by Jennifer Tutwiler | These days, the measure of good parenting seems to be how care-free and enjoyable an existence we have enabled for our children. Children are expected to play with their toys, play outside, play with their friends, play sports, play with video games... and yet today’s children are some of the most behaviorally challenged in human history.
Read More »A Tribute to a Mother’s Hands
by Kerry Costanzo | I love the poem, "The Beautiful Hands of a Priest," and I began thinking the other day about how one could write a similar reflection on the hands of mothers. While a mother’s hands do not share the dignity of those of a priest, they nevertheless have their own special value.
Read More »3 Essentials for Homeschool Education
One of the ends of marriage is the procreation and education of children. Procreation has gotten a good deal of attention in the recent history of the Church, but education is often of less interest.
Read More »6 Steps to Survival: How to Outsmart Your Kids… and Defend Your Dessert!
by Kerry Costanzo | Let's face it. In this kids-eat-your-treats-and-break-your-things world, it's every mom for herself. How many of you moms out there have faced this scenario: It's 11 PM at the end of another homeschooling day.
Read More »When the Ordinary becomes Extraordinary: Learning from the Saints
by CCC | It seemed like an ordinary lunch hour for a Legal Clerk in her mid-twenties, even working for a Supreme Court Justice. Yet the normal lunchtime banter with her Boss somehow took a turn for the extraordinary. Soon, they were engaged in a discussion on the Catholic Dogma of Mary as the Immaculate Conception.
Read More »Rediscovering the “Shining City on a Hill”
by Thomas J. Centrella | The foundation of this country is the Constitution. It is the mind of the nation. The cornerstone of this foundation is the Declaration of Independence.
Read More »No More Myths: Getting A Schedule that Really *Works*!
Jennifer Tutwiler tried every kind of schedule there is. Her family couldn't settle into a a successful schedule - until she broke free of 5 popular myths.
Read More »4 Life Lessons I Learned from My Homeschooling Mom
By Sarah Rose | There are some things we come to appreciate more as we get older. Oftentimes, cradle Catholics may not have a deep appreciation for their faith until they experience a type of conversion in their teen or young adult years.
Read More »Surviving in a Secularized Society
Pope Francis: "There is another form of poverty! It is the spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously. It is what my much-loved predecessor, Benedict XVI, called the ‘tyranny of relativism,’ which allows everyone to create his own criterion and endangers the coexistence of peoples. But there is no true peace without truth.”
Read More »Homeschooling in the Here and Now: Earning Your Stripes
For the homeschooling mother of many, there's always more; more to organize and more to do. Always more little faces to wash, more nails to clip, more hair growing back into bright, smiling eyes, more boo-boos needing more band-aids and more baby teeth to brush.
Read More »Homeschool: A Catholic Mom Crosses the Rubicon
Seton received a letter from a home schooling mother who reflected on her decision to home school. The following are highlights from her letter. The reason I began to home ...
Read More »‘It’s a Marshmallow World’: Homeschooling Woes and Fallen Snows
by Kerry Costanzo | Already behind in our schoolwork, now we are REALLY behind. I didn't want to be this behind. . . I really didn't. Yet, during those last months of pregnancy, the fatigue was so severe, and the couch was so inviting, and the coffee pot was so empty (I wasn't drinking it during pregnancy). . . well, the homeschooling suffered.
Read More »What are the Marks of a Truly Catholic Family?
I have known Catholic families and I know how much light they were in the 1950’s. One family I knew as a seven-year-old boy touched me by the very fact that the father of the family led the Grace of the meal with the Sign of the Cross and the prayer asking for God’s blessing. A small thing, but small things speak to pure hearts.
Read More »2014 Resolutions from Seton Homeschoolers
Have my second grader reading. - My resolution is to have more fun with teaching. - More reading aloud, more hands on learning fun. - Keep up with grading and hours. - Grade every week and to be more hands on. - Be more consistent.
Read More »St Elizabeth Ann Seton on Her First Confession
The words of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on the day of her first Confession are very appropriate: “How awful are those words of unloosing after a thirty years’ bondage! I felt as if my chains fell, as those of St. Peter at the touch of the Divine Messenger. My God! What new scenes for my soul!”
Read More »Catholic Kids and Sacramentals Don’t Mix?
The Catholic family home is often hazardous to sacramentals. Knowing that these sacramentals are symbols of holy people and things, we try to be respectful. We do. But there seems to be always such a clutter everywhere!
Read More »What is a Felsheim Family Christmas?
It looks like… White blankets of snow, sparkling Christmas lights on the front porch, and a tall, fully decorated tree; It smells like… Fresh pine needles, vanilla candles, and the aroma of homemade Christmas cookies; It sounds like… Christmas CDs, family music concerts, boisterous laughter, and the crinkle of wrapping paper;
Read More »‘The Christmas Star’, A Poem from the Bracy Family
As I clasp my hands together and pray, / I closed my eyes and wish that today, / Will bring forth good memories. / From Christmas days I've celebrated / Not so long ago–as a child.
Read More »Merry Christmas! from the McWilliam Family
Christmas is a time of traditions – unique to each family. Many years ago Katie's grandmother started a Christmas Village under the tree; this village grew over the years as Katie's mother added her magical touch. She passed along pieces of the village to her children hoping they would continue the tradition.
Read More »Merry Christmas from the Domangue and Madrid Families!
The Domangues From our homeschool room to yours: May the blessings of the coming of the Christ child fill your home with joy, your heart with love, and your life ...
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