General Resource

with laminated "jelly-proof" covers

During the past few years, there has been a renewed interest in beginning and in continuing traditions within our families within the context of the liturgical year. This book has been written to help make these celebrations easier to plan as well as to provide countless new ideas. Some of these ideas are original while others are traditional. This book is especially well-suited for families with children in the preschool years up through the late elementary years.

This book is a companion to the Vision series of saint's biographies (also published by Ignatius Press). It is a wonderful help to extending the biographies into a full-blown unit study, if you wish, or just to help enrich the reading. For each of the 17 books covered in Saints of the Church , the author includes:

When I see Ann Ball's name on a book, I expect a treat. This book is no exception. A Litany of Saints begins with an introduction to the Communion of Saints and Catholic practices regarding their veneration. This section is clear and easy-to-read, including the changes instituted as a result of the Second Vatican Council. The footnotes provide many sources for additional reading. Next comes a history of litanies in general and the text of the formal "Litany of the Saints".

We have enjoyed using this manual in our home for almost a year now and have found that it has added a dimension that was lacking from our homeschool before. The author, a member of the congregation Sisters of Saint Joseph the Worker, has done an outstanding job organizing the saints of the Americas by chronology and geographical area. This manual includes saints from both North and South America. Sister Elizabeth Ann begins her book with reasons for studying these saints along with many ideas for incorporating them into ones ongoing historical or geographical studies.

My children have always loved picture cards for learning about subjects - animals, art, flags, etc. I love it when the cards are fastened together in some way so that they don't get lost and thus rendered useless. Catholic Cardlinks: Patron Saints is just the sort of resource that makes everyone happy!

We've found "Augustus Caesar's World" by Genevieve Foster to be a wonderful resource. The book covers the period from 44 BC to 14 AD with events and ideas for that time, all over the world. I feel the stories really give my son a great sense of life during this period. The illustrations are outstanding line drawing of characters, maps and especially the time lines. Just wanted to share a great resource.

In A Students' Guide to U.S. History, author Wilfred M. McClay challenges the mind of the reader to think wider, deeper and higher about the study of American history. After explaining the purpose behind this book, he elaborates on what the study of history mistakenly is thought to be, before he realigns the reader's mind to what it should be. Taking a philosophical turn of mind, he dares the reader to search for truth; to do otherwise would be folly.

It is hard to believe that such skinny little books can pack such a wallop. That is what you find in this series by ISI (Intercollegiate Studies Institute) books.

From the opening pages, you gain a sense of the personal; you feel that you have picked the brain of your favorite professor over your beverage of choice, as he elaborates on his favorite subject. Since it is a professor speaking, he does not merely "tell" you his opinion, he speaks with academic authority, in both his level of language and the conviction of having taught this for many years.

The subtitle of this work is: A Catholic Activity Guide That Blends History, Geography and Composition for Grades 1-8. The book includes directions for a student to put together a book over the course of the school year, which really becomes a story of the study he made of history. This requirement "to produce" is one of the best ways for students to internalize their study.

This book offers approximately 1300 "living books" (books that make history come alive such as biographies, historical accounts, historical fiction and related literature) organized into several lists - chronologically, by author and by title. These books were chosen from a number of guides to worthwhile books, including Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt and the Masterplots series. They include many fine Catholic books and lives of the Saints. I must admit to being a little disappointed that the author hasn't read all the books herself.