The second principle in living the simple life is: Trusting in God’s providential love. But why is it so difficult for us to trust in Divine Providence? Why is it so easy to surrender all the areas of our lives to God except for the area of finances? Because trusting in the Lord requires the understanding that His divine plan is so much larger than our own.
Read More »Hippo in a Haystack Color-In
Why is the hippo in the haystack? Why is the chicken doing with the hammer? Caption this image! Share your child's comment below! Caption this image! What could be more fun than coloring a picture? Sharing it with someone! Why not encourage your child to send it to their grandmother? Or parish priest? Or someone they appreciate? Each week, connect with a loved one through your children’s art, and then share with us where it went! We’d love to know!
Read More »4 Ways to Stop Blaming Yourself as a Parent
First, stop insisting that you “went wrong” with your kids. I don’t know exactly how Jesus felt when He was betrayed by Judas. But I do know this: I know that Jesus did not wonder where He went wrong with Judas. Jesus didn’t “go wrong.”
Read More »A Guide to Success in Your Studies: Improving Memory and Retention
Since I am a professional historian, I am dismayed when I hear anyone say, “I hate history.” Their lament almost always means that the person is as yet unprepared to face history's challenges, the first and foremost of which is the ability to retain a great deal of data. To succeed in that undertaking, we must understand that retentiveness is a by-product of intellectual exercise.
Read More »Baseball, Don Quixote and A Painter without Regrets
Man by nature is idealistic, seeks excellence, and hopes for perfection, but he is bound by the weakness of human nature and the limits of the human condition. There is no such being as a faultless painter or a sinless human being. In the sport of baseball every player aspires to get a hit every time and bat 1.000, but even the best of batters only have an average of .300.
Read More »“Why My Child?” – Dealing with a Handicapped Child
It wasn’t until she was almost two, and I was expecting our second child that the first symptoms appeared. Night terrors would wake her, screaming and crying. At first we thought she was unsettled because a new sibling would be arriving soon and that because her father would be going on a remote assignment without us for a year
Read More »Ten Books That Changed My Life (And Might Change Yours) Part II
I was asked to write an essay about the book that had most changed my life. This book was my answer. Relating the account of Denton’s ordeal as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for nearly eight years, it is clear that his struggle to practice his faith and keep his sanity during this time were beyond heroic.
Read More »Teaching Tenth and Eleventh Grade
Students should accomplish a substantial amount of academic work in the 10th and 11th grades. They have over-come the adjustment problems they may have encountered in 9th, and have not ...
Read More »The Days of Creation Word Puzzle
Download this 'The Days of Creation' Word Puzzle! A fun activity to for all ages! Search for these words: nothing, light, sky, ocean, plants, sun, moon, birds, man, rested, Paradise, Abel, Cain
Read More »Brown All Around Color-In
What is the bear laughing about? Caption this image! What could be more fun than coloring a picture? Sharing it with someone! Why not encourage your child to send it to their grandmother? Or parish priest? Or someone they appreciate? Each week, connect with a loved one through your children’s art, and then share with us where it went! We’d love to know!
Read More »Courage, Compassion and Correction: St Alphonsus Liguori on Raising Godly Children
Excerpts from Sermon XXXVI from The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori, TAN Books and Publishing Children are More than Presents God gives children to parents not that they may assist ...
Read More »Ten Books That Changed My Life (And Might Change Yours) Part I
My father, an accomplished carpenter, always seemed to be building “one more bookcase” to meet the literary demands of his wife. For all the things that our large Catholic family did not have, we had a treasury of books. My mother’s consummate genius in homeschooling pedagogy reached its zenith with a simple rule for her children: you can stay up as late as you want as long as you are reading.
Read More »Why are So Many Families Choosing to Homeschool?
Our Featured Families are as varied as you can imagine! What they hold in common though is a love of God and family and a passion for transmitting the Faith to their children. We are so appreciative that they have welcomed us into their homes to share in their homeschooling adventure!
Read More »Inspiring Stories Written by Catholic Homeschoolers
There’s a new book that is especially relevant for Catholic home schooling youth. What makes this story of St. Philomena even more remarkable is that it is written by a thirteen-year-old girl, the age of our young saint when she was martyred.
Read More »Fishing, Luck and Divine Providence
According to proverbial wisdom, “When you do succeed, the chances are that you were not trying too hard in the first place.” This observation appears to contradict the idea of ...
Read More »New Beginnings: The Reflections of One Homeschooling Mother
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.
Read More »Stewardship of Treasure: The 1st Principle of The Simple Life
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 ...
Read More »God Made Some Animals with Spikes Color-In
What are the porcupine and hedgehog talking about? Why is he shrugging? Caption this image! What could be more fun than coloring a picture? Sharing it with someone! Why not encourage your child to send it to their grandmother? Or parish priest? Or someone they appreciate? Each week, connect with a loved one through your children’s art, and then share with us where it went! We’d love to know!
Read More »5 Catholic Homeschooling Keys to Success
We recently asked our readers to share homeschooling advice that they have found helpful or that they often share with others. Here are five of the most popular Catholic homeschooling ...
Read More »Ready, Set… Wait a Minute!
Your books have arrived, the kids are eager to begin, the family energy level is high and prayers for the help of all the educator saints have been fervently said. Ready, set…hold on just a minute! Take a deep breath and remember one word: ORGANIZATION!
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