Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Like practicing NFP , I've been feeling lately that we aren't doing anyone a service by pretending that everything is always perfect at The Academy of St Therese for the Glories of God (Buddy's name for our school) or whatever homeschool land you have set up for yourself.  I've been feeling overwhelmed with actually being home and schooling, but wondered if I just wasn't made of good enough stock that it was getting me down.  I'm glad to see I am not alone. Read more at Veils and Vocations .

Homeschool moms, how is your planning coming along?  I have to be honest, I am way behind usual.  I am a planner. I started planning Christmas 2015 in November, 2014.  Yet, I'm having trouble getting this year together.  With all that has happened in my personal life and the world at large this past year, I'm feeling unfocused and a little lost. SO , to kick me into gear, I am starting a series of posts on the unit studies I am designing for next year.  I am going to try to keep up with my Wednesday Works of Mercy Bouquet posts, and run this series on Fridays as Seven Quick Takes posts.  I hope that makes sense. Continued on Veils and Vocations.

Archbishop J. Michael Miller identified 5 marks of a Catholic school. Click here to see what they are and discuss how your school--at home or otherwise--measures up.

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 there, and add in some other subjects for homeschoolers at the end. Read the entire meditation .

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 help my children have a deep prayer life, which leads them to union with God. You too can teach your children to practice mental prayer, whether you homeschool or send your kids to a Catholic, or even public, school.   Read more.

Greetings, Ladies (and you few gentlemen who are members of or visit this site). Thank you for the privilege of joining you in spreading the Gospel on the internet. I'm Connie Rossini. I'd like to introduce you to my new blog.   Learn how to pray and live the Carmelite way I began writing at http://contemplativehomeschool.wordpress.com in November. Unlike many homeschool blogs, Contemplative Homeschool is not so much about daily life in my family as it is about growing in Christ. I believe the best way to keep our kids Catholic and to educate them in the faith is modeling prayer and virtue for them. I write a lot (about half my posts) about how you can grow closer to Christ. As a former member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS), I write from a Carmelite perspective. Let your homeschool be an outgrowth of your own prayer time I use my own unit studies based on The Golden Children's Bible for daily instruction. I meditate on one of the Bib

Besides the  Feast Day of Blessed Mother Teresa , there are a couple of other memorable events coming up this September, namely Mama Mary's birthday (or  Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary ) on September 8,  The Exaltation of the Holy Cross  on September 14 and The  Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows  on September 15. Exciting huh?! ;-)  Let's take a look at what two of my favorite Catholic mommy bloggers have posted with regard to ideas and activities for celebrating these feast days: First of all, may I just say that  Lacy  is really one of my favorite Catholic mommy bloggers?!! She is so blessed with creativity and resourcefulness, and I always refer to  her blog  for crafts and activities that highlight the beauty of the Catholic faith. Here is  her compilation of ideas  (from other amazing Catholic moms!) for celebrating Mama Mary's birthday: So the most obvious idea for celebrating this feast day is to make a birthday cake for Mary. Anything blue is a great idea si

I recently read an article titled “ The Teaching of the Catholic Church on Home Schooling – Parents for Eternal Life ” by Jesuit priest Fr. John Hardon, and the following paragraph really struck me: “...what they (children) mainly need is to know why God made them; why they are on earth at all; why they are in this world; that  they are here in this life in order to prepare and train themselves for the world to come . In a word,  children are to be taught that their short stay here in time is only a preparation for the world that will never end . They are to be trained for heaven.” Our kids need to be “trained for heaven”?! What a big responsibility we parents have then! In fact, Fr. Hardon goes on to say: “The Church teaches that, ‘Under God, parents are the  first in time, first in authority, first in responsibility, first in supernatural ability, and first in dignity  to  educate their children for eternal life .’” “... believing Catholic parents ...must be convinced that