice call them “mommy” For those women that are physically able to and that would listen to their inner gift of nurturing and loving and bearing and raising children, they will truly feel fulfilled. 

Furthermore, women would not need to fill their lives with shallow items: clothing, make up and the attention of the opposite sex for the wrong reasons..feeling fulfilled has to do with doing that which you are called to do/be. 

Blessed Mother Teresa was one of the most fulfilled women I have ever known. She gave her entire life for others. This kind of sacrifice is what this world is lacking…giving up something for others is the most satisfying act a human can do.

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catholic homeschoolers, Catholic Homeschooling 101, homeschooling, Homeschooling Tutorial, successful homeschooling

Introducing Catholic Homeschooling 101: A Tutorial for Beginners

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Now that I am seeing year three come to an end, I like to think back of how our journey started.  This leads to thinking about the good and the bad, what I did and loved, what we did and changed…but that is the beauty of home educating, you have control of your curriculum and you can pick and choose what works best for your child(ren).  🙂 
So in thinking back, the only thing I wish I had was a “tutorial” of sorts so that I had a better idea of what to do STEP-BY-STEP.  Call me square if you want, but I really love “how-to” books and blog posts.  I find them extremely valuable and well, experience is the most important thing in life, in all aspects actually.  Honestly, I learned more from my homeschooling mommy peers (whom do not have teaching degrees) than from co-workers with Masters or PhDs.  You cannot trade a degree for experience, honest to goodness.  When I first started homeschooling, I looked like a freshman in college next to these ladies.  (SHOUT OUT:  Thank you Betsy, Katie, Stephanie, Tina, RuthAnne, Richelle, and Kimberely for all your guidance, patience, and support!  I truly could not have done it without you and might have already been a “homeschool drop out” if it wasn’t for you lovely ladies!)  
So here it is, a series of How-To’s on home educating entitled “Catholic Homeschooling 101”.  It is my hopes that this little tutorial will guide, help and support those who do not have the same IRL support that I received from my friends.
So stay tuned for upcoming tips, tricks, and ideas for Catholic Homeschooling!  I’ll be talking about:
  • About Goals
  • About Learning
  • About Life
  • About Growing Up
  • About Fun
  • About Sleep
  • About Letting Go
  • About Love
  • About Procrastination
  • About Time Management
  • About Work
  • and more…

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daily organizer, homeschooling, motherhood, Organization, printables

Organized Mom = Happy Home {Daily Organizer Free Printable}

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WARNING:  I am not an organized person, never was as a child, nor a young adult, and now as an adult it has been one of my constant struggles.  When I first read books like A Mother’s Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot, I thought, “there is no way I can micro-manage my life like that – NEVER happening, nope…I will be miserable!”  Honestly, I believed that becoming a micro-manager in my home, homeschool, and daily life would equal a tormented mommy and wife.  I mean if every aspect of my life was organized and timed and schedule, when would I find the time to “play”, “relax” and really “enjoy life”.  So I went with the flow like I always did, organized my homeschool, some, the house, some, my prayer life, some.  But my so-called “freedom mentality” was just the opposite!  Yeah, I admit it, I was dead wrong!
With the move to the new house and adding 400+ square feet more to clean and keep organized PLUS depleting the house of clutter by selling or giving away TONS of things before the move, this was my opportunity to give this micro-management a try.  I went kicking and screaming, I confess (to you and my spiritual director).  So I started searching for a method, a practice, what would work for me but also get me to be super organized.  I bought a new book written by fellow Catholic homeschooler (and blogger) Laura Dominick entitled, A Plan for Joy in the Home (highly recommend it!), re-read the old ones (actually, I skimmed), and searched the internet for an answer, Holly at The Three Sided Wheel has other great printables and has been a great inspiration to me.  After seeing many examples of great domesticity and ideas, I came up with a game plan to implement at home.  {Pray for me, this hasn’t been easy but it is so necessary.}  
It’s amazing how getting everything written down on paper helps to get your life in order.  
I will be posting in parts, the way I set up a cleaning schedule, a chore schedule (which we are still working on), a school schedule and daily micro-management of my home.  Maybe, my struggles will be an inspiration to another mama like me, who struggles in this department?  So here I will chronicle my journey to becoming an Organized Mama and in turn creating a Happy, Healthy and Holy Home (Domestic Church anyone?).  I, of course, will also be sharing all the goodies I’ve spent time working on.  They are, obviously, going to be super “cuttie-patooty”, because I’m a visual learner and like “pretty”.  So today I’d like to share my Daily Organizer.  I know it won’t be a practical sheet for EVERYONE and yes it is in color but I do print front and back (to save trees) and also on draft mode (to save on ink).  
Daily Organizer
Also, if you don’t want to have to print this all the time, go ahead and print in regular mode (for bright colors), slip this into a heavy-duty sheet protector and use a dry erase marker.  But if you are like me, I love saving the sheets to look back on things.  Another idea is to print a week’s worth and then sheet protect them so that you have the whole week to look at but other clean sheets available to use.  Enjoy!


UPDATE:  After printing on draft mode and keeping the sheets I realized that there was no need as I have my monthly planner that stores it all.  SO, I printed regular mode and slipped them into sheet protectors.  I love the bright colors.  I also made a second sheet that doesn’t contain the flower back ground for all the even pages (it is page two on the PDF above).  I printed 14 so I have two weeks available to write on to plan ahead.  Here’s what the second sheet looks like:
 
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Educational, homeschooling, Moving, Traveling

Schooling on the Road: Making our Move Educational

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Cor Iesu Academy is moving!  We are physically moving from the South to the North East!  We will be saying our good-byes to North Carolina next Monday and hello to Pennsylvania by Wednesday.  In those three short days we are going to travel through Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland!  So in three days we would have been in five different states!  How awesome is that?

In preparation for this journey, I asked some Facebook friends on various groups such as Catholic Homeschoolers, Mustard Seed Catholic Moms, and, of course, Raising Little Saints for some great ideas!  I thought I’d share with everyone since they really were so fantastic.  Some of the great ideas we won’t be able to do this time because of time constraints with getting into our new home and starting to set up just in time for Todd to start his wonderful new job.

So the to ideas.  I’m creating lapbook/folders per child (yep even the 22 month old, so he doesn’t feel left out) with the following printables:

1.  Map of the entire USA with Postal abbreviations (on this one I plan to have them color in all the states we have traveled through since moving out of Florida back in 2008):

My friend, Heather, suggested this for my 3 year old and the 22m: “I would highly consider making a “Dora” type map showing them the stopping points that you will go to. Have one of the older kids help them navigate it. This was a huge hit when my son was in that age bracket. Your 5 year old might enjoy it too.”  (I’m working on these for the little ones, thanks my friend!
2.  Fun Facts of each state (these maps which I found on crayola.com – thanks to Cristina! – have the state flower, state insect, when statehood occurred, state capital, bird, and the flag with details on how to color it):

3.  Create a Travel “Passport” for the journey. (I made this into a Google Document to share with you). It was easy to create using MicroSoft Publisher, all images are from there.)  Feel free to recreate for your use.  🙂
4.  Scrapbook Collecting: We plan to scrapbook the trip. Each kid has a shoe box to collect free maps/pamplets at rest stops. Also in their shoe box is a pen, scissors, glue stick, slips of paper for descriptions & mini-photo album. They can use this as a springboard for their journal or collect leaves, map their journey, ticket stubs, etc. Since we are crossing state borders, we are going to stop at the informational point as you leave YOUR state (for memorabilia – a last map, etc) and then at each new state as you enter. You can get great info about the state there and often free booklets on local attractions, etc. Also doing “I-Spy” picture taking of signs. {Thanks Jennifer for this great idea!)

That’s it!  For now at least.  As I keep packing, I’m sure I’ll think of more ideas.  🙂  If you have more ideas for me, please fell free to leave a comment.  If you loved these ideas, also tell me how much you liked them or if you can think of another way to do it, please share!  Thanks for looking.
     
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action needed, homeschool legal defense association, homeschooling

Urgent—Calls Needed To Oppose Federal Mandatory Reporting Bill

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Received this from the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and thought it would be great to help them spread the word.  Please tweet, FB share or blog share this ASAP!  

Thank you!  

Blessings, Erika

Home School Legal Defense Association

Urgent—Calls Needed To Oppose Federal Mandatory Reporting Bill

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,
Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Children and Families will hold a hearing on S. 1877, a bill that will require all adults to be mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. This bill will create a police-state reporting environment that will lead to baseless investigations of innocent families, and actually hurt at-risk children. HSLDA opposes this legislation for numerous reasons which you can read here.
Urgent calls are needed to the senators on the Subcommittee on Children and Families to oppose S. 1877. If either of your two U.S. senators are on the subcommittee, HSLDA urges you to call with some or all of the following message (there is no need to identify yourself as a homeschooler):

“I am concerned that S. 1877, which is scheduled for a committee hearing this Tuesday, will lead to privacy violations and allegations of abuse and neglect against innocent families because of the mandatory reporting requirement for all adults. Additionally, S. 1877 will greatly increase the federal government’s role in social services investigations, cluttering the system, and making it hard to find children who are truly at risk.”

Senators on the Subcommittee on Children and Families

Barbara Mikulski (MD)
Patty Murray (WA)
Bernard Sanders (VT)
Robert Casey (PA)
Kay Hagan (NC)
Jeff Merkley (OR)
Al Franken (MN)
Michael Bennet (CO)
Richard Blumenthal (CT)
Tom Harkin (IA)
Richard Burr (NC)
Lamar Alexander (TN)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
Rand Paul (KY)
John McCain (AZ)
Pat Roberts (KS)
Mark Kirk (IL)
Michael Enzi (WY)		             202-224-4654      
            202-224-2621      
            202-224-5141      
            202-224-6324      
            202-224-6342      
            202-224-3753      
            202-224-5641      
            202-224-5852      
            202-224-2823      
            202-224-3254      
            202-224-3154      
            202-224-4944      
            202-224-3643      
            202-224-4343      
            202-224-2235      
            202-224-4774      
            202-224-2854      
            202-224-3424      
You may identify and contact your two U.S. senators using HSLDA’s Legislative Toolbox.
Please note that it is not necessary to call your senators if they are not on the list above; however, it will not hurt to send them an email or letter sharing your concerns about S. 1877.

Background

Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey and California Senator Barbara Boxer introduced S. 1877: “Speak Up to Protect Every Abused Kid Act” in response to the tragic occurrences at Penn State University. Unfortunately, S. 1877 will lead to greater federal involvement in social services investigations, which we believe will hurt innocent families and make it even harder for social services agencies to find and help truly at-risk children. Additionally, the federal requirement that every single American adult act as a mandatory reporter will create a police-state environment of reporting on friends, family, and neighbors.
We encourage you to read our detailed review of S. 1877 available here and then forward this e-lert to your friends and family and have them also call their U.S. senators if they serve on the Subcommittee on Children and Families.
Thank you for standing with us for liberty. It is only through your action that we will be able to continue to protect the right of innocent parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children without the fear of baseless investigations into their children and family.
Very truly yours,
J. Michael Smith, Esq.
President, HSLDA.
• • • •

Who’s Knocking on Your Door?

When a social services worker arrives at your door, tension can run high. Wouldn’t it be nice to get your lawyer on the phone, providing you with immediate step-by-step guidance?
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babies, Blossoming Joy, Day-to-Day, homeschooling, Melody, toddlers

Homeschooling Day-to-Day: What do I do with babies and toddlers? PART 1

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by Melody Lyons

One of the most frequent questions I hear regarding the nuts and bolts of the homeschooling day is “What do I do with my baby and toddler while I’m trying to teach the older children?” Let’s face it, homeschooling mamas are the ultimate multi-taskers. Did you know that I can teach Latin, correct a spelling test, supervise a sewing project, cook dinner, write an article, chase a new crawler and help a toddler go to the bathroom all at the same time? Actually, I can’t do anything of the sort. And that, my friends, seems to be the problem; we are under the illusion that such management brilliance is actually possible.
I thought about detailing here some of the many and varied methods for scheduling infants and distracting toddlers so that the home educating mother can proceed with focused, quiet and well-planned teaching perfection. I thought about it… for about three minutes. I know all the suggestions and I’ve even used some of them. The reality, however, is that I have been only periodically successful because life messy and unpredictable. 
My solution? It’s a good one but can be hard to swallow, particularly for the “type A” personalities among us (you know who you are); but perhaps it can bring someone out there a little bit of peace.
Mothering our children or managing them
As homeschooling mothers, we are charged with the challenging task of managing our homes. This requires a good measure of discipline and planning as well as a tremendous amount of flexibility. Our vocation is a complicated thing and along with being a spiritual reality is also, practically speaking, our job.  Those of us with multiple children find that the day-to-day operations require all of our time and talents. We have an image in our minds of the perfect day and apply ourselves to making it a reality.
Enter the small, developing human beings in our lives. Messy. Testing. Unpredictable. Noisy. Needy. So needy.
This is where we each need to take a step back and examine the way we approach these little needy people. If we are finding ourselves frequently referring to our youngest children as “problems” in our homeschool, then perhaps we are spending too much time trying to manage our children instead of mothering them. There is a certain amount of management necessary within a family but caution is in order when we begin to manage relationships instead of engaging in them.
*Do you find yourself frequently brushing aside your little ones in order to tend to more “important” things or projects?
*Do you often become irritated when a little one approaches you with a need?
*Do  you use television, videos or video games to babysit the littles more than you would like to but feel that you have to in order to “get stuff done”?
*Have you allowed a spirit of resentment toward your children to creep into your heart because their needs are interfering with your plans?
These are questions that we must frequently address and honestly answer for the sake of our children. I find that these attitudes and actions sneak up on me over time when I am not paying attention. Almost anyone can set up a schedule and check off tasks. As homeschooling mothers, we are charged with a much, much greater responsibility.
How can I teach in all this chaos?
If there is actual chaos in your home, then you do need a basic plan and a hearty helping of discipline. But is it really chaos that you are experiencing or just the colorful, messy, noisy beauty of healthy family life? Are you upset because there is actual damage to the learning going on in your home or are you unhappy with the loss of the image of your “dream” school?
If you are homeschooling, then you do have an obligation to educate your children. It is my experience that this learning will happen whether or not there are babies crying, dishes in the sink or toddlers throwing tantrums. Life is not neat and tidy and it is certainly never easy. They will learn in spite of that… and they may learn more of the important things in life because of it.
If you send your children to a local institutional school, your children will be faced with many distractions such as disruptive classmates, fire drills, bells, difficult teachers, hot weather, bullies, assemblies, announcements, etc. Your homeschooled student would not necessarily be less distracted from learning in a school environment… it is really our preferences as home educating moms that are the issue here.
To be continued….


*For a peek into my homeschool and the educational approach that keeps me sane and my children learning, visit me at Blossoming Joy.

Melody is a Catholic mama joyfully seeking truth, sanctity and a clean kitchen amidst the hustle and bustle of her full house. A happy wife and homeschooling mother of six, she is devoted to her vocation while finding bits of time for a few happy distractions. How does a Catholic homeschooling mother manage faith, family, education, creative pursuits, fitness and fellowship? The calendar is set. The reality is flexible. The days are colorful. The dishes are piling. The children are blossoming. The Lord is merciful. Blessed be the Lord! You can share in Melody’s journey of hope and joy at her blog, Blossoming Joy: A Journal of Home Education, Christian Womanhood and the Pursuit of Sanctity.
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catholic homeschoolers, cause and effect, chaos, chores, homeschooling

Stop, Regroup, Start Over…when Chaos Strikes Your Homeschool

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Today was one of the hardest days I’ve ever had since my first decision to home educate our children. Having three officially schooling, one preschooler and a toddler can really be demanding on mom/teacher. The thought of ending is not an option for us (long story) but this chaos that occurred today gave us a good reason to regroup and start over at our Family Meeting.  Ever had one?  They are really great!

These are just a few of the benefits of holding regular Family Meetings (source: Family Meetings Website):

  • Promotes leadership
  • Establishes a solid family foundation
  • Stresses accountability
  • Builds confidence
  • Promotes goal setting
  • Improves self-discipline and cooperation
  • Teaches problem-solving skills
  • Teaches time and money management
  • Strengthens family communication
  • Resolves family conflicts

Here are some things that came out from our family meeting:

  • Going forward, we will be having weekly family meetings to discuss how our week has been. 
  • Children had to make confessions of the areas where they have been slacking and what they are prepared to do to fix things. 
  • New outlines were set and promises made. 
  • A consequence chart was revisited and adapted. 
  • There will be no yelling of any kind going on…(no need for it now that new punishments were instituted).

Isn’t homeschooling lovely?  Do you have family meetings too?  What are some things that you do to handle a situation in your homeschool when things aren’t working out?

Have a blessed week,
Erika

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homeschooling, resources

Catholic Curriculum Options

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If you are a first time homeschooler, you will have to make several choices when it comes to curriculum. There are so many choices that it might become overwhelming. To avoid this, do your research first! This isn’t the end-all list as there might be more publishers/schools available of which I may not be aware of.

Catholic Curriculums (that you can enroll your children in OR use as a book store):

Catholic Heritage Curricula
P.O. Box 125, Twain Harte, CA 95383 1-800-490-7713
It is Catholic Heritage Curricula’s belief that, when solid academics are offered in a gentle, flexible manner, the vast majority of children will blossom spiritually, emotionally, and academically. CHC’s educational approach lays a joyful foundation, resulting in children who achieve at and above grade level, do not ‘burn out,’ and instead ‘learn how to learn’. freebies

Mother of Divine Grace School
P.O. Box 1810, Ojai, CA 93024 1-805-646-5818 

Mother of Divine Grace School is a distance education program which helps parents implement a Catholic classical education in their home. It is designed in the light of the classical principle that the goal of education is to teach children how to think; to help them learn the art of learning. If children learn how to learn, they will be equipped for life, able to master any subject when it becomes necessary or desirable. Further, the curriculum is faithful to the doctrine and teaching of the Catholic Church, which enlightens and informs all the areas of the curriculum.

Our Lady of the Rosary School, Inc.
1010 Withrow Court, Bardstown, KY 40004 502.348.1338
This company uses the book Jesus Comes which is the foundation book for St. Anne’s Audio Catechism and Copybook for First Communion. This site offers beautiful encouraging wor ds to parents about the sacrament of Matrimony giving them the graces necessary to educate their children. They offer many Catholic homeschool curriculum. Here is what they say:

“Full service home education provider. Full enrollment, independent study enrollment, single courses, and on-line catalog available.”

Our Lady of Victory School
421 South Lochsa Street, Post Falls, ID 83854 208-773-7265

This company has been noted for using the old Baltimore Catechism and old Catholic textbooks as well as many other Catholic homeschool curriculum. See their republication of many Catholic books at Lepanto Press. They, too, have started creating copybooks with theme based content. It is an accredited Catholic home schooling apostolate. Here is what they say:

“Since 1977, OLVS homeschooling has been providing Roman Catholic curriculum and Roman Catholic textbooks. The curriculum and textbooks used in our …”

Seton Home Study School
1350 Progress Dr, Front Royal, VA 22630 540-636-9990

This company has totally rewritten many old Catholic textbooks into a more homeschool user-friendly format with illustrated workbooks. A real plus is that it has edited out some of the bad themes from the old books. We really appreciate this discernment. Seton, too, has started creating copybooks with theme based content such as history and offers other Catholic homeschool curriculum. Here is what they say:
“Seton Home Study School is an accredited Catholic home schooling apostolate under the Roman … Get a sneak peek at Seton’s outstanding K-12 curriculum. …”

REQUEST A CATALOG!

Like a More Eclectic Approach (piecing things together on your own)?

Catholicity
CatholiCity, PO Box 26101, Fairview Park, OH 44126
This company has a variety of services that can be a great service to Catholic homeschoolers like the Catholic Encyclopedia (1914) where you can “search or browse 11,000+ articles on Catholic teaching and history”.
They have the “Best Catholic Links” an “Exclusive database. Hundreds of carefully screened links.” See St. Anne’s Helper listed there under Education and Homeschool! Here’s what they say:

Catholicity “offers free Catholic CDs and novels, Catholic news and commentary, and the best Catholic links on the web.”

Kidica
Kidica, Moxy Media, 503 Imperial Road North, Units 5 – 9 Guelph, Ontario Canada N1H6T9 Tel: 1-866-669-9320
This website is an independent information guide that is written, edited and maintained Moxy Media, a leading publisher of online consumer information guides. Our goal is to provide factual, up-to-date information and shopping advice to online consumers. This site does not sell products directly and is not affiliated with any individual manufacturer. Search for “Catholic” to find their Catholic resources.  Information for Parents on Kids Entertainment including Family Travel Editor

St. Anne’s Audio Catechism and Copybook

St. Anne’s Audio Helper, P.O.B. 7, Belvue, KS 66407-0007  785-456-1711

This company has put together the best Catholic answers to the Baltimore Catechism for First Communion and Confirmation. This is a God-send for certitude later on when parents are trying to decide which books are truly Catholic. Having the basic Catholic beliefs correct makes discernment much easier. The student is well fortified with these Catholic answers! Here is what they say:

“Audio catechism CDs reduce the effort necessary to memorize the Baltimore Catechism answers and Catholic prayers. Copybooks help with the memorization and beautiful handwriting…”

Catholic Book Providers (buy your books from them):
AdoremusBooks
The Heldridge Family, Frederick Square Shopping Center, 2992 S. 84th St., Omaha, NE 68124 Call us at 402-502-3162, or toll-free at 888-392-1973
This company offers a great variety of the best books, art, and games for Catholic Homeschooling! Be sure to visit to see their many Catholic gifts as well. Here is what they say: Adoremus Books (Latin for “Let Us Adore!”) carries a broad selection of top quality books and resources designed to enrich your Catholic home from the Fathers of the Church to the great writers of today, Adoremus Books has something for everyone.

CatholicMax
Catholic Gifts Fulfillment, P.O. Box 291, Coppell, Texas 75019
This company offers over 7000 Religious products including Bibles, vestments, church goods, statues, and over 2000 rosaries. Here is what they say: “Our mission is to provide: The largest selection of Catholic products, Exceptional service, Outstanding value! CatholicMax.com is Catholic owned and operated. We don’t just sell to make a profit, we sell out of genuine devotion to the Catholic Faith. We are a Catholic Business Enterprise.

El Camino Real
El Camino Real, PO Box 84, Thompsons, TX 77481
This company offer The De La Salle Readers crown their book selection! We did not know that these were in print. These seem to be excellent old Catholic books, a rare find! We love the pedagogy in the front of the books. They have many other good Catholic homeschool books as well. Here is what they say:

“El Camino Real is a Catholic book store dedicated to spreading and publishing classic traditional Catholic books for individuals, families, and home school families who want to learn more about the liturgy of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Church doctrine, scripture, bible study, theology, apologetics, devotions, the saints, Catholic literature and the spiritual life.”

Lepanto Press
421 S. Lochsa Street, Post Falls, ID 83854 208-773-7265
This company has been noted for using the old Baltimore Catechism and old Catholic textbooks. See their Catholic homeschool curriculum, also. They, too, have started creating copybooks with theme based content. Here is what they say:

“From the beginning, OLVS stressed Religion as the common thread throughout the curriculum, with an accent on the history of the Church. We have also emphasized the importance of good Catholic literature, and we are revising our Music program to teach young children the appreciation of Folk, Classical, and Sacred Music, including polyphony and chant.”

Neumann Press
The Neumann Press, 21892 County 11, Long Prairie, MN 56347 1-800-746-2521

This company has excellent Catholic homeschool books especially if you are using Laura Berquist’s method or are unschooling. They have a two book set for Homeschool advice in particular. Some of the most precious books for children are at this site. They have republished Jesus Comes which is the back bone of St. Anne’s Audio Catechism and Catechism Copybook. It is an excellent book with modest and delightful pictures to go along with some bible stories and the Baltimore Catechism. Here is what they say:

 “The Neumann Press is named after Saint John Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia (1851 to 1860), the first man from the United States of America canonized by the Church. Our goal and primary purpose is to republish orthodox, traditional and classic Catholic books that have gone out of print.”

Tan Books
TAN Books & Publishers, PO Box 424, Rockford, IL 61105-0424 1-800-437-5876

This company has made a phenomenal effort to republish truly excellent Catholic homeschool books, again, especially if you are using Laura Berquist’s method or are unschooling. They also publish excellent editions of the Douay-Rheims Bible, the Catechism of the Council of Trent, and the Catholic Missal. We have been grateful to use the Catechism of the Council of Trent with our highschool children, it is plain spoken and easy to read! Read what they say:

“TAN Books and Publishers was founded by Thomas A. Nelson in 1967, when the problems developing in the Church were clear and becoming more severe. Many Catholic publishers such as Benziger and Bruce were getting out of Catholic publishing. Mr. Nelson recalls that at age 30, after studying politics and world events, he concluded that the only way to turn around the political situation in the U.S. and the world was through spiritual means. He believed that if enough people were living in the state of grace and striving to do God’s will, then, “for the sake of the elect,” God would “run interference” for the just in the social and political arena, according to Proverbs 21:1: “The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will he shall turn it.”

Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery
142 Joseph Blane Road, Silver City, New Mexico, 88061-9799
575-388-9279 www.ourladyofguadalupemonastery.com
This monastery offers an excellent supply of unusual Catholic homeschool books highlighting Benedictine spirituality. They have excellent selections for the study of Latin and caligraphy that we have not seen anywhere else. Their website has a pdf of their 48 page catalog that is well worth the manual request. They are happy to take your order by phone.  Their book list is well focused and has rare finds.

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catholicism, homeschooling, resources

Noah’s Ark and the Mind of the Homeschooling Mama

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So what does Noah’s Ark have anything to do with the mind of a Catholic Homeschooling Mama? Lots! Listen to this….

This is just too cool not to share with you! This isn’t new information because it was completed in 2007, but to me it is! :p So here’s the story:

A man in named Johan Huibers of Schagen in the Netherlands, a Dutch builder, has built a replica of the biblical ark as a true-life demonstration to his faith in the truth of the Bible names Johan’s Ark. Schagen, the town he lives in, is about 40 miles north of Amsterdam.

The incredible thing is that when you see the following pictures, you will be amazed by it’s immense size but this replica is ONLY half the size of the real thing! Johan created only a half size replica of what Noah made. I received this information via e-mail from a close friend and thought it was so neat that I wanted to share with you.

Also, I realized how much my mind has changed as far as receiving information and what I do with it…..I automatically wanted to save this information so that when I teach this story to my kids, we can take a virtual field trip (flying to the Netherlands with four kids, two adults, and on one income, isn’t economically possible right now, lol), learn about the different metric systems around the world, also could be an architecture lesson, a science lesson on sink and float, recreating our own arks with popsicle sticks, and on and on and on! Ten months ago, I would have looked at this story read it and maybe forwarded to two or three other friends who might have thought it was interesting…today, I can stretch it to cover so many subjects for both my older child and my preschoolers! For more on Noah’s Ark, click here to go to the online Catholic encyclopedia.

Enjoy the pictures:



Blessings,
Erika

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adoption, catholic homeschoolers, Forever and For Always No Matter What, Happy Father's Day, homeschooling, Mama Jen, Principals

Happy Father’s Day to The Principal of the School

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In honor of all Fathers {the Principals of our Schools} on Father’s Day, we introduce Mama Jen in her first Guest Blog on Raising {& Teaching} Little Saints, discussing the crucial role that fathers play in the success of the home schools.  
Welcome Mama Jen to RLS!  ~ Mama Erika
Interested in being a guest blogger on RLS?  
e-mail me, raisinglittlesaints {at} gmail.com

______________________________________________________________________

The Principal of the School
When I first brought up the topic of home education to my husband, his initial reaction was “no way, our kids will be weird and they will miss all kinds of normal stuff!”. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way baby! Now my husband is our biggest cheerleader and supporter of our home education journey.

Husbands can be such an integral part of the day, whether or not they are actively involved in teaching a class. Some dads are responsible for science, others for math, maybe some are in charge of the history lessons for the day. In our house, Dad isn’t responsible for a particular subject. He takes on a much broader role. He’s more like the superintendent, because he is also responsible for funding, maintenance, coach, and cheerleader.

Maybe some home educating moms desire a husband who will take charge of math, or science, or whatever. But my husband has a job that keeps him more than busy, I would prefer his time with us to be spent on more relaxed family activities like reading aloud, nature walks, bike rides, etc

What he does do is vitally important to the success of our day/month/year. He is a tremendous source of encouragement for all of us. Just the mere fact that I know he prays for us during the day is extremely uplifting.

He has gone from thinking home education was odd and our kids would be “weird”, to seeing it as been a great opportunity for our family. Sometimes the kids will say something throughout the course of dinner or anywhere really and he will catch my eye and say “see they do remember stuff!”.

My husband is a great sounding board for curriculum choices. He and I know our children best and he sometimes has a different insight into a particular child. He often can see the whole picture and not be consumed by the nitty gritty of daily tasks. Many times he can see progress in a particular area that I have missed.

Plain and simple, I couldn’t do this home education journey without his support, encouragement, and laughter!

How has your husband enriched your home education journey?

~ Mama Jen

ABOUT MAMA JEN
Jen is a wife to one amazing husband and mom to six energetic kids.  Visit Forever, For Always, No Matter What where she blogs about their Catholic faith, homeschooling and adoption.

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