Christine 的个人资料Christine's place照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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Christine's place11月5日 As the first quarter ends....we find ourselves settling into a routine for the week. We still have a few logistical bumps here and there, but for the most part, we have things figured out. Each of the children is finding things a bit more challenging this year. The 9 year old and the 13 year old have each been "bumped up" a grade level. I did this in order to challenge them and see if they would rise to the occasion. For the most part, they are both doing a pretty good job. DS is really enjoying both his art and science classes at co-op. He does not particularly enjoy his writing class, as it is a challenge for him, but he is putting forth decent effort. DD is enjoying her art class, Apologetics class, Church history class, literature class, and "gym" class. She is doing the work for science, but it is not her favorite. Both of their grades are a little lower than they would be at a lower grade level, but that is because of the difficulty of the work expected from them. Lord, Thank You for helping us to make a good start. Please be with us as we continue along this path You have set us on. Amen. 10月4日 Srodowisko at Quiet WatersThis is a video of my daughter's youth group at their srodowisko retreat in August. The song that is playing is the youth group singing a song that they wrote that week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6I2a1FbHF4 This is an incredible group of young people ranging in age from 12 to 20 something. The older youth mentor the younger youth and they are all hoping to attend World Youth Day in Spain in 2011. Pray for them to be able to raise the needed funds, please. 9月14日 Starting the school yearWe started co-op classes today. YDS has 3 classes and his sister has 6 or 7...I lost count! Our co-op has a very full junior high/high school level "program" and she will participate in that. It is 2 days and will probably fill most of her week after "homework" is assigned. I had won a Picturing America grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and we are sharing it with our co-op. One of the other mothers has a degree in art and agreed to teach with the grant. Both of my children had her class today. She is teaching twice...once for the younger group and once for the older group. They used clay today to sculpt after looking at and learning about southwestern pottery. Both of my children enjoyed it.
YDD has a literature class this year. I was informed by her teacher that she was enthusiastic during class and even asked if they might get to read and study more than just the 3 books currently on the syllabus. I wondered if it could possibly have been my child she was talking about, or perhaps a body snatcher alien.....
Both students have science classes with a wonderful retired science teacher. We will see how the year goes. It is the first time YDS has been sent off into classrooms without mom hovering around.
I get to be hall monitor. I don't mind being the mean mom who has to corral little ones back to pre-school music, or tell teens to lower their voices. I also monitor the door to the building we use. There is an office there for a missions group and there are elderly sisters who live in half of the building so we are not the only people in and out. It is an old convent building. We are grateful that we have use of the building. It has given us the opportunity to have a really full co-op.
Dear Lord,
Please guide us on the path of your choosing this year. May we be humble and loving. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen. 8月1日 Talks given at the NECHC The talks given at the NECHC are now online! You can watch and listen here. 7月21日 Planned Parenthood? I was reading comments on this post at
catholicvote.org when I came across a comment that stated, "I
completely understand why the anti abortion crowds concerns with tax
money going to Planed Parenthood, (last time I checked they do allot
more than just abortion)..." Gee, I wonder what he or she "checked." I know they do pregnancy tests and push "contraceptives" which are usually really abortifacients. If that is what he means, then maybe he needs to realize that abortifacient drugs cause the termination of pregnancy, or abortion. The euphemism "women's health" that is used by the NARAL, NOW, Planned Parenthood folks really means the unhindered ability to murder an unborn child at any stage of pregnancy. I am continually appalled by the refusal of otherwise intelligent people to look at the scientific facts. I am not talking about religion here, although my religion does state that human life is sacred from conception to natural death, I am talking SCIENCE. The unborn child has a different genetic makeup than the mother. By the time that most people realize they are pregnant, there is a beating heart. This video on Youtube demonstrates fetal development from conception to birth. It is compeeling eveidence that the "blob of tissue" that so many women are told will be removed during elective abortion is much more than a "blob." I guess you can tell I am passionate about this issue. I chose life, and not always in "easy" circumstances. I had one of my children as a divorced woman with 2 young children. It was not easy, but as far as I was concerned, it was the only thing to do. I even had other "Catholics" ask me why I had not had an abortion. One said to me, "You could have had an abortion. No on e would have known." Hmmm...really? I would have known, and GOD would have known. I think that means someone would have known. Dear Lord, Please convert the hearts of those who would lie and call unborn children "blobs of tissue." Please change their hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. Bless all those children who have been ripped from their mother's wombs in the name of "choice." Amen. 7月6日 Wrapping up I am still processing all the end of the school year stuff. You know
what I mean. The essays and papers that still need to be corrected,
the portfolio that still needs to be assembled. I am also waiting for
the standardized test results for my 3 children who are at home. We
are also thinking about next year and planning for curriculum. We are
venturing back into a co-op for many of our classes next year after
staying home for all of our classes this past year. I love the co-op
as far as opportunity to be with other families goes, however, I am
afraid my children see only the social opportunity, and do not
understand that this is a wonderful learning opportunity. I am wondering about how to balance the co-op with the rest of the week. I am also trying to determine if I will continue to attend the Ladies Bible Study that has been a part of my life for so many years. I am not sure if I can justify another day out of the house with 2 co-op days. In the mean time, one of my dear homeschooling friends is taking classes and talking about becoming a public school teacher.  I will miss her if and when she starts teaching in brick and mortar schools.Dear Lord, Thank You for opportunities and changes. May we follow Your will for us. Please help us to discern the way You would have us follow. Amen. 6月7日 NECHC Well, we survived the First Annual(hopefully)NECHC. If you had asked me a month ago if I thought this conference would be successful, I would have scratched my head and and mumbled "ummmmm...." as a vague kind of "I really don't think so, and I think we have been absolutely crazy to undertake this!" After yesterday, though, I am pleased to say that the conference was a success. We had a beautiful day, a great turnout, and happy vendors. Our lovely Challenge Club girls (with a lot of help from Mrs. Seaver and Mrs. Hill) put together and manned a "food court" to raise money to help defray the costs of the Challenge Summer Convention for the girls who would like to attend this year. Attendees raved about the food. Dr. William Fahey, President of Thomas More College in NH presented a talk about homeschool fathers. He was very well received by the mixed audience of moms, dads, grandparents and religious who attended. He was at turns witty and serious, and touched on the disconnect that can occur if fathers are "divorced" from the homeschool situation. Cynthia Montanaro spoke of her years as a homeschool mom and all the lessons she learned along the way. Dr. Jean Golden-Tevald shared her faith journey as a doctor, wife and mother of natural born and adopted children. There was a music workshop done by Making Music, Praying Twice which seemed geared toward younger children and the importance of surrounding our children with all different types of music from an early age. Nick Morganelli rounded out the afternoon with some fun science experiments that can be done at home. He also demonstrated a "here comes the rain" rhythm with clapping, snapping, stomping that he has used in co-op classes. I am certain that children in a class would love this so much we might have a hard time returning to quiet. The Daughters of St. Paul presented a lovely hour of Eucharistic Adoration for the hour before Mass. The readings and music brought great peace to the room and very nicely helped to lead everyone into the close of the day. The two sisters also manned a table for Pauline Books and Media. I think my favorite part of the day, however, was the attendees. People came from as far away as Quebec, Canada, and as near as right here in Chicopee, MA. We had a large turnout of Catholic homeschoolers from CT, RI, and NH. One family came in from Boston very close to the end of the day, having only just heard about the conference on Friday June 5th. There were several Catholic support groups represented from different areas including this one and this one. It was wonderful to meet so many people dedicated to teaching their children at home. Many people seemed excited about having a Catholic Homeschooling conference. I know that the Holy Spirit led those of us involved in planning this conference. He laid on our hearts an ache for something that we miss at other homeschool conferences. Our Catholic identity makes us yearn for the presence of the Lord in a way that only Catholics truly appreciate: Our Lord in the Eucharist. Having both Adoration and the Holy Mass available fulfills in us something that other forms of prayer simply don't give us. It brings the Lord more fully into our hearts and souls. Dear Lord, Thank you for Your guiding hand in the NECHC. I am truly awed by the spirit of joy that surrounded all who volunteered and attended the conference. You have blessed us with children who not only help out when "forced," but who also cheerfully offer their assistance where ever they see a need. Please help us to continue to lead them to have servant's hearts. Thank you, Lord, for all those who volunteered at the conference. There were so many who arrived and pitched in. I am humbled by their generous spirits, Lord. Amen. 6月2日 Conference boxes5月30日 New additions We have added a new member to our menagerie. His name is Fitzie. He is
soft and white and weighs in at 6 pounds. Can you guess what he is?  If
you guessed a small dog, possibly part Bichon, you are correct. We
adopted this 11 year old last Friday. I didn't think I would like a
small dog, but I was wrong. He plays fetch. He tries to climb on the
bed, but I make him get down. He follows me around and sleeps near me
where ever I am. I also added something else to our home. My brother sent me "an old friend." I had one of these when I was a little girl: Her
name is Mrs. Beasley. She was the doll that "Buffy" of the "Family
Affair" TV program that ran from 1967-1971 had. I watched that show
when I was little and I had a Mrs. Beasley doll. She was the only doll
I ever wore out. My brother sent me this one. She is actually an
original, and she still has her pull string and talks. I
was really surprised to receive her, and I am thankful to my brother
for thinking of me. He sent her without any sort of special
occasion....just because he thought of me and Mrs. Beasley.I am enjoying having her. I had recently been reminiscing about her, so it was that much more of a surprise that my brother sent her. He lives in Ireland and I am in the U.S. and he was not the person I was reminiscing to...... 5月20日 A notebooking give awayApologia
is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the
elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available.
You can see samples on the Apologia website here: These
journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time
and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's
notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and
compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and
labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own
notebooking journal. Each of the notebooking journals include:
See the sample pages here: Botany: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=128 and Astronomy: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=127 Jeannie
is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany
Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site.
Visit her blog to learn more about this contest: www.jeanniesjournal.com |
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