Ginny’s Gems

I love to teach God’s Word. It’s something that I’ve been doing forever. In the past, I would teach to the elderly in nursing homes. I would teach to groups ...

We are not alone in our fervent desire to help our children remain true to their Catholic Faith. The Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Queen of Heaven and Earth, earnestly desires their salvation as well, and she can show them how to stay close to Jesus throughout their lives.

What advice do you have for homeschooling several children at once? I have discovered that my son does not learn like my daughter did. Why can’t my son read any ...

by Dr Anne Carrol | Home schooling parents are often faced with the “I hate history” syndrome. But they can transform antipathy into enthusiasm. Everything we teach our children should have as its ultimate purpose the glory of God and the good of souls, and history is no exception. How specifically can we teach history so that it fulfills these purposes?

As I took a little trip down the memory lane of my mind, I started to explain to my little children that, although I was 42 years old, I had never quite “graduated” from the kids’ table. At first this bothered me, but I had come to respect the camaraderie, the conviviality...

While it is a most human to desire the ideal, seek the best, and have the highest goals, all human lives suffer damages and require rebuilding. The unfaithful husband or wife, the deaths and illnesses in a family, the rebellion of the prodigal son or daughter, the loss of income or work all inflict destruction of some kind that forces another beginning, a fresh approach, a new idea, or the exercise of a heroic virtue.

One year ago, one of my daughters was given a gift subscription to American Girl Magazine. When the subscription ran out, I chose not to renew it even though my daughter wanted me to.

“Look at those huge rain clouds!” I said to my sister Molly as we scrambled up the wide, sloping green hills of Uffington in our search for the famous 374-foot White Horse carved into the chalky ground.

The Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, is composed of those of us still on Earth, those in Purgatory, and those in Heaven. We on Earth are encouraged by the Church to pray for those in Purgatory, and to ask those in Heaven to pray for us. Those we prayed for when they were in Purgatory will certainly pray for us when they reach Heaven.

by Mary Lou Warren | Do you find that you never seem to have enough time to do important things in your life? Is your time frittered away with minutia and time-wasting activities? How much time do you spend on repeated actions and routines that brings you no closer to where you want to go, to do, or to become?

What are the lemur and zebra talking 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!

The children of the Hollywood producer will never need to work a day in their lives. They can have anything they want; or more specifically, they can have anything their super wealthy dad is willing to buy for them. Ordinary families tell their children that they cannot have everything simply due to lack of money. For the super wealthy, that's just not true.

As we parents sit down to help our children with their homeschooling, I think we would have to admit that some of the biggest distractions are often the ones inside ourselves—the ones that keep popping into our minds as we attempt to teach.

As the freshness of childhood and the exuberance of youth fade, and life assumes a regularity and familiarity, it is all too easy to become jaded and blasé. Instead of ...

Tonight I’m making chicken noodle soup for dinner. I need the comfort that it brings to me because today my meds aren’t working. One of the hardest challenges that I face as a homeschooling mother is dealing with hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid gland).

If we and our children are to keep our faith, we must immerse ourselves in the mind of Christ, not the mindset of the world. Knowing the teachings of the Magisterium (teaching authority) of the Catholic Church is essential to living a life that is pleasing to God. How can we learn these teachings?

Several years ago, I received a phone call from a dear friend who invited me to take a free shopping spree at Costco Wholesale Club. The offer was so tempting since anything and everything I would purchase that day would all be paid for. I was so floored by such a generous offer that I felt like one of those eager contestants who had just won the grand prize in “Supermarket Sweep.”

by Fr. Pablo Straub | At first it seems contradictory that there would be similarity between those who marry and those who go into a monastery or the priesthood. Can there be any two things more unlike?

What is your favorite thing to do at home? 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!

In passing, I mentioned to a co-worker the other day that college was my first classroom experience. She said “Really?” I explained that, “Yes, I was homeschooled from Kindergarten through 12th Grade.” She said “Oh, wow, cool!” A few minutes later she walked by my desk and said “Wait a minute, aren’t you too old to have been homeschooled???” Well, thanks for that.