Color Fun - Homeschool Theme Learning

All of our children have learned their basic colors by age two, but then the learning fun with colors continues!  Learning the rainbow, learning about primary and secondary colors, etc!  Our theme for learning in our homeschool this week has been COLORS and we all had a blast!

1.  Reading/ Phonics:

Some of our very favorite books go with our color theme this week including:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?: We love all Eric Carle books and Brown Bear, Brown Bear is just one of those great classics to learn about all of the colors and animals.
Mouse Paint:  Mouse Paint is the perfect book to learn about the difference of primary and secondary colors and how the colors mix to make different colors!  Plus our kids love to "do a little dance" like a mouse mixing the colors with their feet!
Blue Hat, Green Hat:  This book is the silliest little book, but it is one of the first books that all of our boys know by memory and they think it is SO funny!
Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes:  All of the Pete the Cat books are great for pre-schoolers and I Love my White Shoes is one of the best.  The boys especially love the song that goes with this book!  Our 1 1/2 year old will find it on the shelf "Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!!"
Freight Train:   With a trio of train loving boys we love the book Freight Train and learning about all of the different colors of the cars and all of the different jobs for the train cars!

Some other books we enjoy to learn about colors are The Deep Blue Sea, Color Train, Color Train and White Rabbit's Color Book!

2.  Art/Crafts:

Our children love painting and we had had a lot of fun mixing different colors and finding out which primary colors together make different secondary colors.  They also really liked adding different colors to a mason jar of water to watch the colors change!

3.  Music:

The Rainbow Song and Rainbow Connection are some of our favorite songs!  We love having music on all of the time during our school time and love singing and learning things through song!  We use Pandora a lot and also are loving Making Music, Praying Twice CD's!  This week we sang these songs while playing with our Grimm's rainbow puzzle and learning about all of the colors and also God's beauty on this earth!

4.  Math:

We have lots of fun learning toys that help us with counting, patters and sorting.  I love the Melissa and Doug Abacus and the Melissa and Doug Shape Sequence set to help learn colors, counting, sizes and sequences.  We also played a lot with our Magna Tiles this week organizing them in rainbow color and our oldest son is learning about his 3 dimensional shapes so he had fun making cubes, pyramids, etc!

 

 5.  Science

Our science experiments are still pretty basic with the little kids, but they LOVED this experiment with prisms and refractory light!  They thought it was SO cool to be able to see the different colors of light from using a flashlight or the sun!  They also figured out on their own as well that they could use their Magna Tiles in the windows to see the colors on the walls from the sun, which they thought was pretty awesome!

 

6.  Theme Boxes & Library Resources:

We are so blessed that our community library has amazing recourses and a lot of respect for homeschool families!  They have reading time, homeschool book clubs and lots of on-line resources specifically for homeschoolers!  The library has also bought all of the Theme Boxes from Lakeshore Learning and then add library books that go along with the theme that you can check out for 2 weeks at a time, and the Color Box was one of them!  It is such a great resource to have and I love having a "go - to activity box" when I might not have as much time to plan fun activities! 

7. Saint/Religion Connection:

As we transitioned from Ordinary Time into Lent this week it was the perfect time to discuss how the colors change within the Liturgical Year!  We used the awesome Liturgical Season Wheel from Catholic Icing and the book from Catholic Inspired about Priest Vestments to learn about transitioning to PURPLE for the season of Lent!  Our children love to wear the priest vestments that I made from them out of felt and love that they have the different liturgical colors that the priests wear in church!

 

Linking up over with Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum!

Finding Peace in Suffering

I hear from so many people that they think Lent is the most difficult time during our Liturgical Year.  I get that, I really do.  But at the same time, I think that there is something beautiful in finding peace within suffering.  There is something life changing in letting silence enter our lives to try to process, even just a little bit, the suffering, offering and love that Jesus gave to us by dying on the cross for our sins. 

I have been doing a lot of my own suffering lately as I have been carrying the cross that God has asked of our family with the loss of our son Samuel, as we experienced a miscarriage.  So I think, what can I do this Lent to bring that suffering to Him, how can I bring my suffering to unite with Jesus at the cross?

We are all hurting in one way or another, and our job is not to compare our sufferings with others, but to bring them to God and to be a support to each other through this time.  Our job is to be quiet enough, and give ourselves enough time and space to really listen to God and what he is asking of us and then trust what he has planned for our lives. 

Can we give God silence each day this Lent?  Through prayer, in adoration, or in listening to Him through scripture? 

I am learning that bringing the Church into our domestic home is not always about having activities, but learning how we witness our faith to our spouses and children through our daily actions and words.

How can we show trust in God through our suffering today? 

How can we witness God's love and devotion to us that he would die on a cross for our sins within our families, church and community? 

How can we allow Jesus to become a part of the fabric of our love to extend to the people who we are closest to?

How can we find peace in the suffering?

This is my challenge to myself this Lent.  I hope we can come together and offer our sufferings, no matter how big or how small, to the foot of the cross. 

Celebrating Ash Wednesday

 

Here we are!  Lent is upon us and we now experience the 40 days (plus 6 Sundays), going through the suffering with God as we prepare for the death and resurrection of Christ.  The first thing that we did after we celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a yummy pancake brunch and going to Ash Wednesday mass was Bury the Alleluia. 

 

We bury the Alleluia as a reminder that we do not use the word Alleluia throughout the days of Lent at home or at church.  We let the word "rest" during Lent so that when it reappears on Easter we hear it with new vibrancy and then can say it again and again! This year we got some fun wooden letters at Hobby Lobby that we decorated with gold glitter spray paint and decorated this simple wooden box that we will hold them in throughout Lent.  It is a great physical reminder to our family!

 

 

 

"Remember, you are dust, and unto dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19)

Our children enjoy going to mass on Ash Wednesday especially because they know that they can actively participate in mass by receiving the ashes!  Receiving ashes are not a sacrament but instead a "sacramental", meaning a "sign to help us prepare for the receiving of sacraments by giving us graces and blessings".  The ashes come from burning of the Palm Branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday mass, which were blessed by a priest before distribution.  We keep our palm branches as well to burn on Ash Wednesday as a fun little tradition.  In receiving the ashes we are embracing the suffering of the cross and the promise of Resurrection!

 

"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel" (Mark 1:15)

We have chosen what we are going to give up / take up this Lent and I think that it is going to allow for our family individually and together to draw closer to God. 

1.  Individually:  I am going to do the Whole 30 program (Or Whole40 for Lent!).  I have been wanting to do this for a while, especially after I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism this past fall.  I was going to start at the New Year, but after we experienced the miscarriage of our son Samuel the idea of starting something new with my diet faded quickly in the distance.  I know that God gave me this amazing vessel of a body and I want to use it to glorify God.  Out goes the things that I do not need for nourishment and in goes healthy whole foods.  I hope that at the end of this I am feeling healthy, more rejuvenated and have more energy to give to myself and my family.  Kelly over at This Ain't the Lyceum started a Lent Whole 30 group on Facebook for support!

I also am adding some great spiritual reading and journaling, and going to be more mindful of my time on social media.  I know that I receive a lot of graces and support from social media so I am not going to cut off completely but I will set a timer and be more mindful of what I am using it for (plus nothing at all on Fridays- see below).

2.  Couple:  My spouse and I love our time together in the evenings when he is not working, but too often than not we end up on the couch in front of the television simply due to exhaustion from our busy days.  We decided that we want to bring more fruitfulness to that time together and so during this Lent instead of watching our regular television shows and movies we purchased the Symbolon series and study guide that we will do together as a couple!  We are both really excited to learn more about the Church together!

3.  Family:  As a family the main thing that we are going to do is change the routine of our Fridays to take more notice of Christ's death on the cross.  As I previously mentioned we are going to not use any electronics (except for my husband when he needs to for work).  That means no e-mail, no television, no Ipads, no Facebook, no Neflix, nothing.  We got the Holy Heroes Stations of the Cross CD and Prayer booklet that we will use to pray the Stations of the Cross each Friday as a family.  We also got the Stations of the Cross images that we will display in our Little Oratory from Leaflet Missal, and made little flip books by laminating the images from Family in Feast and Furia for the kids.  The rest of the day we will just spend time together as a family reading, playing and having quality time.

 

I pray that as we travel through Lent that we are able to truly use this time to draw closer to God and each other.

Does your family have any traditions that you are adding to your Lenten season this year?  Do you need any special prayers during this season?  Please share!

Feasting on Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday in the Catholic Church when we "shrive" or "absolve from sin as a reminder that we are entering a season of penance".  It is a great reminder to go to confession before we enter the season of Lent.  This day has many names, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras and Pancake Day! 

Eating pancakes are a tradition on this day because pancakes require many eggs, milk and butter for their preparation, all which people did not use during times of abstinence and fasting of Lent.  We decided to make pancakes and bacon for a fun brunch to celebrate since tonight is a date night for my husband and I!

We also made a King's cake to signify the ending of "Carnival" or the time between the Epiphany and the beginning of Lent.  The boys had a great time helping make the cake last night and an even better time eating it today!

 

 

 

Truly, it has been a day of feasting before the fast!  If you want to learn more about fasting and abstinence in the Catholic Church here is a great illustrated guide from FOCUS! 

We also set up our Lenten table as we enter our home with our sacrifice beans with a fun new printable from Lacy at CatholicIcing.com, an image of the Last Supper, and a beautiful Lenten quote printable from Kendra at Catholic All Year.  I love that there are so many awesome ideas that help make it easier to celebrate the liturgical seasons our homes!

Proverbs 28:13 "People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy."

 

Now is the time to "shrove" and ask for forgiveness.  What have we done wrong in our lives that we need to ask forgiveness for?  What relationships might need to be attended to?  We should prepare to enter Lent with a repentant heart, seeking forgiveness and humility. 

Valentine's Day Homeschool Theme Learning

When I posted last week about including Theme Learning in our weekly homeschool lessons I got a great response from so many of you wanting to see/hear more!  This week's theme for our homeschooling was all about Love and Valentine's Day!  Here are a few things that we did!

 

 1.  Reading/Phonics:

 

We have SO many books in our home that are about either Valentine's Day specifically or about love, so this week was a great opportunity to bring them all together for some learning fun!  I am loving having our 5 year old being able to read basic stories now and he is so proud to be able to lead story time with a few selections!  A few of our Valentine's Favorites include:  Saint Valentine, and The Story of Valentine's Day.  Our favorites about love are How Do I Love You?, That's How Much God Loves You, and I Love You So...

 

2.  Calendar / Countdown Fun:

We love all of the resources over at Catholic Icing and one of the fun ones is the Valentine's Day Countdown!  This is such a great activity to add to our Calendar Time to talk about how many days there are in a week and how count the days from the start of February to Valentine's Day!  Plus, each day we had the opportunity to learn a fun Bible Verse about love!   

3.  Art/ Crafts:

This week we made Valentine's!  They had so much fun being able to color, cut, and use glitter and glue!  I learned that a 20 month old and glitter do NOT mix well! Let's just say that I had a lovely mess to clean up and went back to just letting him use chalk and crayons!  We all still had a great time and talked about the story of St Valentine.

 
4.  Preschool Valentine's Fun:

I spoke earlier about how I organized theme packs so they are easy to pull back out in future years, and a Valentine's Day pack was one of them!  I laminate the pages that I can re-use from year to year and love that we can use dry erase markers on them!  Our 3 1/2 year old loved the Valentine's Day Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations!  His favorites included sorting sizes of Cupid Angels, tracing and the matching game!

5.  Music:

I love music and love finding connections and learning experiences with songs so I was so excited to find this little song!  It was a great way to talk about the different ways that we can love people and easy enough for our little kids to pick up and understand!  We love the CHC book Building Good Character: God Made Me Part of a Family, and this was a great way of talking about great character qualities to show love!

If you want to show your love (to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It")

If you want to show your love, share a smile.

If you want to show your love, share a smile.

If you want to show your love, if you want to show your love

If you want to show your love, share a smile.

 

If you want to show your love, lend a hand.

If you want to show your love, lend a hand.

If you want to show your love, if you want to show your love

If you want to show your love, lend a hand.

 

If you want to show your love, use kind words.

If you want to show your love, use kind words.

If you want to show your love, if you want to show your love,

If you want to show your love, use kind words.

6.  Cooking/Snacks:

Keeping it simple here!  They wanted to make heart toast with cinnamon sugar for Valentine's Day.  Our 5 and 3 year olds are learning to cut their food so they were THRILLED to be able to make the cuts to turn their square toast into a heart. I know, it's the little things!

 

 

7.  Saint Connection:

Learning about Saint Valentine was so much fun!  Two of our favorite books talk about Saint Valentine both Saint Valentine, and The Story of Valentine's Day.  We were able to read these books, talk about the love that St Valentine showed to others, and also do some fun learning activities about Saint Valentine from Real Life at Home! 

I hope that you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones that you love!  We are so blessed with the love in our family and thank God every day!  If you are looking for something fun for your spouse for Valentine's Day make sure to check out my review for the great book Spousal Prayer! 

Our little loves

Spousal Prayer - A Review

During the month of February many people focus on ways to love their spouse or improve their marriage and intimacy.  One of the best ways for us to improve our relationships is to increase our prayer lives within that relationship.  The book Spousal Prayer by Deacon James Keating is exactly what we need to learn about specific ways to pray and improve our relationships with God and our spouse.

Spousal Prayer is a small book that is easy to read but rich in theological doctrine.  Deacon Keating's book includes three chapters:

1.  Becoming One:  This chapter includes three main prerequisites for praying with your spouse and building a deep layer of trust.

• Beholding Your Spouse:  Receiving your spouse with their heart and identity at the deepest level of your being. 
• Listening to Your Spouse:  Being an authentic listening, not only listening with your ears but with your mind and heart.
• Forgiving Your Spouse:  Include Christ in the grace of forgiving our spouse by acknowledging the wound to your spouse, bringing the emotional effects of the wound to Christ in prayer, show God this would while in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament or reading Scripture and finally continue to bring this wound to the Lord for as long as it takes to transform it into love for your spouse.

2.  Praying More Deeply:  This chapter helps us understand how to increase our intimate relationship with God and thus increasing our intimacy with our spouse and vocation in marriage.

• Beholding God:
• Ask for the gift to want to be with God
• Ask for the gift to suffer the coming of Christ into your heart so He might move you away from those disordered attachments that give you more pleasure than being with God.
• Ask the Spirit to pray in your heart.
• Know that our "spouse is an icon of Christ", that "Christ reaches you through your spouse and you reach Christ through your love of your spouse, as well" (Keating, p. 31). 
• Listening to God
• "Listen to God through the ideas we hear in our mind and feelings we carry in our hearts" (Keating, p. 34)
• Listening to God outside our hearts; having outside experiences that bring us closer to God's vocation for us.
• Repenting Our Sins and Receiving Forgiveness
• Bring our failures to the Cross
• Participate in the Sacraments

3.  Staying in Love:  This short chapter talks about bringing everything together in praying for your spouse and increasing your intimate prayer life with God.  My favorite part of this chapter is this lovely quote:

 

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.  What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything.  It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.  Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything" - Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ

I was able to go to a talk focusing on this book with my spouse and another exercise that we did in praying with our spouse was the following:

In silence together answer these three questions:

1. What moves me with gratitude that my spouse has done?
2. What is the most significant thin in my life that I want to share with my spouse?
3. What is a sorrow that I have that I want to ask forgiveness for?

After time for reflection, face each other and while one spouse tells their answers to the question the other spouse listens in silence.  When the first spouse is finished than the other offers a prayer for that spouse.  Then switch! 

When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and trust our spouse and also increase our prayer life with God and our spouse we will be given the gift of truly knowing that God is in the center of our marriage.  If you are looking for more great resources for your marriage head over to www.foryourmarriage.org

Also, this piece was highlighted on CatholicMom.com's Book Notes this week!  Head on over to CatholicMom.com to find many more fantastic books and marriage resources!

Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes

Today, February 11th is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.  "I am the Immaculate Conception", the woman wearing white with a blue sash told St Bernadette back in 1858 near the grotto in Lourdes, France.  Bernadette was a young girl of 14 years old, yet still she had such an unwavering faith as she continued to believe and follow Mary even when her parents and community thought that she was having hallucinations instead of true visions.

 

Our Lady of Lourdes

I think of the faith of these young women, of St Bernadette seeing a woman in white and being criticized for her belief, or of Mary as a young girl hearing that she would conceive Jesus by the Holy Spirit.  No matter what people around them might think and no matter what else is going on in their life they trusted in God and said "yes".  They do not always understand what God is calling them to, but they still follow Him.  We are all called by God to be a Saint.  What can we do today, tomorrow, to say "yes" to God?

 

Today we have a few fun activities planned for our children to learn more about St Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes.  We will watch the CCC movie Bernadette:  The Princess of Lourdes, which is one of our favorite videos from the Saints and Heroes Series!  We will also make little flowers with tissue paper and pipe cleaners to represent the flowers at Mary's feet.

 

We also LOVE our Our Lady of Lourdes Shining Light Doll!

 

Also, our materials from Seton for our homeschooling have many rich products and stories to learn more about the Saints!  With the pre-kindergarten curriculum you get the Coloring Book about the Saints, which includes a story and image to color of St Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes!  In the kindergarten curriculum we are learning about the different Mysteries of the Rosary, and this is a wonderful feast day to help explain the blessings and importance of prayer and the Rosary!

 

My husband and I started watching The Song of Bernadette last night (and will continue tonight), which is on Amazon Instant Video and also ITunes library if you are looking for a copy last minute!  It is a fantastic movie about the beautiful story of St Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes. 

"Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness, that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God, may with the help of her intercession, rise up from our iniquities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever."