HappyMama

Many of you know I’ve been studying Montessori educational theory for the past 3 years.  Two of the main things I’ve incorporated from this study into my parenting are (1) not interrupting a child who is concentrating on something, and (2) understanding the child’s need for doing meaningful work.  Prior to my studies, I would have seen “chores” of all kinds as simply things that, unfortunately, have to be done, and would have expected children to not want to do them.  What I’ve experienced with my kids is the opposite - they want to do real work.  Montessori categorized these activites Practical Life. 

About 3 years ago, our friend JulieS. offered us a child’s table with 4 chairs.  Since then, they have been in daily use, and despite the daily spills, are still in good shape.  I took advantage of the recent warm weather to offer two boys a chance to scrub them really clean for once.  Not only were they willing, they were excited, because anything involving soap bubbles and the garden hose is extra fun.  Of course, when they were finished they also scrubbed their bikes & trikes.  My responsibility in practical life activities is to provide all the tools needed at the right time and in the right place.  And then, to disappear into the background, stepping in only if absolutely necessary.

should a 5-year-old spend on CHESS?

I considered entitling this post “I’ve created a monster…” 

Of course, he loves playing all games.  He has an attention span that seems unlimited.  Today, however, I found myself saying to him, more loudly than I meant to:

“I can’t just sit and play games with you all day!!!”

Fortunately, there’s this very helpful website I found which not only teaches the basics of the game and has a huge variety of free games to play at all levels, but teaches strategies of the game.  (I’ve known how to play my whole life, it seems, but never had much patience for strategy…)

A while back I sat down and wrote out everything I want my children to learn by the time they are 18 years old.  Whether that knowledge & experience occurs through home schooling, tutoring, public, or private school systems, the goals are the same. 

I like to categorize.  I began grouping together my goals and ended up with 6 different areas of study, which I prioritized according to general importance.  Under each of the 6 areas were a set of specific goals to achieve and then a set of sample topics.  Sure, as the years go by, I’ll end up re-wording, tweaking, and adding things, plus we’ll take into account each child’s natural abilities or handicaps.

Maybe because I’m a “list” person and a visual learner I needed to see these goals drawn out.  Maybe you other parents out there don’t need such a list, because most of the things are obvious.  What the list did for me, however, was:

1. It put into perspective the length of time I have to raise my children.  I don’t have to teach them everything today.  We don’t have to cover each subject, each year.
2. It gave me a visual hierarchy of importance among the areas of study.  It’s more important that my sons understand their faith than become violin virtuosos.  Both would be nice, but when time constraints rear their heads, then I have a clear sense of what topics to choose. 
3. It is helping me fully appreciate the fact that everything we do as a family is part of the children’s education.  Teaching them some day to hunt and fish, how to properly brush their teeth, and to appreciate both quiet times and great classical music scores are all part of our goals, just as algebra and geography are.  I have come to believe that time spent outdoors in nature (”God’s text-book”) and time spent taking care of younger siblings is as important in the big scheme of life as how to take a spelling test.  Wrestling with a 2-year-old and snuggling with an infant are educational activities, not just nice ideas.  We are raising human beings, not robots, and my goal for them is Heaven, not Harvard.  (Unless they get offered a full ride, ha ha ha.)
4. And finally, it has made my lesson planning easier.  I recently mapped out my plans for the next 2 grades - and I simply went through all 6 areas of study & decided what I want to accomplish.  It really was an easy way to plan!

The past few months I’ve been reading a lot of the ideas about home schooling from author Elizabeth Foss.  I intend to buy her book Real Learning very soon. 

 Elizabeth offers a suggested book list for grades K-8.  She offers a few selections to read each month throughout the school year.  She includes some of her favorite books on saints, and puts particular saint stories in the months on which their feasts fall.  So, even if you aren’t schooling your children at home, I thought some of you moms might be interested in the list.

There’s an organization called the Cardinal Newman Society which aims to “renew & strengthen” the Catholic identity of the 224 Catholic colleges within the U.S.  Many of these institutions are “Catholic” in name only.  Their faculty are not always Catholic; they don’t always teach their students the truths of the faith.  I experienced this betrayal personally when, as an 18-year-old, I took my first philosophy class from a (tenured) Buddhist at a Jesuit university. 

Anyway, the CNS has finally published a Guide to Choosing a Catholic College.  Among all of the “Catholic” schools, which ones made the cut, according to the CNS?  Here they are:

• Christendom College - Virginia
• College of St. Thomas More - Texas
• Franciscan U. of Steubenville - Ohio
• Magdalen College - NH
• University of Dallas - Texas
• U. of St. Thomas - Texas
• Ave Maria U. - Florida
• Holy Apostles - Connecticut
• JP the Great Catholic U. - CA
• Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy - Ontario
• Southern Catholic College - Georgia
• Wyoming Catholic College - Wyoming
• Aquinas College - Tennessee
• Belmont Abbey - NC
• Benedictine College - Kansas
• Catholic U. of America - DC
• DeSales U. - Pennsylvania
• Mount St. Mary’s - MD
• St. Gregory’s U. - OK
• Thomas More College of Liberal Arts - NH

This looks like an effective method for teaching the lingo of major virtues & vices!

“The family is the first and fundamental school of social living: as a community of love, it finds in self-giving the law that guides it and makes it grow.  The self-giving that inspires the love of husband and wife for each other is the model and norm for the self-giving that must be practiced in relationships between brothers & sisters…  And the communion and sharing that are part of everyday life in the home, at times of joy and at times of difficulty, are the most concrete and effective pedagogy for the active, responsible, and fruitful inclusion of children in the wider horizon of socity.”

JPII - Familiaris Consortio 37

What follows are pics of materials for a presentation on the first creation story in Genesis.  It begins with a piece of black felt on which I drew a triquetra - which has been presented previously - with Elmer’s school glue.  (In the beginning was the Word.)

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 4: (stars, sun, moon)

Day 5: (sea animals & birds)

Day 6: (land animals and humans)

The child is also given the Scripture verses written out. 

To emphasise the importance of “reading” this particular story as a 2-part creation, I wrote days 1-3 on one card, days 4-6 on the second, and day 7 on the third.  It is theologically essential, in my mind, to read this story as God laying down 3 spheres on the first 3 days (light, water & sky, land) followed by 3 days where God provides “rulers” of those 3 spheres.