Catholic Homeschool Support Groups on Facebook

Get connected to other Catholic homeschoolers on Facebook. There are a variety of groups.

I am seeing much more activity in the Catholic homeschool Facebook groups than I am seeing in the yahoogroup emails. If you are looking for support and Catholic homeschool info please consider these links to active groups. These communities are helpful and connect us to others like us across the map. 

+ Catholic Homeschool Moms https://www.facebook.com/groups/24164460379/ over 1,000 members

+ Catholic Homeschoolers of NorthEast (PA, NJ,DE,MD)https://www.facebook.com/groups/115513477358/ over 70

* Homeschool Delaware https://www.facebook.com/groups/118853418201199/ over 360 (secular)

+ MODG Moms https://www.facebook.com/groups/29412108736/ almost 200

+ Mater Amabalis(for Catholic Charlotte Mason approach) https://www.facebook.com/groups/materamabilis/ almost 200

+ Catholic Homeschooling Resources https://www.facebook.com/pages/Catholic-Homeschooling-Resources/137231707453 almost 700

+ Totus Tuus Family & Catholic Homeschool FB page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Totus-Tuus-Family-Catholic-Homeschool/285307812834?fref=ts over 700

Did I miss any? Please add to comments.

Theme Thursday - Animals ... Squirrel Feast!

Posing for photographs, bunnies and squirrels are feasting right out our back door. We delight in watching them and their antics, taking note of their cues and behaviors. Our backyard is bursting with critters and that's not too surprising when you feed them well, like we do.  It does provide entertainment and, for the homeschooler, a lesson in observation.

You may remember from a previous post we've been feeding the squirrels and testing hypotheses.

Observing daily, taking copious notes, changing circumstances, testing theories we have come to some conclusions on what is the favorite food of our squirrels.  Google had us thinking it might be peanuts, but with an easy dish of peanuts in front of them, they'll still go to great lengths to get to the sunflower seeds.

They like their peanuts, too... especially when it's easy.

But usually they are at the peanuts if another squirrel is already in the "contraption." My son forked this pole into the lawn and duct-tapped a sand pail to it that he sprinkled some sunflower seed into. It's pretty comical seeing the gymnastics the furry friends resort to to get to their preferred meal.

The bunny, on the other hand, is certainly more dignified. He eats his clover without dramatics, usually sleepy-eyed. He perks up a bit and appreciates the random carrot we toss out.

Our squirrels have been, from the very beginning, our homeschool pets. They've been a part of our "schoolroom."

Watching their mannerisms we've been led to books, Youtube videos and google to find out what it means when they flick their tails or hold their hearts.

...And in doing so, they've won our hearts....

Joining Cari at Clan Donaldson this THEME THURSDAY-ANIMALS and adding a #QueenofMay image, because even Our Lady loved squirrels!

Mother's Selflessness

I continue to learn & be inspired by my Mother's selflessness. God bless all the mothers, those praying to be moms, too.

My mother takes for example the Blessed Mother and I fly to the Mother of mothers to assist me in that goal.

Happy Mother's Day, friends.

It Rained Raindrops

Sunday Silence - Mass Memes

Catholic Symbolism In The Cinco De Mayo Pinata

You can use a Pinata to teach the Catholic Faith!

Marco Polo first wrote about Pinatas after his trip to China. They were filled with seed and after breaking they were burned and the ashes were sprinkled, representing good fortune throughout the year.

In Italy Pingnatta means "fragile pot" and 14th century Europeans claimed this activity for Lent and the custom spread to Spain. When Spanish missionaries came to Mexico, they found that the Aztecs had their own pot of tiny treasures for their god. The treasures, when broken from the pot and fell to the feet of the warrior god. Catholic priests used this to help teach them the faith.

Today, a traditional Pinata has 7 points with streamers trailing from each point and they represent the 7 deadly sins!

Envy  -  Gluttony  -  Greed  -  Lust  -  Pride  -  Sloth  -  Wrath

The ten pointed pinata symbolizes the sins that come from breaking the ten commandments.

Here comes some interesting symbolism. Before attempting to hit the pinata, the person must cover his eyes, symbolically to protect himself from being enticed by the pinata. The blindfolded one represented FAITH and in striking the Pinata SIN was attacked.  Everyone looks up at the pinata dangling as a Godly prize from heaven. The stick represents virtue and the reward is received for keeping the faith.   After hitting the pinata, the person must make a resolution or resolutions.

AMEN!

I'd like to see someone clever create a Margarita version of this, for adults!

#QueenofMay Pope Francis on Mary, A Mother That Teaches...

In my lifetime the three Popes I have memory of, Blessed JPII, Pope Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis all have (had) a stunning and inspiring devotion to Mary.

Says something.

She leads.  She inspires. She teaches.

Dear Blessed Mother, first Catholic homeschooling mother, teach me to "always be full of goodness, joy and hope."

Catholic Pinterest Contributors

Catholic Pinterest welcomes EWTN as it's newest contributor.

They join Catholic Digest, Our Sunday Visitor, The Catholic Company, CatholicPhilly, Liguori Publications, Franciscan University, Daughters of St. Paul, Emmanuel Books and many others bloggers, authors and curators of the Good, the True and the Beautiful.

It's a treasure chest!

To date, there are almost 100 contributors and nearly 4,700 followers. Will you be one? Come share/bookmark/catalog all your favorite Catholic finds...images, articles, videos, resources and more.

Visit HERE and let us know.

Of Mary There Is Never Enough #QueenofMay

These words of St. Bernard, "Of Mary there is never enough" are also the title of a beautiful little book by William Biersach .

In unending devotion to Mary we are led to her purpose. Through her, Jesus comes to us. St. Louis de Montfort tells us that it was through Mary that the salvation of the world was begun, and it is through Mary that it must be consummated. 

God chose The Blessed Mother from all time for this motherly role. Let not the times diminish her in our hearts. 

#QueenofMay - posting "Something about Mary" in social media during the month of May. 

#QueenofMay - Honoring our Blessed Mother in Social Media During May

It is the lovely month of May!

Catholics honor Our Lady in May.  Since 2008, I have had a blog feature to honor her especially during her month - SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.

During the month of May, besides adorning her images around my house with flowers, I post often about our Blessed Mother...sharing prayers, devotions to her and images. Totus Tuus! Mary always leads us to Jesus.

I hope you will join me. I pray we can use social media to make her love known. (An act to repair the her Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart.)

On your Facebook, your Blog, your Tumblr, your Pinterest POST "Something About Mary" and use the hashtag #QueenofMay, especially on Twitter.  (Please use the above image.)

Let's honor Our Blessed Mother in May, especially in prayer and devotion, and hopefully also "speaking" of her reverently in social media.

Sunday Silence - Church Photos with Quotes

Quotes on Children's Play - For the Love of Play

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.

Fred Rogers -American television personality

In our play we reveal what kind of people we are.

Ovid -Roman poet
43 BC–17 or 18 AD

The true object of all human life is play.

G. K. Chesterton - British author
1874–1936

Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.

Diane Ackerman - Contemporary American author

Culture arises and unfolds in and as play.

Johan Huizinga -Dutch historian
1872–1945

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.

Abraham Maslow -American psychologist
1908–1970

Whoever wants to understand much must play much.

Gottfried Benn -German physician
1886–1956

Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.

Kay Redfield Jamison - Contemporary American professor of psychiatry

 Deep meaning lies often in childish play.

Johann Friedrich von Schiller -German poet
1759–1805

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

Heraclitus -Greek philosopher
535–475 BC

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Plato - Greek philosopher
427–347 BC

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.

Carl Jung - Swiss psychoanalyst
1875–1961

Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play.

Henri Matisse - French painter
1869–1954

If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society.

Jean Piaget - Swiss philosopher
1896–1980

A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him.

Pablo Neruda - Chilean poet
1904–1973

We all need empty hours in our lives or we will have no time to create or dream.

Robert Coles - Contemporary American child psychologist

The child amidst his baubles is learning the action of light, motion, gravity, muscular force…

Ralph Waldo Emerson - American writer
1803–1882

Pausing to listen to an airplane in the sky, stooping to watch a ladybug on a plant, sitting on a rock to watch the waves crash over the quayside—children have their own agendas and timescales. As they find out more about their world and their place in it; they work hard not to let adults hurry them. We need to hear their voices.

Cathy Nutbrown - Contemporary British educational theorist

h/t http://www.thestrong.org/about-play/play-quotes