40 Days for the Poor - Day 16 - Maryknoll Lesson Plans

I wish I had done more with this and maybe I'll get my act together and try again, but I used to subscribe to Maryknoll Magazine.  Along with the magazine would come some simple lessons plans and a poster.  I think the magazine comes every two months (my brain is foggy right now.  Looks like we've been struck down again by some bug).  Anyway, I used to strew the magazine by putting it out on the coffee table or sometimes if there was a particular article I thought would interest the kids, I'd read it aloud over breakfast.  But the best thing was I'd put the poster up on the door from our family room into the mud room.  In fact there is one still up there.  I think it's been there for a year now!  Here it is:

The story was about an American woman who coached soccer for very poor children in Namibia.

Anyway, now Maryknoll is publishing the lesson plans on line so even if you don't get the magazine you can still access the lessons.  Its a good thing to learn about these brave missionaries who have such a heart for the poor.  I know Maryknoll is seen as very 'liberal' by some Catholics, but I really hate using the terms liberal and conservative when it comes to dividing Catholics.  I see much that is admirable in their work and I choose to emphasize that!

Anyway, go to the website and learn about the history and work of the Maryknoll missionaries.  It will be good for you!

Week in Review - 11/30/12

Today I thought I'd do something really different and actually post about homeschooling! This blog is supposed to be about that, isn't it???

We were chugging along just fine with our Aquinas Learning curriculum and weekly routine and then we got hit by a nasty flu. Basically November was spent dealing with this in one way or another. Poor Seano got his version of the flu twice (lucky guy!) and he still has the stuffy nose from hell as a result. We managed to let him slip a lot in keeping up with his academic work. So this past week was a very hard week for him. He had lots and lots of work to get done and he couldn't quite accomplish it all. So he went into his Aquinas Learning Day yesterday feeling not quite prepared enough and he finished the day feeling like he didn't do so well. We can't slack off today or this weekend. Not that he'll be overloaded or anything, but we do need to keep on catching up so that next week doesn't feel so very heavy with sooo much work to be done. Before we got behind, it felt like such a good balance. He had hours each day where he had to work fairly intensely (more so than he's done before, in our loosey-goosey unschooling days) but then he would also have enough free time to pursue his own interests. He really does thrive on structure as long as it isn't too overbearing. And he enjoys the academic challenges. But it does take discipline and it is hard work.

Becky - worked on math, both geometry and fractions in her Key To books and we are still trying to get those times tables down.

Becky's Aquinas Learning Wall for the week.

Becky also worked on her AL worksheets on grammar, catechism, Latin, and science. Today she's got to work on Geography and history. During her AL day she did hands on things with plants including examining parts under a microscope. She especially enjoyed the philosophy part of the day. They are using Philosophy for Children Kio and Gus. They learned about impossible questions or 'stupid' questions as they called them in class. She was proud of the one she thought up: What is the pattern of green?

She's been doing her IEW work on Sunday afternoons. She hates it, but really it is so simple and easy for her, once she settles down and does it, it really is no problem. This week's assignment is using 'because' clauses.

She's listening to The Odyssey as retold by Mary Pope Osborne on audio.

We need to get back to doing copy work. We've fallen away from that.

I have been reading history (All Ye Lands) out loud to both Sean and Becky. I am also reading an old Vision book on St. Philip Neri to both kids.

Seano's Algebra

Sean - worked on Algebra (he's up to about Chapter 26 in Saxon), Lost Tools of Writing (using the ANI chart and the 5 Topics of Invention to analyze Hittite Warrior), Catechism, Wheelock's (he's up to chapter 7 now), and Art of Argument (just finished up chronological snobbery and started Red Herrings), plus he had to prepare a short oral presentation this week. He did it on whether the Trojan War really happened. I finished reading Hittite Warrior out loud to him. Now he's supposed to be reading Black Ships Before Troy. I read this aloud to him back when he was 9 or so. He wants to try to read this one on his own. He's got 2 weeks to finish it. That'll be tough for him.

Again, we've stopped with the copy work. So I do want to add that in next week.

The other thing we've really neglected after being sick so long is any physical activity. So I am determined that we get out more and really get some exercise. He so needs it. We all do!

Josh - still need to sign him up for Chemistry next semester at the CC. The hold up has been getting his SAT scores to the CC campus. Today we go in and try to tackle this little snafu.

Josh is working on Saxon's Advanced Math Test 7 currently. He is preparing for a cumulative exam next Thursday in his Physics class. He's reading Grapes of Wrath. He's supposed to be reading 67 pages a day in order to be finished by the arbitrary deadline I set for him a while ago. I noticed that the book was just gathering dust after the first couple of chapters so I got strict with him. I've been taking his ipod away every day and then giving it back when he's done with his work. The poor guy just has no will power! His government class has gotten all messed up. Between Josh being sick, Rick having to travel and the other student who joins them also winding up with the flu, they have hardly met at all recently. But Josh did complete his exam for that class. He also worked on memorizing the Preamble and the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. We've also been watching The American Identity lecture series. We watched Eli Witney earlier this week and are about to watch the lecture on Lewis and Clark.

I made Josh pose for this, but he really is reading The Grapes of Wrath (he just wasn't at this particular moment)!

Update:  Holy cow!  Becky woke up with a fever.  For almost every day in November someone in our family has been running a fever!  I thought we were over it, but no, it looks like we are in for another round!  Wah!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 15 - Helping the Formerly Persecuted

I keep talking about my particular parish, but I guess that is a major way that I personally connect with opportunities to serve others. I don't take advantage of the opportunities it provides nearly enough. One thing my parish does is give annually to the Latvian Catholic mission. We have a special connection to that country. One of our former pastors was from Latvia. He and his family escaped when he was a little boy because the Soviet Union was about to deport his family to Siberia. They fled and eventually wound up in the United States. Anton Justs became a priest in Richmond Virginia. At that time there was no Arlington Diocese, everyone was under the auspices of the Richmond Diocese. When the Arlington Diocese formed, he became a priest of that diocese. He served at several parishes in the Northern VA area, and he was pastor at St. Mark. When the Soviet Union crumbled and Latvia was opened to allowing freedom of religion again, Father Justs was sent by John Paul II to go and start a seminary there so they could train priests. JPII then elevated Father Justs to Bishop. I think he was bishop of Latvia from 1995 to 2011. He just retired last year. Every year he comes back to St. Mark to visit and to ask for contributions to help his seminary, his orphanage and his Old Folks home. He is a wonderful, humorous, humble and sweet man. He's very popular around these parts! And I suppose in Latvia too.

The funny thing is my husband is Latvian, though Jewish, not Catholic. His family on his mother's side comes from Riga.

I noticed at the Aid to the Church in Need that there is a project dedicated to the building a new Church in an area of Latvia. These people suffered so under the harsh, communist regime of the Soviet Union. The Catholic church is really burgeoning again. There is hope!

Here's an article about Bishop Justs.

40 Days for the Poor - Day 14 - Helping the Persecuted

Did you know that 80% of all acts of religious persecution are directed against Christians? Did you know that this occurs in 133 countries around the world? This is a terrible crisis that is being largely ignored by our western media.

Watch this video to be more informed about this terrible problem in the world today:



To find out how you can help, go to Aid to the Church in Need.

Lord have mercy on us!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 13 - Soles4Souls

Toms is a shoe company that makes new shoes and for every pair you buy, they'll ship another to some person in need. But I have been hearing about a charity that takes used shoes and either ships them to those in need or repurposes them. I had never noticed Soles4Souls before but lately I've been seeing ads or references to them in various places. I hope some time this coming Advent, I'll get my act together and gather up the myriad of old shoes I've got tucked under beds and in the backs of closets and take them to one of the local Soles4Souls drop off points that are fairly near my house.

So please check out their website. Maybe you could unload our old shoes this way too?

40 Days for the Poor - Day 12 - Gap Year

Lately, I've been encouraging two of my kids to consider spending next year as a 'Gap Year.' My oldest is graduating from college and not really sure what she wants to do with her life. She had plans to go to law school but the fact that there is a real glut in law students and that many law students are finding it hard to get employed once they graduate, put the brakes on that idea. So now she's kind of floundering around trying to think of what to do next.

Then I have my 17 yo son who just doesn't really know what he wants to do at all. He's really a lost puppy right now. He doesn't think he wants to go right into the college. He is very introverted and I think a little bit afraid of taking the next step in life.

So to both of these children I've been pushing the idea of taking a gap year and spending it volunteering some where, some how!

I have no idea if either will actually do this, but it is something we've been throwing around lately.

One resource I've been looking at for ideas is the Catholic Volunteer Network which also works with Americorps.

It may turn out that the college graduate winds up with an internship somewhere in Washington D.C. That really is what she'd like to do - work at a Think Tank or with government in some way, shape or form. And my 12th grader is really too shy I think to leave home just yet. I think it looks like he wants to go to the local community college part time and work part time next year. I leave the final decision up to them both. But I do like the idea of a gap year where one gives back to the community in some way. I wish I had done something of this sort when I graduated. You never have as much freedom to just pick up and go do something like that, as you do when you are young and unencumbered!

40 Days for the Poor - Day 11 - Toms

I never did get around to posting this yesterday, which was Day 11 if my calculations are correct. Yesterday was a crazy day and today will be no less so!

My 11 year old told me about Toms. She heard it from her older, college student sister, who apparent bought some shoes from Toms. Toms is a shoe company. For every shoe you buy from them, they will donate a pair to someone who needs a pair of shoes.

I am also thinking of getting my oldest three kids (all drivers) sunglasses from Toms for their Christmas stockings. With every purchase of a pair of sunglasses, Toms gives money for eye care in poor regions around the world.

The whole ethos of Toms seems so good. I hope I don't start hearing about how it is a big scam or anything. That's the cynic in me. But it does seem like a really cool company, trying hard to be ethical, environmentally and globally.

Plus my Toms shoes are really comfortable! I love them!