Each spring home school parents all over evaluate the past year. Last year we did a curriculum change in the middle of the year because the one we were using simply did not suit the child using it. I loved the curriculum and had used it successfully with other children, but the current student not so much. End of year found us unhappy with the skills development in other subjects as well. New Year, New Curriculum and a few outside programs are the result. We even thought about the public school and a Montessori school. As there are a couple … Continue reading
Category Archives: Education
Education of our children is a major concern of parents. We are our children’s first and primary teachers and have the responsibility before God to give our children the education they need to grow into good Catholics and good citizens. This weighs heavily on me every fall as I look at the new curriculum I have chosen and ask myself if I chose rightly. Home School is ever-evolving and I with it. I have a teaching degree and classroom experience, but I have home schooled far more years than I ever spent teaching anywhere. I love it, the challenge and … Continue reading
What to do when your first grader is NOT an early reader? What to do when readiness is slow to arrive? What do you do when well-meaning friends and family fuss because it looks like this child is going to be behind? You take a deep breath and evaluate. Learning style of teacher and pupil. It is a constant question–what curriculum do I use? I used Seton for a very long time. It was not the first curriculum I tried back in the day more than twenty years ago when I first embarked on home schooling. I tried Kolbe (classical) … Continue reading
Lovely Garb Links for recreating historical clothing: FABRIC TO INSPIRE: SARTOR: Reference page to see fabrics recreated from archeological finds. Currently, they have a Viking fabric in polyester and rayon that could be trim. But this is more for reference as these fabrics (especially the silks) are very costly. LINEN: The ILO19 is a nice weight and good for our climate. The price is reasonable for linen and they run daily sales. WOOL: absolutely period, for every region of the world, for every part of the period you are studying. Every person at every economic level would have had garments … Continue reading
FOR GOD AND PROFIT is a small book, written by Samuel Gregg, and subtitled, HOW BANKING AND FINANCE CAN SERVE THE COMMON GOOD. The forward is written by George Cardinal Pell. I am simply loving this book. Quotes of Popes and Church Fathers, a clear understanding of our economic system, and written in a way that our High School age students will be able to benefit in their understanding of our economy and how their decisions can influence it so it serves the common good. FINALLY a Catholic book on Finance that actually uses all the documents of the Church … Continue reading
Did you know that Louis L’Amour would scour libraries, court houses, and museums for original source materials such as diaries, old letters, records of all sorts, in addition to newspapers before writing his stories? Supplement a unit study with his books or build an entire unit study around them, Mr L’Amour’s intense research makes his stories a good source for educational enrichment. His westerns are Historical Fiction and better researched than nearly anything else in that genre. Westerns are a form of Historical Fiction that often gets overlooked. As parent educators we have the opportunity to bring history to life for … Continue reading
Several friends were discussing the the changes in our education system which even the parochial schools are embracing. We discussed a book assigned to middle school children written in first person from the perspective of a pedophile and everyone felt that it was not appropriate reading material for a child who is barely entering puberty. They were wondering what the agenda was that caused the writers of this program to select a book about sexual deviancy for children who do not yet have their own healthy sexuality set solidly. We agreed that the pornographic sex education was just wrong and … Continue reading