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."

Lenten Activities for Children

Lent and Easter can be a difficult concept for little children to understand and take in.  Asking children to learn about sacrifice and the death and resurrection of Jesus are BIG topics for little kids!  Here are a few activities and resources that we use during Lent with our children for fun and learning.  Stay tuned for a future post all about what we do during Holy Week and to Celebrate Easter!

Preparing for Lent: Covering Crucifix with Purple Cloth and Burying the Alleluia

We love the resources over at Catholic Icing for Lent including her Roadmap to Easter.  Our kids love coloring a box each day as we make our way to Easter.  We also go around our home and cover the crucifixes with purple cloth like they do at church.  Last year we also did a basic activity to "Bury the Alleluia" by just printing out a piece of paper with "Alleluia" and then tying it with a purple string and putting it away until Easter.  We do this as a reminder that we do not use Alleluia throughout the 40 days of Lent at home or at church.  We let it rest during Lent so that when it reappears on Easter we hear it with new vibrancy and then say it again and again!  This year we are making a wooden Alleluia set that we will put away and then be able to display prominently in our home during the 50 days of Easter leading to Pentecost. 

Sacrifice Beans:

The sacrifice beans are a great way for our little kids to use the time of Lent to focus on doing good for others.  We start Lent on Ash Wednesday with an empty purple jar and a jar of plain beans and then with each small thing that is done in a perfect way (not fighting, sharing toys, listening to dad and mom, kind words, doing their school work with no complaining, etc.) then they get to put a bean in the jar.  Then on Easter morning, all of those beans (little sacrifices) are turned into jelly beans. During the Easter season, the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost, with each good deed the children then get to eat a jelly bean as a reward!

Lenten Candle/Crown of Thorns:

Just like we light the candles of our Advent wreath during Advent we enjoy having a candle at the center of our kitchen table during Lent.  We use the Cross Candle from Dayspring with a Purple Pillar Candle inside and a Crown of Thorns from the Holy Land around it to help us meditate on sufferings of Christ.  We also are going to start the small tradition of counting to 40 (for the 40 days of Lent) before each dinner to help us learn about how Lent is about WAITING, and also to help our little ones practice their counting!

Fun Books, Songs and Crafts:

We enjoy using fun books, crafts and snacks that teach us all about Lent and Easter in our Homeschooling.  With each different season I love to make lacing cards for our children to use and keep their little hands busy as we do read - alouds, etc.  I just find a picture that I like on-line, print it, laminate it, cut around the shape, punch holes and add a string!  We also have found a lot of great books to help us learn about and follow the Stations of the Cross and Easter.  A few of our favorites are The Easter Day Surprise and the Family Easter Treasury. 

We have been loving the resource of Making Music Praying Twice which we purchased as a part of our son's Kindergarten homeschool curriculum.  We are excited to start the Lent CD and book to explore the story of Lent through song!  We will also continue using Catholic Mosaic and Year with God: Celebrating the Liturgical Year in our homeschooling, which both include wonderful ideas, crafts and readings during the Lenten season.  I will continue to share some of the fun things we are doing for homeschooling during Lent!



Lent Song from Catholic Icing

We are also making a Peg Doll Passion Week set with our homeschool co-op this year that I am so excited about.  We are making Jesus, all of the 12 apostles and other important characters is the Passion Story like Mary, Pontius Pilate, King Herod, etc.  We love our Saint Peg Dolls so I am thrilled to be adding to our collection.  Stay tuned for a post of these when the swap is completed in March!



Stations of the Cross for Children:

We think that it is important to teach our children the Stations of the Cross and the story of Jesus's passion and death, but it can be a touchy subject with little kids.  Also it is hard to make it to the service at church every Friday since it usually starts at 7pm which is our children's bedtime.  Our favorite resources to do the Stations of the Cross at home are from Holy Heroes including their Stations of the Cross CD and Stations of the Cross Prayer Booklet.  It has reflections and prayers to follow each station, only takes about 30 minutes and truly helps even young children understand the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.    To keep our little one's busy while they listen to the Stations of the Cross CD they love to use the Life of Jesus: Passion of Jesus Coloring Book from Holey Heroes.  We also love to use our Stations of the Cross Ornaments from Jesse Tree Treasures and Child's Guide to the Stations of the Cross. 

Quiet / Solemn Fridays:

Since we reflect on Jesus dying on the cross on each Friday during Lent (and really each Friday throughout the liturgical year) we are going to make Fridays in our house a little different this Lenten season.  My husband and I will fast and we will all abstain from eating meat on Fridays.  On top of that this year we are going to not homeschool on Fridays and also not use any electronics on Fridays; no television, no ipads, no internet, no Netflix, no e-mail (my husband will have to check work e-mail, etc), no Facebook, nothing.  We will spend Fridays connecting as a family, drawing closer to God, doing the Stations of the cross and learning more about the Easter story.

Our son kissing the cross and wiping it like they do in Mass on Good Friday

Bring Life to Lent:  Religious Activities

Bring Life to Lent is a great little book that has different prayers, reflections topics, and activities for children and families during Lent.  It discusses Fasting/Almsgiving/Prayer, Baptism and RCIA, Reconciliation/Repentance, Renewal, Passion and Holy Week.  It even includes great recipes for pretzels, meatless meals, and resurrection rolls!

Catholic Icing Pretzel Prayer

What are your favorite Lenten resources for children?  What best helps bring your family learn about and draw closer to the Passion of Christ?

Lenten Reading & Giveaway

Spiritual reading is always a special part of my day and helps me focus and strengthen my relationship with God.  I loved the selections that I had for reading during Advent and Christmas this past year and I am equally excited for the choices that I have picked for this season of Lent.  Here are my selections for this year:

1.  Blessed is She Lenten Journal:  I used the Blessed is She Advent Journal and also follow their daily e-mails of the Daily Readings and Reflections and simply LOVE all of their resources.  The journals are simple enough to only take about 15-20 minutes each day and they include the perfect questions to dive deeper into God's word and how it relates in your life.  I was so sad when Christmas was over and the Advent journal was finished, so I was thrilled to hear that they have made a Lenten Journal.

Blessed is She Lenten Journal

2.  Lenten Reflections from a Father Who Keeps His Promises & Signs of Life by Scott Hahn: 
I love both Scott and Kimberly Hahn, and so many of their books have helped both myself and my family understand and defend the faith.  I loved Scott Hahn's new book Joy to the World that I read during Advent and am excited to start his Lenten Reflections book.  Lenten Reflections from a Father Who Keeps his Promises discusses the covenant that God has with us and has a daily scripture verse, reflection, prayer and question to deepen our faith as we prepare for Easter.  Signs of Life is a book that goes through 40 different topics within the Catholic Faith and discusses their significance.  Lent is a great time to read a chapter a day to grow in deeper understanding of the Catholic Church.

3.  Lent at Ephesus:  This is not a book but instead an amazing selection of the most beautiful music from the Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles.  It is acapella and peaceful to listen to during prayer time, around the house or in the car.  This music truly refocuses your heart, mind and soul on the Lord which is such a gift during the Lenten season. 


Lent at Ephesus

Also, if you are getting Lent at Ephesus, you might want to look into getting Easter at Ephesus which is their new Easter CD!  It will be released in March 2015 but you can pre-order it now!  I am so excited to get my copy soon.

Easter at Ephesus

What are some of your favorite spiritual readings during Lent?  What can we do to best bring our thoughts and prayers to the Passion of Christ during these 40 days?

LENTEN GIVEAWAY-Blessed Is She Lenten Journal

I believe so much in the importance of spiritual reading and reflection, and I LOVE the Blessed is She resources so much that I want to share their new Blessed Is She Lenten Journal with one of YOU.  Please leave a comment on this post at Children of the Church with something special you are planning to do during this Lent and also make sure you head over and "like" our Facebook page to follow all of our new posts and updates and you will be entered to win the Blessed is She Lenten Journal!  I will close the giveaway on February 13th so that I have enough time to get the journal mailed out to the lucky winner in time to have it for Ash Wednesday on February 18th!  Thank you for entering and I hope that you have a blessed Lenten season.