Getting Over the Free Range Chicken Syndrome in Catholic Homeschooling {OR How to Find Order in Your Homeschool}

For me, homeschooling was about pride for a long time. We were going to do everything differently from schooled children, every day, and all the time. There was no way I was going to teach my children like school systems teach or keep such a tight schedule. We will school in our pajamas and we will wake up when our body is ready to wake up! We will go on field trips at least once a week! We will do arts and crafts every day! Free range chickens vs. those chickens in those super crowded, mega sized coups. We are free range chickens!!! At least we were… until I realized that we are not.

I realized that my family has needs that free range chickens do not have. By my family, I mean the mother hen (the rooster kinda goes with the flow most of the time when it comes to homeschooling issues. He mostly steps in to discipline when called upon by a frantic mother hen). Two years ago I gave in and took another look at my Free-Range Chicken Philosophy. Even though we were getting all our schoolwork done, there was an overall feeling of chaos throughout the day. From meal planning to lesson planning to crisis management, it was all improvised.  Day in, and day out…free range chickens!

So what was not working with this free range chicken philosophy? 

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Teaching Religion in the {Catholic} Homeschool

Quite often I am asked about how I deal with teaching religion in our homeschool. My thoughts on this have evolved over our 15+ years of homeschooling, mainly because I have evolved over that same time. When we first began homeschooling I was still in the learning phase of my faith; although I guess a more accurate term would be the “re-learning” phase because supposedly I had learned about my faith during my 10 years in CCD. What a joy it was to go through religion books with my oldest children when they were first starting out and learn right along with them. I think back in those early days we used almost every religion program out there: Seton, Faith and Life, Image of God, The Baltimore Catechism.

As our knowledge and our children grew, we began to venture out into the world of activities more often. We happen to belong to a homeschool group that is very focused on activities that revolve around the faith. It was after a few years of being involved in processions, Masses, field trips to religious places, talks given by priests and lay faithful, religious ceremonies, reading saint stories etc. that I realized that this was our religion class. Yes we still needed to read about the specifics and learn the ins and outs of our faith, but living it is what made it all come to life.

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Raising Heaven-Bound Children: Dumb Saints Instead of Brilliant Sinners

That’s right, I would rather raise a dumb saint than a brilliant sinner. Why? Because I am raising my children to be heaven-bound. Obviously there were many great saints who were brilliant, and intelligence and holiness are not mutually exclusive. As parents we should certainly help our children strive for excellence in education. However, the salvation of their immortal souls should be our PRIMARY aim. I will do whatever is in my power (through God’s grace, of course), to be certain that my children will thrive in this secular world. So how? How is it possible to raise children to be heaven-bound you ask?

When my first born was placed in my arms for the first time, fifteen years ago, it was both the happiest and the scariest moment of my entire life. No other joy in this world compared to the joy I felt at that very moment. At that moment, it dawned on me that I was personally responsible for taking care of this brand-new life. No other fear in this world compared to the fear I felt at that very moment. Forty-eight hours later, as I sat in the wheelchair and the nurse placed my little bundle of joy in my arms and waved good-bye, my heart sank for a second and I thought, “How on earth am I going to do this?” As I walked in the doors of our home, my concern turned to prayer and I said, “Help Lord, I don’t know what to do!” I felt the ginormous responsibility. My prayer was not necessarily for the physical needs of that tiny infant; my worry was more for the spiritual needs of my son. How was I, a sinner, going to do this incredible task of raising a child… a heaven-bound child?

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The {Catholic} Homeschooling Socialization Myth

A couple of years ago, in my local newspaper, there was a nice article about a homeschooling family with five children. They quoted the home schooled children and the author spoke statistics…when I saw it laying on my kitchen table, I thought wow how exciting and went on, with much enthusiasm, to read the article. Later on I checked my e-mail and saw lots of messages from local home schoolers who were outraged by the comments being left on-line regarding the article. I skimmed through those messages (a bunch had already been blocked by the paper) and noticed the one prevailing topic: socialization. Generalizations about any group of people is common among humans. So this was not a shocker. But when I read comments from other who have never walked in the shoes of a homeschooling family it made me think that they believe that we keep our kids in a closet (without windows) and don’t allow them to go out and be “socialized”.

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Holy Week: Helping Our Children Walk with Jesus

Holy Week is here! Do you feel like your children are ready for Holy Week? Are they ready to walk with Jesus? A couple of years ago, I had been stirring because I felt like my children were not really ready for Holy Week and the Crucifixion and, of course, Easter! Yes, we've been doing things all during Lent but I felt like now, they needed something more. One night I woke up in the middle of the night and the Holy Spirit gave me an idea! I say He gave me the idea because it was so perfect and brilliant that it could only be from God. So the next day, I put this together for our classroom! I am so proud of our children because they were so into our lesson as we talked about the days of the week and our Holy Week Journey to Easter Sunday! I really enjoyed making this and also loved its simplicity! What I wanted to accomplish with this was a visual of what Jesus, our Lord, went through during Holy Week. I wanted to help them walk with Jesus.

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Homeschooling Methods 101

If you have been following our series, I first wrote about the 10 Steps to Start Catholic Homeschooling and then on Goal Setting in the Catholic Homeschool, now we are going to discuss the different homeschooling methods available to you. So you’ve decided to Homeschool, you looked up the laws in your state, you contacted the local organization and even want to join a homeschool co-op. Now what? Well, now you need to decide what method you will use in your homeschool. First, I would like you to learn a little bit about yourself as a teacher and a former student.

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Goal Setting in {Catholic} Homeschooling

Have you set goals for your homeschool before you began your journey?  

Are you thinking about homeschooling your children but do not really know the reasons why?

Here is an easy way to set goals for your homeschool. Though a "dry topic," goal setting is very important for every family thinking about homeschooling or home educating already. Knowing them in your head just is not enough, you need to organize them and write them down. 

I mean it's not a super exciting topic BUT a very important one because I truly believe that if you set your philosophy and goals ahead of time, you will not doubt nor will you feel intimidated by others when questioned about your family's decision to home educate, not that it really matters what others think BUT when you have well thought out reasons, it's a great feeling!

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10 Steps to Start {Catholic} Homeschooling

Recently, in a Catholic Homeschool group on Facebook, a mom commented about her doubts regarding homeschooling. My dear friend and blogger over at Totus Tuus Family, Allison, replied one of the sweetest and most perfect replies, she said,

“”If God leads you to it, He will lead you through it. I had MANY of those same doubts. I read lots of homeschool and Catholic homeschool books looking for those who had conquered the obstacles I perceived and that combined with prayer fortified me. Am I perfect at it? No, no one is…no education is perfect. Let God work on your fears, it sounds like He IS working on your heart.”

This got me thinking about my own homeschooling journey which is only four years young. How did I get here and what helped me stick with it? Then I wondered how many other moms out there on the fence about homeschooling and have not because of fear or lack of knowledge. Is this you?

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RLS Joining forces with Catholic Sistas

Good news!

 Raising {& Teaching} Little Saints

is joining forces with

Catholic Sistas

and providing a new series entitled Catholic Homeschooling 101

by Raising Saints

Same great ideas, different blog address.

So find us now under their Domestic Church category as Homeschooling.

Keep LOVE in LENT

Are you feeling pressured to have your holiest, Sacrifice and prayer-filled Lenten Journey this year? Do you ever find that you start out on Ash Wednesday with your ashes on your forehead and so many Sacrifice and prayer resolutions, but get discouraged by the second week because you can't stick to them all?

How about focusing on one solid resolution or Lenten program or one different challenge each week: one that our families might be able to stick with, will draw all of us closer to Jesus, and one that we can carry out with love in our hearts instead of grumpy Lent faces.

Do you want to share what your family is doing for Lent this year?

Then join us, Tina of Truly Rich Mom, and Erika of Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints, and Monica of Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families in the Keeping LOVE in LENT Blog Link-Up 2013.

We're also going to incorporate a totally optional Follow Frenzy feature for those who want to be inspired by other people's posts, with the added benefit of getting meaningful comments and new followers to your own blog.

A blog link-up is where we each write a blog post on the same theme. Everyone will get links to other bloggers’ posts to multiply your reach, and to help spread the message of Keeping LOVE in LENT!

You will have the option to participate in the Follow Frenzy, committing to visit and leave meaningful comments at 20 different blog-posts  participating in the Keeping LOVE in LENT Blog Link-Up (and receiving 20 meaningful comments on your own blog-post!)

You don't have to participate in the Follow Frenzy, especially if reduced blog-time is part of your Lent!

The LInk-Up is open to all bloggers who agree with the its' goal, particularly Catholics and Christians of all denominations who observe LENT. You may write about anything that pertains to the blog theme, e.g. share tips on how you and your family keep LOVE in LENT:  stories to encourage others to do so; books and activities (even recipes!) that help keep Lenten Observances of fasting, abstinence from meat on Fridays, extra prayer, cleaning and giving clothes away to the poor, special Catholic devotions and practices like extra weekday Masses or Stations of the Cross, etc.

To participate, please follow these steps:

1. Register by filling up the form at the end of this post or clicking here ON OR BEFORE Pancake Tuesday, February 12, 2012.

2. Write your blog post on the theme, "Keeping LOVE in LENT" in the first part of LENT and publish the blog post on February 19-20, 2013, filling out the form we send you with the direct address to your blog-post  no later than February 20, 2013 at 9AM (EST).  You will receive the complete list of Blog-post links by noon on February 20, 2013 (EST) for you to add at the bottom of your post.

At the beginning of your blog carnival post, 

write the following as your introduction and include the Love in LENT button!

"I’m participating in the Keeping LOVE in LENT Blog Link-Up 2013, hosted by Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints, Truly Rich Mom and Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families. We'll be sharing different ways, tips, stories and real-life experiences that will help us focus on Lenten sacrifices, prayer and good deeds, and carrying them out with LOVE instead of a GRUMBLE.  Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of link-up entries.”

The deadline for registration for the carnival is February 12, 2013 (Pancake Tuesday). 

Posting instructions and Link-Up  rules will be e-mailed to all participants on February 14, 2013 and the link-up will go live on February 20, 2013. PLEASE PUBLISH YOUR BLOG-POSTS no later than 9am EST on February 20, 2013.

PLEASE NOTE:

Kindly write about the theme provided. We do not moderate or screen posts but we do reserve the right to exclude your entry from the list of link-up participants should your post be offensive, irrelevant to the theme, contain personal attacks, off-topic articles, articles that are anti-Christ or are articles aimed to market products or services.

Important Dates:

1. REGISTER HERE your blog by February 12, 2013.

2. Publish your blog-post on February 19 or 20, 2013. (No Later than February 20 at 9am EST).

3. Send in your direct blog-post address (by filling out the form we send you) 

as soon as you publish your blog-post, no later than February 20 at 9am EST.

4. Add the list of link-up participants to the end of your blog post by February 20, 2013 at noon. EST.

You will receive a list of link-up participants as I receive them on February 19, 2013 with the final list compiled for you to edit at the end of your blogpost by noon on February 20, 2013.

OPTIONAL FOLLOW FRENZY:

5. Specify in the registration form that you intend to participate in the FOLLOW FRENZY.

6. Receive your list of blogs to visit on February 20 by noon EST.

7. Visit, leave meaningful comments and hopefully subscribe or follow 20 newly discovered Blogs by February 24, 2013.  

Thank you very much! 

We're excited to read your entries and help spread the word on how to keep LOVE in LENT!