Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill

The inspiration came from the challenge of keeping our little girls occupied and behaving at Mass. We tried the glass children's room in our church, but that was more like a day-care center than Mass. I saw parents in the pews supplying the kids with baggies of Cheerios and coloring books, and though we resorted to that once or twice, that didn't sit right with me. I saw some parents supply their kids with bible story books or children's prayer books: a step in the right direction, but this still left the child disconnected from the Mass. Then it occurred to me to look for children's bible stories synchronized with the lectionary cycle. Finding none, I wrote this book, the first in a series of three.

The intent of this book is to help parents and educators bring Jesus' message to children in a way that will include them more fully in the weekly Mass. This book does not try to change the gospel stories to be stylish or impose the latest slang onto them. It is a children's English translation, for our children to understand and hear Jesus' voice more clearly as He speaks to them in the pages of the Gospel.

The gospel reading fom each Sunday's Mass is represented in clear, simple, and sometimes expanded text that speaks to our children without speaking down to them. The text does not soften the demands of a life of faith, or water down the sadness or joy expressed in this great story.

I have finished the bulk of my homeschool planning for the coming year. [Deep contented sigh.] For those of you who are interested in what I use, here are the general details.

We have used Sonlight Curriculum from the very beginning of our homeschooling. I like that I can re-use each year's curriculum with my younger children with a minimal purchase of consumable materials. I like that we are building a library of real books. I like that it's an extremely adaptable curriculum. It is a Protestant curriculum but it has been an easy matter to adapt the curriculum to our family's needs.

Aleks math....may I just say what a godsend Aleks math has been for us?

We will continue using Magnificat for our daily prayer/Sacred Scripture times. We do morning prayers together, Angelus & Mass readings just before lunch, and when things are going well a family rosary before read-aloud time in the afternoon.

We usually ditch most of the SL Bible portion of the core, and I susbstitute read-alouds from biographies of Saints, and other inspirational people of faith. I believe strongly that the best interpretation of Sacred Scripture is read in the lives of the Saints so how the Saints lived their faith is the backbone of our catechism time. Books by Mary Fabyan Windeatt are a good starting place for the younger elementary kids with the exception of the book she did on Blessed Imelda Lambertini and everyone needs to read that one. The Vision series of books (here's one) is also good those listenee's that are a little older. The books by Louis de Wohl are similar to the Henty books in that there's a lot of history in them but they tend to be dry to read-aloud and they are similarly biased like the Henty books. I highly recommend The Shadow of His Wings for anyone who will be covering WWII with jr high and up children. It's a very exciting book and drives home the point that not all Germans were bad guys as well as the power of prayer! At times I will also work in books like The How-to Book of the Mass 

Some other resources that we have used in the past that you might want to look at:

Mass Explained to Children (this is an explanation of the pre-Vatican II mass but without too much difficulty can be used to discuss Novus Ordo)

Also pre-Vatican II but very helpful Know Your Mass

Another pre-Vatican II re-print My Catholic Faith ....some of the rules have changed from then to now but it's broken up into very digestible, systematic chunks, which makes it easy to discuss with children.

New to our catechism time this year will be An Introduction to Catholicism from the Didache series. I know my high schooler could benefit, my jr. higher is up to is, what remains to be seen is if my youngest (9 yodd) will be totally swamped by it. I am also hoping to spend some time with my two oldest on the Theology of the Body for Teens sometime during the year. I have just started viewing the DVD's that go with this program and I am very impressed. I think that teaching our children the Theology of the Body is essential and am enthusiastically recommending this as a way of incorporating it into your youth groups, and homeschools. Please check out what others have to say as well.

Nobattleplansurvivescontactwiththeenemy. Nobattleplansurvivescontactwiththeenemy. Nobattleplan......

In early third millennium America, heroic Catholic families generally don’t send their kids to public schools if they have any conceivable alternative. Nor do they take advantage of parochial or diocesan schools if their staffs are still riddled with cafeteria Catholics (or worse). If a sound Catholic school is not available, heroic Catholic families pull up roots and move, or they found independent schools, or they home school. Even if outstanding schools are available, they may still home school. I use the word “generally” in the first sentence, because there are exceptions to every parenting rule, and it isn’t anybody’s job but yours to make the best decision for your own children.

It is axiomatic that God will always supply the most when we can do the least, but we must also expect Him to supply less when we are simply unwilling to do more. And so heroic Catholic families must do their very best to keep tight control over their children’s educational environment at least through high school, and many will do so through college as well, depending on the child and the feasibility of using an outstanding Catholic college. Moreover, in heroic Catholic families, schools are never chosen because of their outstanding secular reputations, the material value of their credentials, or their brilliant extra-curricular possibilities. Heroic parents don’t sacrifice their children’s moral and intellectual formation so that they will have the opportunity to make more money or excel at sports, drama or music.

In heroic Catholic families, mothers work outside the home as little as possible, and fathers make themselves available to their children regardless of the pressures of work or their desire for rest and relaxation. Heroic fathers are very much involved in raising their children. Parental closeness to each child is maintained throughout the teen years; it is not abandoned during the difficulties of adolescence. In this context of ongoing involvement and availability, heroic Catholic families also pray together every day, forming a habit and expectation of family prayer from early childhood, preferably including the daily Rosary—which has a proven track record.

Heroic households not only bar the door to intruders but regulate the airwaves, as well as broadband and phone connections. They restrict their children’s computer time, cell phone features, television and movie watching, and (perhaps above all) Internet use. They educate themselves concerning the moral dangers of these media, and they make a point of not allowing into their homes media that represents people acting in ways that may lead their children into sin—ways in which they would never allow real guests to act. Heroic parents are constantly vigilant. If they are ignorant about certain technological issues, they get help from those who understand them.

An idea that I thought I would pass along. Someone suggested giving a blank journal to your child to allow them to ask questions ot speak their mind on something and then give it to you to answer and return. it.

My daughter is getting one for her birthday. Maybe it's an idea you could find useful too.

The Ignatius Critical Editions represent a tradition-oriented alternative to popular textbook series such as the Norton Critical Editions or Oxford World Classics, and are designed to concentrate on traditional readings of the Classics of world literature. Whereas many modern critical editions have succumbed to the fads of modernism and post-modernism, this series will concentrate on tradition-oriented criticism of these great works. Edited by acclaimed literary biographer, Joseph Pearce, the Ignatius Critical Editions will ensure that traditional moral readings of the works are given prominence, instead of the feminist, or deconstructionist readings that often proliferate in other series of 'critical editions'. As such, they represent a genuine extension of consumer-choice, enabling educators, students and lovers of good literature to buy editions of classic literary works without having to 'buy into' the ideologies of secular fundamentalism. The series is particularly aimed at tradition-minded literature professors offering them an alternative for their students. The initial list will have about 15 - 20 titles. The goal is to release three books a season, or six in a year. The first three titles to release in April 2008 are King Lear, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights.

tI hope this excites other readers out there as much as it excited me! Back to making lesson plans.....and as long as I am making recommendations I highly recommend Edu-Track for this onerous task.

The daily catechism time I have with my children usually consists of prayer, scripture (the day's Mass readings), and a read-aloud time from something religious....most often a biography of a saint. Currently we are reading from Lay Seige to Heaven: A Novel About St. Catherine of Siena by Loius deWohl. These biographies are an exceptionally good way of teaching my children about the faith. I know this because I learn so much about the faith. I think it was Benedict XVI who said that the best interpretation of scripture is to be found in the lives of the Saints. If it wasn't the Holy Father that said it, it must have been someone else really smart because....well I agree with it so much. Anyway back to the learning part.

Too many times I think that we think we are being holy when we can pick up our fingers, point them,  and accurately discern the sin that our neighbor has committed....did you notice how I dragged you right into this?....all right....Let me re-phrase that. Too many times, I think I am being holy when I can accurately discern sin in someone else's life. It's so darn easy isn't it? They are too focused on money or they gossip or lust or are ungenerous with their time or their money. But in the end, most of the time they know they are sinning and quite frankly don't need hypocritical me stepping in to do the Holy Spirit's job. And in the end, my helpfully pointing out where the poor sinner needs to straighten up usually just ends in ME being accused of being judgmental...can you imagine? Truthfully, I don't go around pointing such things out but I do stuggle with the temptation to do so from time to time. But perhaps it is because I am so easily tempted to uncharitableness and judgementalism that I was so struck by St. Catherine of Siena. Here was a woman who was so intensely devoted to Our Lord and so deeply committed to rooting out all worldliness in her life that she simply radiated the Holy Spirit. Apparently she inspired people to abandon their sinful lives by get this....just being holy. She didn't walk into a room and tell a priest that he was violating his vow of poverty by the richness of his possessions. She didn't stand on a street corner, point her finger, and tell the notorious libertine that he should leave his married mistress. No. She just sat and listened or watched or prayed (silently) and the next thing  you know these people were making a beeline for the confessional, selling their possessions and giving them to the poor, and abandoning their worldly ways. Not because she said a word about it to them but because she gave herself completely to Our Lord and trusted the Holy Spirit in her to speak to those around her instead of opening her mouth herself.

It's easy to convince ourselves....oh all right....I don't have a hard time convincing myself that I have an obligation to "tell" someone who is in sin the error of his/her ways and indeed there are probably times when we are called to speak up. But that's the easy way out I think and most of the time it should be our prayer and our personal holiness that allows the Holy Spirit to work through us wordlessly that should be doing the "talking." It is certainly at the heart of what St. Francis of Assisi meant when he said, "Preach always. If necessary, use words." and in the example of St. Catherine of Siena.