by Kerry Costanzo | Homeschooling is not easy. It can be really hard. For me, it is often really, really hard. Yet, it is the right things to do in life that can sometimes be the hardest. Homeschooling can be a cross, yet as we Catholics know, it is only in picking up and carrying our crosses that we can hope to follow Our Lord to Heaven.

Ten years ago, our family embarked on a journey which entailed leaving our comfortable life in Northern Virginia to live a life of simplicity in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. And ...

In Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s classic Gift from the Sea the author, using the leisure and recollection of a summer vacation at the ocean, reflects on the art of living a ...

by Fr. Robert Lange | After hearing literally thousands of confessions of grade-school children, I must admit that many young people are poorly trained in understanding the nature of sin and of being aware of their own sinfulness. The lessons must come from committed parents.

It’s often lamented that babies don’t come with manuals.  Of course, this isn’t true—babies do come with manuals.  They are called “parenting books.” There are books that tell you how ...

Labor Day is right around the corner. On this special occasion, many of us are given a long weekend to celebrate. We have barbeques, picnics, parties or maybe a family vacation at the beach or some other enjoyable place.

The ancient Greeks identified the sign of fruitfulness as proof of the art of living well, as the true mark of civilization. On the shield of Achilles in the Iliad ...

The Beatitudes are worthy of our study. The first Beatitude, from the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus, encourages us to be poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit, we must empty ourselves of anything and everything that tends to displace Jesus Christ in our lives. Jesus must be first in our lives. He can’t be in second place. He must always be front and center.

When I was growing up in the 1970’s, many Catholic parents took turns going to Mass: Mom might go to an early Mass while Dad stayed home with the kids; ...

This is primarily written toward teenagers who are currently working on high school, but will—before they know it—be going on to college or the working world. As you grow up, ...

by Jennifer Tutwiler | Homeschoolers tend to be an optimistic group. No matter what trials we faced in the previous school year, we look forward to the next with all the anticipation of a child awaiting Christmas. For some families, though, this optimism can fade as each year becomes a worsening repetition of the previous year’s challenges. Nothing works. Nothing improves. Survival is the only thing left. This was our own experience for three very long years.

by Fr Frank Papa | We all are commanded to obey the Ten Commandments because they were given by God the Father to Moses for all of us to obey. Jesus, the Son of God, repeated the Ten Commandments and the requirement for all to obey them. We all are required to be obedient to God’s commandments. Sin is disobedience to the laws of God.

Stressed out home schooling moms tell me that it is not the actual home schooling that is sapping their strength. It’s not the housework, or yard work, or meal preparation. ...

“Last night, I had a dream,” three-year-old Drew announces during dinner. “Oh?” I say. “Yes. There was an alien in my dream and you know what he said, Mom?” “What?” ...

I recall once going to my aunt’s house to baby sit for her three daughters. While in the kitchen, I was amused to see that she had a picture of a swimsuit model on her refrigerator. Before pulling anything out of the refrigerator to eat, my aunt had to look at the picture. This was clearly meant to dissuade her from eating, in hopes of having a figure like the woman in the picture. While the idea was amusing to me, it made some sense. Although my aunt had a general intention to lose weight, the picture gave her direct motivation at the time it was most needed.

Suddenly it hits you:  within a very few weeks, for the first time in your life, you are going to be more or less on your own, away from your ...

Learning Joy From the Poor of Cubao, the Philippines “The very deficiency of material things enhances, enriches and increases the faith.  The less for the eyes, the more for the ...

by Sarah Rose | Are your teens always completing their research reports at the last minute, or not completing them at all? Do your teens complain that their school work is pointless? Did you recently begin homeschooling and do your teens miss their old school and old friends? Are they rebellious and disrespectful?

Pope Leo XIII| This is a suitable moment for us to exhort especially heads of families to govern their households according to these precepts, and to educate their children from their earliest years. The family may be regarded as the cradle of civil society, and it is in great measure within the circle of family life that the destiny of the State is fostered.

Almost everyone knows about and has seen pictures of the Grand Canyon, but did you know that the Grand Canyon is just one of the many national and state parks ...