Ginny’s Gems

by Heather Kerbis | A large homeschooling family seems natural to us now, but in the beginning, homeschooling was not on our radar. We were married relatively young, in our very early 20s, and assumed our children would go to the classroom for education.

Jennifer Tutwiler tried every kind of schedule there is. Her family couldn't settle into a a successful schedule - until she broke free of 5 popular myths.

By Sarah Rose | There are some things we come to appreciate more as we get older. Oftentimes, cradle Catholics may not have a deep appreciation for their faith until they experience a type of conversion in their teen or young adult years.

Pope Francis: "There is another form of poverty! It is the spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously. It is what my much-loved predecessor, Benedict XVI, called the ‘tyranny of relativism,’ which allows everyone to create his own criterion and endangers the coexistence of peoples. But there is no true peace without truth.”

How easy it is to neglect these amenities of manners that consist of attention to seemingly minor things of no consequence: a thank you note, a compliment, a visit. How convenient it is to use the excuse of busyness with important affairs to avoid attention to small details.

The results from a Seton survey prompt valuable insights into how much time to schedule for homeschooling and Seton staff offer guidance for flexibility.

We are sometimes asked why Seton’s materials are so saturated with Catholic content. There are a myriad of reasons, but first and foremost, we fill our curriculum with Catholic content because we know that in God’s plan, the purpose of education is not simply to learn facts, but to prepare souls—curious combinations of intellect and will—for eternity. Education, from this perspective, is a hugely important, yet delicate, task.

On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, when Bernadette was only fourteen years old. The “lady” appeared to be only about sixteen, wearing a white veil and a white gown with a blue sash.

As someone who has been teaching high school and college now for more than fourteen years, it has become life’s daunting task to motivate students. In an age of instant communication, a teacher needs to be able to convey subject material in a way that is both ever dramatic and always engaging. It used to be a concern to worry about a bad day; now, one has to worry about an un-engaging minute.

Kevin Clark shares how God looked out for youngster, Fr. Robert Lange, and saved him from many mishaps. Read more in his memoirs!

For the homeschooling mother of many, there's always more; more to organize and more to do. Always more little faces to wash, more nails to clip, more hair growing back into bright, smiling eyes, more boo-boos needing more band-aids and more baby teeth to brush.

In C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, Uncle Screwtape, the master devil, counsels his junior apprentice, Wormwood, to use tried and true techniques to seduce souls into sin. One tactic he highly recommends is the strategy that perverts man’s natural love of change:

Seton received a letter from a home schooling mother who reflected on her decision to home school. The following are highlights from her letter. The reason I began to home ...

Several of our graders and counselors in the English Department came up with some ideas to help students to understand the different kinds of “conflict” which students are to write about in a book analysis for high school English. We think this might be useful for all our parents and students when analyzing books.

by Kerry Costanzo | Already behind in our schoolwork, now we are REALLY behind. I didn't want to be this behind. . . I really didn't. Yet, during those last months of pregnancy, the fatigue was so severe, and the couch was so inviting, and the coffee pot was so empty (I wasn't drinking it during pregnancy). . . well, the homeschooling suffered.

As homeschooling parents, we often look for the best way to motivate our children in their academics. Professor Brandon Irwin of Harvard Business School has conducted studies regarding motivational style. Although this was done with business organizations in mind, we parents can sometimes learn from such studies and apply the principles to our educational adventure.

Kids Corner | Download this ‘The 4 Marks of the Church’ Word Puzzle! A fun activity to for all ages! Search for these words: Abstain, apostolic, catholic, communion, confession, days, holy, marks, marriage, one, support

Stillness is a thing which it seems harder and harder to find. The constant barrage of information that comes to us now is seemingly more confusing than ever. Years ago, I remember seeing pictures of Times Square, with its multiple electronic screens flashing messages to passersby, and I thought it would be a rather disorienting place to be.

Contemplation is a form of looking inspired by wonder that moves a person to continue looking at a great work of art or to remain thinking about a great idea, divine miracle, or mystery.There is so much to see or know that one lingers to see more and to think more deeply.

Because of our fallen nature, you and I are going to be subject to all sorts of temptations for the rest of our lives. There is no point in our lives – no matter how old we are – when we are going to be able to lose our vigilance when it comes to temptation.