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Holiness and education both begin with openness
ph’phata!” Jesus said to the man who was deaf and mute. “Be open!” (See Mark 7:34.) The call to openness is a call to us all, whether we seek greater intimacy with God, or a better education for our...
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What is contemplation? Part I
ontemplation for Carmelites is the summit of the spiritual life on earth. It is (or should be) the goal of all Christians. It is what we prepare our kids for in our homeschool. But there is a lot of...
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Hectic Advent? Change your school calendar
re you already stressed by the pressure of Christmas preparations on top of your homeschooling and parenting duties? You don’t have to be. You can reduce the pressure by doing less–less teaching, that...
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Meditation for kids: Jesus our healer
I wrote this meditation for my boys last week, to end our unit on Jesus’s first healing miracles in the Gospels. Use it to supplement your own Bible study or the liturgy. Read it aloud slowly with lots...
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Peter Rabbit and the fall of man
The great literature of western civilization, whether consciously or unconsciously, bears either the mark of the Gospel or the rejection of it. I don’t know whether Beatrix Potter was purposely...
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YOU are your child’s model of prayer
Why do I talk so much about prayer on a homeschool blog? First, because prayer is the way we communicate with God on earth. Although it is not the only aspect of the spiritual life, it is the “one...
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Christmas greetings from our contemplative homeschool
(This is an edited version of my annual Christmas letter to friends and family.) A few years back, the boys would sing their own versions of familiar songs, with original rhymes. That Christmas, D...
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Should school focus on work or leisure?
Some parents reject the term “homeschool,” preferring instead “education at home.” To them, “school” means an institution in a factory-like setting with dry textbooks and arbitrary schedules....
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Domestic monastery: living by the bell
I had never heard the term “domestic monastery until Jennifer Fulwiler recently blogged about it in a post I linked to. To me, domestic monastery and contemplative home(school) are 2 ways of...
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Teach your children mental prayer
What is your goal for your children’s education? Academic prowess? Love of learning? Knowledge of Church doctrine? All these are good, but a contemplative homeschool seeks something more. My goal is to...
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Meditation for Kids: Manna in the wilderness
As promised, this is an example of a concrete meditation on Scripture for primary-grade kids. Please read Teach your children mental prayer for background. I will go through all the steps outlined...
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Vatican teaching on Catholic schools–quotes to ponder
Archbishop J. Michael Miller identified 5 marks of a Catholic school. How does your school–at home or otherwise–measure up? All the quotes are from The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools. 1....
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Matthew 16 and the papal conclave for kids
Since Sacred Scripture is at the center of our homeschool, I decided to begin our studies on the papal conclave with a look at the origins of the papacy in Matthew 16. We have been reading The Golden...
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Is your homeschool faith-based?
I’ve read at least a dozen books on homeschool philosophy and gleaned something from every one. But none exactly met my vision of what I wanted our homeschool to be. Some were literature-based...
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3 reasons I love Catholicism: Truth, goodness, and beauty
Micaela at California to Korea is hosting a link-up called “3 Reasons I love Catholicism.” You can submit your link all month. There are lots of good submissions, so check them out and join up. My...
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Why use a homily–not a sermon–format for homeschooling?
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote briefly about my faith-based method of homeschooling. To recap: I see methods such as Catholic Heritage Curricula, which bring the faith to individual subjects, as using...
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Jacob and Esau contemplative homeschool unit
I have been blogging lately about my method of contemplative homeschooling. Here is an example of a unit I did a few years ago with my boys on Jacob and Esau. The best way to start these units is for …...
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Math can be poetic
I was good at arithmetic in school (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing), but I never had a mathematical mind. I struggled through algebra. I don’t retain dates or phone numbers well,...
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Is fear or love the better motivator?
Last week’s post on the Final Judgment (and Mr. Darcy and St. Therese) reminded me of two opposing views I’ve read in books about homeschooling. Some authors say that loving your students is the best...
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Homeschooling parents, you can change the world!
This past weekend I attended the Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference. I heard two excellent talks and discovered interesting materials I had never seen before. I would like to spend the next...
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