Better than Matchmaking

My husband has made me promise to never match-make again.  It is so hard for me to avoid match-making when I find two delightful devout Catholics, but I have agreed.  (As a friend recently said, the holy spirit seems to have that area covered better than I.)

I read this article tonight by the amazing author, whose book I am currently reading, "Ten Ways to Destroy Imagination of Your Child":

Catholics, Awake! Marriage Doesn’t Just Happen! by Anthony Esolen

 

It's worth reading.  I love that our parish has a 20's and 30's group.  NYC seems to have lots going on for Catholic singles.  As a homeschooler, I'm trying to learn more about how to support my single Catholic friends as they work towards their hoped-for vocations as moms like us, in order to be a better friend and also because my children are watching the ways our single friends live their faith.

 

It seems it takes role models, other brave Catholic women to pave the way, married and single. Many books and blogs abound on the topic of dating and married life.  Recently, I read and I am fond of Hallie Lord's "Sex, Style, and Substance" book, and I'm perplexed by her recent amazon review by a "disgusted feminist".  I am praying tonight for the single Catholic women, especially our close friends, who live in such a tough world that seems to be violently against our beliefs around every corner.  I am trying to educate my children to respect the gifts given to them by Our Lord, to value the idea of being courted, to see how much joy I find in this crazy and fun vocation. May Catholic women continue to be able to thrive in our chosen vocations.

 

Finally, since I'm sharing my favorite things of late and so cleverly tying them into homeschooling ... I loved this article written by another St. Anne's mother, Karen Anderson: On Tea & Christinanity.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could all sit down for tea together and ponder the future of our faith in this world.  Tuesday night... hope to see you at Lauren's.

 

Prayers ladies,

Mrs. K

 

Audio Memory Work Links

I love audio. The Colm Cille Club cd is clearly the best. My kids can't get enough of the song about the American Presidents. Slick Slack reciting the poetry in a Mrs. C accent, well, it's just brilliant.

At a book club this afternoon where the kids are presenting about St. Dominic, I learned about another great audio source: Audio Memory. Am I a new homeschooler eager yet judicious, wise and frugal, or did I just buy it?

https://www.audiomemory.com/geography.php

Added to cart. Yes, I did.

My husband will be so happy. Another ~few~ songs for the car.

Mrs. K

Homemaking 101

Spending most of my childhood playing sports and training to be an attorney, I paid little attention to homemaking. Since this is so central to my vocation, we spent the week learning together. We made a Homemaking 101 binder with tabs for Family, Cleaning, Cooking, Organizing, and Decorating. Slick Slack (6) loved this. She learned 24 steps to cleaning a bathroom, a compilation of tips from these blogs, my own preferences, and her style:

- Fly lady
- Confessions of a homeschooler
- Amongst lovely things
- Starr Family Blog 


She baked her first cake from scratch, a chocolate cake in honor of her friend, Luke, and her godfather, as it was the feast day of St. Luke, adding a secret ingredient - sweet potatoes from a baby food jar.  It was edible and cute. The secret healthy ingredient wasn't discovered. We are using "A Year with God: Celebrating the Liturgical Year" from Catholic Heritage Curricula to understand what is means to live the liturgical year. As a convert, I'm looking for any suggestions you all may have.

Our first full year homeschooling, we are trying to find balance. Homemaking had been taking a backseat to memory work, presentations, math, etc., but this week gave me a newfound focus. The smiles all around me help me realize that learning happens in myriad creative ways. 

Good night, ladies.

Tricks for Treats

We often review our memory work over lunch.  We have a super-fast eater (Aine), a super-slow eater (Caera), and another little guy who is sometimes so busy falling out of his chair he forgets to eat and needs frequent reminders to take another bite!  All this combines for what might seem to be a difficult learning environment, but there is one thing in the kitchen that always helps to keep us focused - both on our veggies and our memory work - and that is... dessert!

I go through the memory sheet for the unit and quiz them.  For each thing they recite correctly they get a chocolate chip... if they don't remember something we review it with a promise to return for another try.  Sometimes this means we go through the sheet a few times, and they insist on each having a chance to do each item.  Sometimes I "allow" them to do older units, too.  At the end of fifteen minutes, they have a little pile of chocolate chips - maybe 24 or so - which they divide between themselves.

Yes, eight chocolate chips each.

I'm a little ashamed to share this with you, but... Halloween is coming, so I thought you might like to join me in my shameless incentives program.

Pro-life Halloween Costume

Setting up memory work at home

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get a little overwhelmed with how to cover all of the wonderful material we're trying to do in Colm Cille Club. I happened upon this blog post with some ideas from someone who attends a Classical Conversations program. (This is one in a series of 5 posts she did on organizing memory work, so you might check out some of the other posts as well.)

Organizing Classical Conversations at Home

Using some of these ideas, I set up this on a wall in our basement.

Memory Work wall

My hope is that we will all be able to review a little bit each time we walk by. I have noticed Pasquale periodically stopping and reading what's posted. Hopefully it's sticking! I don't have Latin up there, but may add it. I also have the timeline on another wall.

That's all for now!

Some cd recommendations

Kids Songs ABC - Learning Phonics 


We recently purchased a CD, "Kids Songs ABC' by A. J. Jenkins, with songs to learn phonics, days of the week, numbers and months of the year.

It's simple but catchy and Maria seems to enjoy it.

The cd is available on Amazon here although they have some of their songs available on YouTube (below).








Groovin' in the Garden - Healthy Eating and Country Living

Over the summer we also brought a cd by Story Laurie called 'Groovin' in the Garden'. I have really enjoyed this cd and, unlike the phonics CD, I'm not yet sick of it. It has a cajun feel. Great for older kids.

Tracks can be heard here on Amazon. 

CD is available for purchase at CD Baby.