PandaMania Warning

Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) is a wonderful Catholic publishing company that is widely respected.  This year they release a Totally Catholic Summer Program (what our Protestant friends refer to as VBS) called PandaMania.  This is a Catholic rendering of the highly popular VBS programs put out by the Protestant company, Group.  What I am about to write does not apply to their version of the program.

Our parish decided to use OSV's PandaMania, and we were very excited initially, that is, until we started looking into the details.  The two most objectionable portions are the People of Faith cards and Connecting Kids to Justice.

The first of the People of Faith cards is Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.  Ever hear of him?  He's a Jesiut priest that has a lot of excellent scientific writings worth reading (the pope has said so); he is also in serious disagreement with the Church when it comes to his theology.  The Holy See has issued a Monitum regarding his work that includes the following:

"For this reason, the most eminent and most revered Fathers of the Holy Office exhort all Ordinaries as well as the superiors of Religious institutes, rectors of seminaries and presidents of universities, effectively to protect the minds, particularly of the youth, against the dangers presented by the works of Fr. Teilhard de Chardin and of his followers.” [Emphasis added]

Call me crazy, but an elementary summer school program does not seem like the place to introduce Teilhard.

As for Connecting Kids to Justice, it focuses on the Catholic Climate Covenant put together by the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change.  This coalition consists of 12 organizations affiliated with some of the most notorious Church dissenters.  Here is a sampling:

Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.  This organization has failed to concern itself with the moral decline of “Catholic” colleges.  See here and here.

Carmelite NGO.  While the Carmelite Order is wonderful, the Carmelite NGO supports UN initiatives to advance abortion and birth control services.  The Carmelite NGO fully supports the UN Millennium Goals and lists them on their web site.  If you click on #5 Improve Maternal Health it brings you UN Millennium Goals website.  Article 5.6 lists an unmet need for family planning.  The Carmelite NGO was a co-sponsor of the standing room only side event titled Consumption and the Rights of Mother Earth held at the UN on May 11, 2010.  The website mentions nothing about the rights of the unborn child.

Catholic Health Association of the United States.  The president of this organization is Sister Carol Keehan, who supported ObamaCare in defiance of the USCCB, and supported St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix after Bishop Olmstead sanctioned it for performing abortions.

Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).  This organization champions major dissidents of the Church, including Sr. Jeannine Gramick who spoke at their 2010 Leadership Conference.  This is the organization that led to several religious orders to ask for a different leadership organization be formed, The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious and Conference of Major Superiors of Men (another coalition member) held a joint conference in 2004 in which the keynote speaker was abortion advocate Mary Robinson.

As part of the program, they won't recite the Creed but your children will take this evironmental pledge:

You can see the slides for all 5 days here (scroll to the bottom for the PowerPoints.)  There's a lot of coaching your kids to go home and tell you how to behave.  Could you imagine if we had a TCSP that told kids to go home at tell their parents that they are committing a mortal sin if they don't attend Mass on Sunday?  Well, I know that might seem like a good idea, but would it be received as charity the way this environmentalism push is?

It seems to me that these organizations worship at the altar of politics dressed in Catholic social teachings.  They take something that honest Catholics may be concerned about, like environmental stewardship, poverty, health care, or immigration and use it as a front to advance their political agenda that usually undermines Church teaching and authority.  If anyone is going to indoctrinate my kids, I will; that's why I homeschool.

This is not the only alternative. Cat. Chat VBS has three wonderful programs, one on the Sacraments, one on the Mass, and one on The Blessed Mother.  Catholic Heritage Curriculum offers 4 great Children's Retreats/VBS programs as well. 

Free Computer Resources

We homeschool together, all in one room.  When I am working with one son I shcedule something the other two can work on independently, which can be challenging with kids in 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades.  This time is split into 3 categories:  reading, writing, and computer time. While I have purchased some great computer-based learning programs, like ExploreLearning and Adaptive Curriculum, I found a couple of great free websites as well.

The first is The Head of the Class. This website has activities for grades K through 5th.  After I logged in I went to the control panel and clicked on "Customize Curricula" to set up the activities I wanted for Ds#2 and Ds#3.  I choose only the interactive activities and not the worksheets that have to be printed out, so this website has many more resources available than what I use.  They even have a book for each grade.

The second is Brain Nook. This one is more play than learning, but the kids really enjoy it.  They create basic characters and travel through different regions of the globe.  They can interact with other people but at the basic level they can only "say" what is on a list of responses (premium members can type whatever they want, which is one of many reason we are not premium members.)  Often my kids will call their friends and log on at the same time while talking together on the telephone.  To earn points they have to play math and language arts challenges.  Once a week you are emailed a progress report that tells you how many challenges they played, what level they played at, and the breakdown of math to language arts.

Enjoy!

UPDATE (6/14):  We dropped BrainNook because it turned out to be too much play and not enough skill building.

Year Round Homeschool

We have always followed, more or less, a traditional school year.  We take a break from our typical academics from Thanksgiving until New Year, though we do Advent studies.  We then plough through two terms from January until the beginning of June with only Holy Week off.  It's a long, hard stretch.

Now that I no longer work at the hospital, I now teach 3 more classes that I didn't before, for a total of 5, and 3 of them are online.  My time is consumed correcting assessments and assignments, and blogging has taken it on the chin.  At least I don't have to try to get to work in the midst of a bizzard; and I am no longer scheduled for nights, weekends, holidays, or summers!

The dilemma is that I am trying to cram in homeschooling during the same time that my demands are greatest teaching.  I've thought about year-round homeschooling for awhile but I didn't really know how to approach it.  If I didn't school in the winter would the boys be just running aroung the house bored anyway making it impossible for me to work?  Then it just so happened (that you, Lord) that a very brief discussion occurred on one of the Yahoo groups about this very subject.  Some people, I guess, school for 3 weeks and take one off while others school for 6 weeks and take 2 off.  I've decided to try the latter.  Those two weeks will be enough for me to get caught up and a little ahead in my teaching, as well as to plan the next section of homeschool, and maybe even to blog a little! It give my boys just enough time to relax before getting bored.

My biggest concern is if we will have the will and the discipline to sit down to school during those glorious summer days.  While math will run year round, our Religion and Language Arts are not a full 36 weeks, we can stop Rosetta Stone Italian in the summer, and we won't have co-op so Friday is always free.  I am dreaming of a relaxed and joyful time of learning.  I'll let you know what happens when reality sets in...

Colonial History

Our family will be studying Colonial History for the next eleven weeks and I put together our reading schedule based on Eva March Tappan books along with a few others.  Here are the spines linked to their full text at Google Books or Open Library:

An Elementary History of Our Country by Tappan
This is a straight-forward chronological history of the United States.  It's good for dates and facts.

Letters from Colonial Children by Tappan
As I mentioned in the last blog, this lovely historical fiction is a series of letters written by colonial children to their families and friends in the Old World.

American Hero Stories by Tappan
This is a book of biographical sketches that is great for younger children.

Builders of Our Country Vol. 1 by Gertrude Van Duyn Southwick.  I'm not sure where I found this, but I had it in my Google library.  It is also a series of biographical sketches, many of which are colony founders, so it filled in a lot of gaps I had.  This will be a read aloud.

The Catholic Pioneers of America by John O'Kane Murray
This is another series of biographical sketches dedicated to American Catholics.  It has over 80 biographies, written more as stories than a factual retelling, arranged by date of death.  I found sorting through this book fascinating.  This will also be a read aloud in preference to Builders when they both cover the same person.

I have two stories about South Carolina in Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston.

You can download the entire 11-week schedule as a PDF.

Now to search through For the Love of Literature and Let the Authors Speak for some good historical fiction to go along with this reading schedule!

Eva March Tappan

I have found a children's non-fiction treasure in Eva March Tappan; her books have become the center of our history education.  I have read Marshall, Eggleston, and Guerber, yet we most enjoy Tappan.  A Massachusetts native, making her a local favorite for us, you can read her full biography at The Baldwin Project.

Her writing engages my boys better than other similar books have.  For her events-based books, she ends each chapter with a summary, which is a great narration helper for me, and then three or four creative writing suggestions.  All of her books are all in the public domain and available at the usual places--Google Books, Open Library, The Baldwin Project, and Heritage History to name a few.

For World History we are reading The Story of the Roman People instead of Foster's Augustus Caesar's World.  She of course has books about Greek History and English History, too, among others.  Here is Open Library's list of her titles.

For American History we are focusing on the Colonial Period.  We will use American Hero Stories as well as An Elementary History of Our Country.  In addition, she wrote a delightful book called Letters from Colonial Children.  Ten fictional children, each from a different colony, have written one or more letters to relatives back in the Old World.  According to the preface, while using the modern language of her day she still strove for historically accurate details.

From a Catholic perspective, though Tappan is a Protestant Christian, she by far gives the best account of Catholic American history that I have found in these types of books.  One of the children in Letters is a Catholic girl from Maryland.  While not a perfect Catholic perspective, it gives a lot of Catholic detail and falls only a little short compared to Eggleston, Guerber, and especially Marshall.

With these books as a spine, the rest of my U. S. History should fall into place for the next term.  I'm looking forward to incorporating more of her works into our studies.

Advent

We have begun our Advent break and, yes, I am already behind in our activities!  Sunday was spent relaxing--and lighting the Advent wreath--and yesterday was a whirlwind!  We did see a wonderful performance of the Nutcracker in the morning, spent a couple of hours with friends in the early afternoon, brought Ds#1 to choir practice after that, and then I was off to teach for the evening.

We are catching up, though!  Advent mornings begin with reading The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean.  We then read the bible passages listed on the back of the Jesse Tree ornament and place it on the tree.



Next we are following the Advent Catechesis Reading Plan 2010 from Family in Feast and Feria.  The plan is based on three beautiful and instructive books written by Inos Biffi and illustrated by Franco Vignazia.  All three books are available through Family-Centered Media.  The plan has us read An Introduction to the Liturgical Year over two weeks, adding in The Life of Mary during the second week, and then reading The Way to Bethlehem for the third and fourth weeks.  Added to this are readings from Ethel Marbach Pochocki's books Saints of the Seasons for Children and Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints.  The former is used throughout all 4 weeks; though it is OOP it is readily available used.
The latter is available through Bethlehem Books, as well as Amazon.


I also downloaded the files for My Little Advent cards and companion calendar from Family in Feast and Feria, so I better print them out very soon!

Especially, let us prepare our hearts to celebrate the Lord's coming, and prepare our souls for Him to come again.  Advent blessings to you all.

This Year's Program

I have been very busy over the summer and this fall such that I have not been able to blog, so now that the first term is two-thirds over I guess I will post something about what we are using this year!  I am now into our sixth year of homeschooling and finally, finally have I found what works for us

Religion:  We are continuing using the excellent Faith and Life series, only this year my two older boys are going through the program online.  I purchased access through My Catholic Faith Delivered which not only has the text read aloud to them, it also has a lot of multimedia and interaction to reinforce what they are learning.  They very much enjoy working this way.

Math:  This is our third year with the Mathematics Enhancement Programme (M.E.P.), still a free download from the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics.  Ds#3 is about to start Year 2, while Ds#1 and #2 will move up to Year 5 and Year 4 respectively by the start of our next term.  We have a lot of living math books as well that the kids are free to read and use, but this is really our focus.  The program is truly excellent for teaching math.

Language Arts:  Ds#3 started Primary Language Lessons from Hillside Education.  It's been a slow start for him as he gets up to speed with his reading and penmanship, but he is at the stage where he is progressing rapidly.  The program is designed to be covered in a single year, 3rd grade, but I like to go more slowly and cover it in two.  I really love how this program prepares my kids for writing.  No, this program will not put them on "grade level" with grammar or spelling or vocabulary.  But I no longer do any formal spelling since I have found that for some children it comes easily (Ds#2) and for others not so much (Ds#1), and they have best learned spelling through writing.  Vocabulary, too, is best learned through reading.

Ds#2 began Intermediate Language Lessons also from Hillside Education.  He brings his writing from this program to a writing class at our co-op and together they have really improved his imagination and narration.  Ds#1 is on the third section of this program, and also has a co-op writing class, and he has blossomed into a talented creative writer--and this from the loudest complainer about writing!  These boys, they do complain, but eventually they grow into it and this program has helped.

As for grammar, I agree wholeheartedly with the philosophy put forth by Analytical Grammar, a program we are trying, and liking, this year.  They believe, as I do, that grammar is a finite subject that can be learned during the 3 middle school; no year after year of grammar.  The program consists of 3 "seasons" or 10 week sessions, one for each year for grades 6th through 8th.  The bulk of the grammar is taught in these sessions, one building on another; periodic worksheets keep the information fresh between seasons.  I had my doubts that Ds#1 would be able to handle something this intensive and fast-moving.  I made a point of giving him my attention as he learned each section.  It was rocky at first; now I am quite impressed with how well he parses and diagrams sentences.  If he can do it, anyone can do it!
 
World History:  This is our second year using Connecting With History from St. George Books. We are using volume II this year, from the Birth of Christ to the Battle of Hastings (1066).  Between the books and the activity suggestions, this is how history should be done.  While this is a Charlotte Mason approach based on living books, the program is designed like a Classical approach such that you revisit each volume every 4 years, each time moving up another stage.  The whole family worked out of the same volume, yet they each read books and so activities for their level.  If only such a product was available for American History!

American History:  Since we do not have something as great as CWH for this subject, I try my best to set up something similar.  I have decided this year that we are going to study early America--American Indians, The Colonies, and People of the Revolution and the Constitution.  Our focus will be on biographies rather than events.  I used LibraryThing to figure out what books I already have relating to these topics, and then I use the library to fill in anything I may be missing.

You can see what we are doing for Science and Nature on my two other blogs, At Home Science and A Private Eye Nature.  More about co-op, Charlotte Mason, and learning to come!