Our Sixth Year of Homeschooling: (2018-2019)

Softly falling rain in the middle of July offered a welcome respite to the hectic days of growing, harvesting, and yard maintenance. The break reminded me that, as much as I love summer, I need the physical break that comes with the cold months. I watched in happy anticipation as the first few yellowed willow leaves floated to the ground. Thoughts of warm drinks enjoyed with good books and long crafting sessions under the comforting glow of my desk lamp teased my mind.

My reverie was short-lived, as usual. I shouted another warning in the direction of the kitchen: "If you guys don't stop arguing about your chocolate milk and be quiet you're going to start schoolwork!"

A full chorus of groans ensued. As terrifying as this thought was to my boys, I couldn't help feeling a thrill of excitement. School was just around the corner! The boxes of books had begun to appear on the front porch, and to a bibliophile like myself, they may as well have been boxes of gold. The peacefulness of the rain was just the backdrop I needed to start planning how we were going to make this the best year yet.

Our School Room

Fast forward to mid-August, with school looming around the corner. August 20th was the day on the calendar. Most of lesson planning had been completed, with just the last few weeks of 6th grade grammar yet to be ironed out. I somehow always stretch it to the last moment, but this year it was without anxiety. Last year we got to week 15 and the phonics column of one of the planners went blank. I had forgotten to finish it! And you know what? We lived. The last two homeschool years--one just moved to a new house, pregnant, and finished up late with a newborn, the other with a small baby and a terrifying month of influenza and recovery from it--were an especial challenge. I feel like after that we can handle whatever this year throws at us, by the grace of God.

By this time the excitement I experienced had mellowed to an inevitable sadness, akin to the anticipation of saying goodbye to a dear friend. How could it be that summer nears its end and it seems every year as though we barely get to enjoy it? I am not ready for the house to get sealed up against the cold, for the donning of boots and jackets, to look out on a yard stripped bare of its lush greenery, and to wait months to bask in sunshine so warm it gives you goosebumps. I hope it's my excitement, and not that sadness, that wears off on my children.

"Remember: education is largely a matter of the heart."

~St. John Bosco

At the risk of sounding clichéd, I have always had a love/hate relationship with homeschooling. Don't get me wrong, it's mostly love. But it can easily become drudgery if I don't take care not to let the lesson plans become our slave masters. It's helpful for me this time of year to reread Sarah Mackenzie's book, Teaching From Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace. I've also prepared for this upcoming school year by reading her newest book, The Read Aloud Family. It inspired me with some great ways to make our year funner and more relaxed, while focusing on what's really important for us. For example, making a big pan of brownies or a bowl of popcorn and setting it on the kitchen table to enjoy during our read aloud time. Friday afternoons are reserved for trips to the library. Wednesday afternoons we craft. We also have a heavy history year, but fun history, not full of tests and date memorization. History is stories, and without it we would have no other subjects.

My Homeschool Background

I was that odd child who loved school (most of the time), though going to school gave me great anxiety. I attended local public school through 3rd grade, which highlighted for me how average I was. Even back then I had an overwhelming compulsion to perfection, and it was a thorn under my skin that those couple students always had their worksheets done way ahead of everyone else. In kindergarten I was well enough ahead of some classmates that my teacher sat me next to them to help them read. By 1st grade I was so shy that I couldn't bring myself to read in front of my classmates, which resulted in my placement in a remedial class with the slow learners. It allowed me to get comfortable with a much smaller group of kids, and before too long I was put back in the regular class. By 3rd grade I was in an excelled spelling group, with plenty of friends, but I always felt sick Sunday nights before school, always felt anxious climbing aboard the school bus. To this day the smell of diesel exhaust brings back those feelings. I remember in 1st grade skipping ahead in my math book to see what was coming, and feeling such anxiety thinking of all the ways I could fail, and wondering how would I ever keep up with everyone? I don't remember telling anyone my fears, thinking they might actually realize that I wasn't as smart as the other kids. How horrible is that?!

When my parents started homeschooling for my 4th grade year that anxiety was removed for me. I could do my best without worrying how I placed amongst my peers. I could lose myself in my history book and literature and didn't have to jump at the sound of a bell. I dove into my workbooks with relish. Best yet, I had the time I wanted to spend with the menagerie of animals my Dad always kept on our acreage.

Flexibly Designed Just For You

My favorite thing about homeschooling is the ability to focus on each child's strengths and interests, and to quickly identify weaknesses and areas that need special attention. We aren't bound by a schedule, but often take breaks to run outside when the mental atmosphere gets too foggy indoors. Some boys retain information better if they are active while listening to lessons, and can often be found drawing, coloring, or building (or pacing back and forth with a play sword) while I read. We can freely learn unimpeded by peer pressure, bullying, social anxiety, and fear of failure (for the most part) at home. Mornings are for the skill subjects: math, grammar, phonics, etc. Afternoons are for content subjects like history, literature, science, etc. and more enjoyable academic pursuits: experiments, crafts, baking, nature studies, library trips, and experiencing life. Children learn best when they are actively engaged in their own learning process.

This is what our first Friday afternoon looked like after our library trip. It was blissfully quiet! Aidan devoured both books he checked out overnight and walked back to the library Saturday morning to return them. (We only live a block from the library.) He brought home two more in their place.

Aidan and Gavin reached a milestone this year and were entrusted with their first-ever library cards.

This year is our 6th year homeschooling, and while the subjects are getting more difficult, schooling in general gets easier. I have to admit, the first three or so years felt a bit like reinventing the wheel in trying to figure out how schooling worked best for our family. We've finally hit our stride in knowing how to get it done. Granted, this year I had to stop planning every 5 minutes to remove Addie from whatever odd predicament she had gotten herself into, which slowed me up a bit.

And a week doesn't go by that I don't daydream what it would be like sending them to school and having a peaceful house during the day. But I love that I get this time with them that many others don't get with their children. I learn right alongside them. We've all heard people say, "If I could go back I'd try harder" or something similar. Well, I get to do just that! With maturity comes a different understanding of topics, and I get to relearn things that I may have skimmed over in my youth to get to the funner things.

Books: Where We Get Our Curriculum

Most of our curriculum is from Our Lady of Victory School, with a few substitutions. We use the Faith and Freedom Readers from Seton Home Study. Our Latin is from Memoria Press. We are still doing the Ancient Cultures (Volume 1) of Connecting With History from RC History. For grades 1-3 we use OLVS's Lepanto Math both because of the ease of use compared to Saxon Math, and because it's more affordable. In grades 4 and up we use Saxon, and I'm happy to say that we finally got Aidan to the point where he enjoys math! Finding the right academic path can be a long, frustrating journey, but the payoff is so worth it.

The 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades books

These are the Beginner and Grammar level books for Connecting with History, combined so we can cover KG-6th grades at once. It's a salvation history course, illustrating how secular history lines up with Biblical history and how the birth of Christ was the point from which all history is measured.

Reference sections

The Syllabi

Aidan is in 6th grade this year...we have a middle schooler! Yikes.

At the front of each grade's lesson planner I write the list of subjects covered in that particular grade, the books used for each subject, and the abbreviations used for them. I write an asterisk next to the consumables that I have to reorder for the next student. Many of our workbooks run around $15 each, so as often as possible I have the boys write their answers in a notebook.

It took me 5 years to come up with this solution, but to avoid making any marks in the official lesson plans this year I printed a homework checklist for the boys to check off when they complete an assignment, either for the day or week. It is working fantastically.

Gavin is now in 4th grade.

Liam is in 2nd grade.

Ian is doing preschool work, with materials we have on hand that will help prepare him for kindergarten next year. I printed up a progress report for him as well. He was so excited to be included in school prep this year that he was the first one to have his teeth brushed and be in bed the night before we started school.

Lesson Plans

I order the large lesson planners from Michele Quigley's shop (one for each grade). They are laid out for a 36 week school year with a two-page spread for each week. We reuse lesson plans, though they get so used and abused over the course of a school year that I've had to rewrite several. Last year I became so fed up with one child's carelessness with his plans that I cut all the pages out of the spiral binding and put them in plastic sleeves and into a 3-ring binder. This year I had to rewrite 2nd grade plans.

Grading

I finally taught myself how to use Excel to print our own report cards! In previous years I had to make do without the fancy grid, or used the underline feature in the Word program...or pen and ruler. It's ok, I'm laughing too. I grade homework daily and keep both weekly progress reports and quarterly to stay on top of how the boys are absorbing what we cover. And yes, I grade attitudes as well. That grade determines what kind of extracurricular activities they do or don't get to participate in. 

This grading wheel has made grading pretty simple. We go over all wrong answers in daily homework to correct misunderstandings, and any homework graded below 75% has to be completely redone. This is my version of "no child left behind".

How We Plan Field Trips

We belong to a homeschool nature study group that meets four times over the course of the school year. We also occasionally attend homeschool workshops through a local museum. And informally we plan other educational trips with homeschooling friends as time and interest allow. Many places are happy to give tours to small groups if you just call and ask.

"A school without music is like a body without a soul."

~St. John Bosco

Though I'm not musically inclined, I think it's a vital part of education. For music we are subscribed to the free Sacred Music studies from Traditional Catholic Living. If any of the boys showed interest we would have them take music lessons. Sports seem to be higher on their priority list for the time being.

Our School Room

I just want to clarify, if you are considering homeschooling you do not need a designated learning area. The beauty of homeschooling is that learning happens everywhere. We began this endeavor in a barely 1000 square foot house with a bookshelf in the corner of the dining room. When we moved here two years ago the fact that there was a spare room downstairs was just icing on the cake. Here's a quick tour of our learning hub for any of you who were curious how the room is organized. And by way of a full disclosure, I'm an awful speaker, which is why I will never join the masses of VLOGers. I forgot to say half the things that occurred to me. The baskets on the small book shelf are for our read-alouds, currently reading books, and library books. There's a caddy on the big bookcase next to the history books for pencils, erasers, markers, scissors, rulers, etc., and the Boxcar Children box on the bottom holds puzzle pieces. The cabinet also holds learning manipulatives.

Why We Homeschool

When searching for the "gaping hole" in my blog, it became obvious that homeschooling was it. I very rarely post strictly about homeschooling, only occasionally including bits here and there of what we do.

The reasons for this are many and diverse, but mostly because homeschooling is my job--along with raising boys, sweeping, scrubbing, baking, and all the rest that goes hand-in-hand with being a housewife and a mama. When you get home from work at the end of the day, when you get a free moment to sit down, it's not always a pleasant activity hashing over what you just spent all day doing. As much as you may feel joy in what you do and satisfaction that it was good, you need to reserve some stamina for the next day and give your mind a rest.

I've started homeschooling posts in the past that quickly fizzled out for lack of proper direction. I didn't know where to start, with so many things to cover. This post has been sitting in draft form for well over a month. If you knew how many thousands of words I've deleted for fear of sounding preachy or ranting or rambling, you'd be surprised this ever got published at all. After much thought, I conceded there was no way to cover everything in one post and get it over with (hehehe), so I'll start at the beginning and explain why we decided to homeschool. This question was asked repeatedly in the weeks following our initial decision.

I wanted to homeschool from the beginning, especially since I was homeschooled. Eli was not at all sure it was the best choice for our family. He wanted his boys to be Chickasaws and to attend the same school he had. He had visions of attending football games and watching his little guys excel at sports. Which, as I explained to him then, is still completely possible when you homeschool by dual-enrolling.

I remember when we told some family that we were sending Aidan to public school in the fall of 2011, I could almost hear the collective sigh of relief. Phew! He has a chance at being normal! Maybe it was my imagination; maybe not. There were exclamations of, "Good! He'll really love it!" and offers to help get school supplies. We really are blessed with generous family.

And so Eli hauled Aidan off to school that first day of preschool, with me sitting at home feeling like I had swallowed a rock. I couldn't even take him to his first day of school because Liam was still just a newborn, only a couple weeks old. It all felt so wrong. Gavin was in about as rough shape as I was, and parked himself in front of the back door, sobbing. His playmate and best friend was gone, and the new baby took up way too much of Mama's time and arms. His world was tipped on its head. We sobbed together.

As the weeks wore on we grew accustomed to the new way of life. Eli was on 3rd shift at that time, so he'd get home from work and stay up to take Aidan to school before heading to bed. I had to pick Aidan up from school, leaving the house at 3 pm...right smack in the middle of nap time. Eli's Mom was a life-saver, and would stop by on her way home from work most days to sit with the boys so I could run to school to get Aidan. Thankfully we only lived about seven blocks from school. The real struggle was when work ran late for her and she couldn't be here. I'd have to pack up itty baby Liam and toddler Gavin and literally carry them along with me. I'll be forever grateful to her for the load she took off my shoulders during those first couple years of school.

Within a month of starting preschool, Aidan began displaying unpleasant behavior. I caught sight of him in the rear-view mirror one day making obscene hand gestures. I pulled the vehicle over to have a chat with him, and thankfully never saw him do it again. He didn't even know what it meant or that it was bad, it was just what he saw the other boys doing. He began taking God's Name in vain because teacher does it! I had to frequently explain that we don't do that because it's disrespectful to God and against the Second Commandment--so important that God designated a commandment to it--and I'm sure teacher didn't know better!

You can't shelter him forever, mama.  I've heard this argument so many times. Why must everyone think that innocent, impressionable little children need to be desensitized to the world as soon as possible? Isn't it a beautiful thing to protect their innocence as long as possible? All too soon they're submerged in a world of disgusting jokes, obscene gestures, rude and mocking playground songs.

Your children are going to be ignorant and won't fit in with the rest of the kids. If I traded smart-mouthed, cocky boy attitudes for respectful, kind even-if-socially-awkward attitudes, they are better off. There is absolutely no use for the kind of cultural information they learn in school. For example, the sexually-suggestive gyrating that now constitutes as "dancing" can only have been born in a culture that threw morals out the window. Children are consitently exposed to music videos and pop culture (even integrated into such so-called "educational" programs as Sesame Street), by adults who think it is so cute that littles know how to "twerk" and spasm around like the possessed. Call me a prude if you will, but modesty and propriety, once virtues, have no place anymore in public education. A steady diet of pop culture makes it almost impossible for children to appreciate the beauty of the classics. Try having your child listen to Debussy for more than 10 minutes, and see how they react.

When Aidan would get home from school he was like a zombie, drained by the day of activities, forced socialization, and sensory overload. He didn't care to play with his little brother, or would take a superior stance with him, proclaiming that Gavin "didn't know how to play" this or that game and it was only for his best friends at school. He was allowed to play on an iPad at school as part of his education, and every day he lamented how we didn't have one at home. By kindergarten the novelty of these things had worn off and he'd often cry he didn't want to go to school. Aidan is a very sensitive child though, and I'm sure some of the drama that plagued him is not an issue for other children. By mid-school year, his teacher should have known this about him. I believe on the scale of good/bad teachers she was good, but mistakes were still made. Aidan is a slow, methodical worker, or a daydreamer. He definitely works at his own pace--but you can't in school. He began having recesses taken away because he wasn't done with things when everyone else was. Fearing he was going to miss recess again, he hurried up once and colored a picture of himself and his friends he was working on with whatever color he happened to have in his hand. That color, unfortunately, was flesh-toned. His teacher asked out loud, in front of his peers, why he drew everyone naked. They laughed, and he was mortified. That was one of the many days he came home sobbing, begging to never go back.

There was a little girl in his class who was cruel to him, but I didn't hear anything about it until I confronted his teacher. I'm all for kids being stoic, standing up for themselves, and not whiny about things. But I have a right to know what's going on with my child all day long, and expect some remediation. When I met with Aidan's teacher I received a very long, emotional complaint about there being so many kids, not enough eyes, and not enough hours to spare for each child. In one instance Aidan had been shoved by a "big kid" in one of the higher grades. The principal witnessed the tail end of whatever he did, but hadn't seen the whole thing. Both Aidan and the big kid were punished the same. Too many children, not enough adult eyes. Picking Aidan up from school became a heart-wrenching ordeal, each day wondering if he'd come out of the door bawling again. It got bad enough for him in kindergarten that he started having regular sessions with the school counselor designed for kids with behavioral issues. They suggested getting him tested because he was displaying signs of being on the autism spectrum; the counsellor said medication may be necessary.

In our society it has become common for parents to step down as the first and main educators of our children. Careers often take a seat front and center while children are sent off first to daycare, then to school. Parents seem to become more and more taxi services and entertainment venues, and are indignant when they learn some things aren't taught in schools. The first and most important learning happens at home. Regardless of where your child goes to school, as a parent you are responsible for what your child learns. A key example are the "Take Charge of Your Body" classes that I elected to have Aidan sit out of for both preschool and kindergarten. (Side note: When I told his teacher I did not want him to be part of the classes, she audibly sighed and said she supposed he could sit in the library, but he would be the only one and he would feel left out. I then got a call from the school counselor who had to tell me how dangerous it was for Aidan not to know everything taught in the classes, that it would make him vulnerable to abuse, and if I decided to take on the huge task of teaching him about these things myself there were certain points he absolutely should know.) Don't get me wrong, it's extremely important to teach your children that they have "private parts", and that no one is ever allowed to touch unless parents are helping them get clean or doctors are keeping them healthy. I don't for one second think that it's ok for teachers to talk about these things with kids, especially in a group setting, with a bunch of peers. This throws open the door to dialogue about body things, which often fuels misinformation about biological facts, and too much information about other things that little children have absolutely no use for. I've been there. I know what little girls whisper about on the playground or on the bus ride home, and what curious little boys joke about among themselves.

For Aidan's kindergarten year Michelle Obama's new-and-improved school lunches took effect. We had been paying for school lunches because it was easier for me and one less thing to do. After a couple weeks of Aidan coming home starving I started packing his lunch just so he got enough to eat. It never happened to Aidan, but I heard stories of teachers even taking "unhealthy" food items out of students' lunchboxes.

The last straw for me was when the school was put on lock-down twice the same year. Add "control freak" to the list of charges against me, but not being able to get to my child when there was a dangerous situation in the area had me in a panic. One lock-down was because of a bank robbery that occurred south of us, and the bank robbers fled in our direction. Where do psychopaths go to shoot at people? Crowded places. Schools, malls, theaters. The other lock-down was because of a tornado warning, and I was locked down in an outer hallway in the school with our two littlest boys for a very long time. Aidan was not with us. The last straw for Eli was when he was reading a note the teacher had sent home in Aidan's backpack. He commented, "Wow, her grammar is worse than mine! I think we'll let Aidan finish out his kindergarten year there and then we can give homeschooling a try."

I've tried very hard not to turn this post into a rant because in the end, everyone needs to make their own informed decisions what is best for their family. I'm very passionate about my children's education, so it's very difficult not to rant about public schools. :) Homeschooling is not for everyone, and even I had doubts as to whether we could do it. It's very intimidating, but also one of the best decisions we've ever made.

Some of the most indignant about our choice to homeschool were public school teachers. Let me just say that our decision is not an insult to you or a reflection of the work you do. Without dedicated public school teachers so many more children would slip through the cracks. I had a couple teachers myself that I absolutely loved the first few years I attended public school. But then there was that one who pulled a bra out of her sleeve as a 2nd grade Halloween party trick that just makes you wonder.

Do you have a teaching degree? What makes you qualified to teach your children?
No teaching degree here. I sometimes learn right along with my boys. We have teacher's manuals and the school we get our curriculum from has tutors on hand in case we run into a real noggin-scratcher. I'm qualified to teach my children because God made me their mother, and no one is more invested in their success than me.

What about sports? Can they take sports?
Yes, if they want to, through our town's Parks & Rec Department or by dual-enrolling with the public school.

Do they have friends? How do you socialize them?
Children socialize themselves. Especially my children. My oldest two have a lot of their father's blood in them and are not shy. They have friends from our church and have made friends recently at the homeschool workshops they've attended.

Aren't you worried they won't be on track with other kids their age? How do you know they're learning what they're supposed to?
Not worried. Each child learns at his own pace whether he's in public, private, parochial, or homeschool. The school we get our curriculum from is accredited, and we go at the pace each of our sons excels at. If they need more time to work on a troublesome subject, we have all the time in the world. There is no child left behind around here. There are also standardized tests they can take. Real life living holds more learning opportunities than sitting in a classroom in a controlled environment. Learning is spontaneous at home. We read a lot of books and do a lot of exploring. Homeschooling builds great studying and research bones.

What about college?
If our boys want to go, that is their choice. They will have to pay their own way, the same deal I was offered. They'll have to work hard if it's what they truly want. I have no concerns about homeschoolers being rejected by colleges. Top universities are actually more likely to accept homeschoolers than standard students. And to date, no school system, college, or university has rejected our school's official student transcripts.

And there you have it, my first official homeschooling post! To come are posts dealing with the curriculum and resources we use, how we organize our day, and more.

Are there any other questions you would like answered about why we homeschool?

In the Nick of Time

Just in case there was anyone concerned about us starting our school year next week with incomplete lesson plans, I am here to put your fears to rest! I finished lesson planning today with a day or two to spare.

Lesson plans done...with one exception. It seems that when I ordered our curriculum last February (right at the beginning of my diet, mind you) my fat/calorie deprived brain glitched right over 3rd grade phonics. I spent a good fifteen minutes tearing this house apart looking for the phonics book, and then for the invoice for the order, which is also mysteriously missing in action. One of the boys must have used it for scrap paper?

We use Our Lady of Victory School's curriculum for the most part, so I called them to have someone look up the invoice from that order. They're always super helpful with any of the issues that I always seem to encounter. Of course I never ordered the phonics book. The lady was able to place the order for me and it should be here some time next week. This has been another great life lesson for me against procrastination. If I had done lesson plans as soon as we got the books in the mail I could've saved Aidan the catching-up he'll now have to do.

Our first year of homeschooling was the year Aidan started first grade. It was so incredibly intimidating and I had myself talked out of doing it about a hundred times before we even started. Even after being homeschooled myself, I didn't know if I could do it. So I ordered lesson plans from OLV (at a salty $85) to save myself some confusion. I figured as long as someone was telling me exactly what to do it wouldn't be so bad. Right? Well, a few weeks into the school year we discovered a routine that worked for us, which was not at all like the school-assembled plans or schedule. So every week I took the assigned pages of each subject and rewrote the new lesson plan on a dry erase board.

This year Gavin starts first grade. All I needed to do was modify the plans we already had--on paper this time, not on a board....and add in the books that have changed since Aidan guinea-pigged his way through that first year. OLV changed their phonics program. I also switched out OLV's history for Seton's, and added geography.

Lesson plans get used and abused around here...plenty of coffee spills and baby scribbles. The single staple initially holding these together gave out by the time second semester rolled around. So I put the plans in a binder and added tabs for ease of use. I love tabs. You may be able to tell that I modified the plans from a daily plan to weekly.

After that first year of panic I flipped ends of the spectrum, as is my wont. I decided I could write out our own lesson plans, no sweat. Easy peasy lemon squeezy (as Aidan is fond of saying). Those plans were also finished by the skin of my teeth, with the ink barely dry the morning we started.

Our lesson planner comes from Michele Quigley's shop (which is now closed for the rest of the summer, having sold out of planners). It's simply divided in an unlabeled grid so I can organize it as I like. This year, knowing that planning was no easy task, I started earlier. Procrastination took over, and here we are.

3rd Grade, Week 1

As I surveyed the workload Aidan has this year, I'm seriously considering schooling all year long. Perhaps burn-out can be avoided by a lighter summer schedule, taking two to three weeks off here and there? Brains may stay more refreshed and forget less with shorter breaks? Definitely something to consider.

At this point, I'm just thankful to be ready for Tuesday.

Books, Books, Books!

A couple days ago the rest of our books for next school year came in the mail. That is, the rest until I have another epiphany about something the boys can't live without learning. I love books. Every spare wall in this house is lined with them. Literally. I tell myself when we finally find a bigger house there will be open spaces. In reality, the wall will probably end up lined with mismatched bookcases again.

This bookcase was a $5 garage sale find, a project from 2 years ago that hasn't been touched. It houses puzzles and some of the books I'm trying to bring myself to get rid of.

I decided Aidan will start taking Latin next fall in 3rd grade. I took three years of Latin in high school, so I'm fairly prepared for the "Why?! What for?" questions. Most specifically, we are Traditional Roman Catholic, so we only attend Latin Masses (my boys have never been to a Mass in English), and follow the laws and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as they were pre-Vatican II. For those who don't know, Vatican II was the Second Vatican Council, held from 1962-1965. It was opened to address relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world. The Council was meant to clarify the direction of the Church, which, as the Mystical Body of Christ, should always be toward God. However, the Council took a decided turn toward humanism, inviting Protestants (Christians who are not Catholic--that is, those who "protest" the Catholic Faith) to be part of the Council, apparently "revamping" the Church for the people, not for God. In the wake of Vatican II, vocations to the priesthood have plummeted, and sadly former Faithful have left the Church in droves. If they could only see the beauty that is the Faith...but it is not taught or enforced in the Novus Ordo (New Order) like it once was. Priests began celebrating Mass facing the people (not God on the altar), in the vernacular (language of the region) instead of Latin, which was the Universal language of the Church. Previously you could attend Mass anywhere, in any country, and Mass was the same, mirroring the "universality" of the Church. Churches that were once gorgeous works of art were remodeled and stripped down, and redecorated in a minimalist (and sometimes grotesque) fashion. While we recognize the authority of the Pope as head of the Catholic Church, we choose to live our Faith in a more traditional way. I could go on and on, but, will save the rest for another post. :)

I want Aidan to start altar boy training soon, so knowing some Latin would be a great help for him. The Latin curriculum we just received teaches English right alongside Latin, which should help alleviate some confusion. Prima Latina is meant for kinder-6th grade, so we can take our time with it and find a comfortable pace until Aidan's ready for more advanced Latin (Latina Christiana) in 7th-8th grades. Taking Latin actually helped me understand English better because so many of our English words were derived from Latin roots. I had hoped to study veterinary medicine, and Latin is used in a lot of medical terminology. It is far from being a dead language.

The Lives of the Saints is extra reading material for the boys. In an age when most little boys idolize fictional superheroes, it's so important to teach them about the real-life superheroes that should be shaping their aspirations. The stories are short enough for quick reading and the artwork is gorgeous.

With little boys, the questions never end. "What kind of bug is this, Mom? Is that a blue robin? Can I eat those berries?" I decided it'd be fun for them to have a safe place to look up their nature questions, instead of using Google, which can be a dangerous source of information. One misspelled word could equal images that will forever be stuck in their heads. Kaufman's Field Guide to Nature of the Midwest is an excellent resource to have on hand for any age, and I love that it's tailored for our region. Liam (3) loves looking at the pictures, and Aidan carries it every time he goes outdoors to identify trees, plants, bugs, birds and all sorts of other critters.

I get my Lesson Planner from Michele Quigley's shop. The style is exactly what I need and you can customize your planner, including several lesson plans in one binding and adjusting size.

I recently bought Simplicity Parenting at the suggestion of a friend. I think I'm going to love it! Thumbing through this book, I came across such gems as: "Too much stuff leads to too little time and too little depth in the way kids see and explore their worlds", "Some toys claim to give your child a developmental edge. This or that remarkable new toy will not make your child more creative, socially adept, or smarter, despite all the claims the manufacturer makes", "By simplifying clothes you ease transitions. You offer freedom from choice and overload, while still allowing for the slow and sure development of personal expression." After reading this book I have a feeling I'll be going through a lot of stuff and possibly organizing a garage sale for this fall.

And finally, I received this blessings journal in the mail recently from one of my oldest and dearest friends. It's exactly what I needed right now. I've been too busy or preoccupied to write properly in my regular journal, which just ends up being a lot of ranting anyway. If my journals ever make it to my grandchildren, they're going to think granny was a pretty cranky, cantankerous person. While venting has it's time and place, being directed to look on the bright side of things (despite it taking a sardonic tone occasionally) is very refreshing.