General Resource

This is an extensive reading list, from a Catholic perspective, on materials relating to or taking place at the same time as the American Revolution. The extensive introduction gives tips and ideas for studying the revolution, choosing books, and how to proceed. The list is broken up into the following categories: Grades K-3 Series, Grades K-3 Individual Titles, Grades 3-6 Series, Grades 3-6, Individual Titles, Grades 5-Up Series, Grades 5-Up Individual Titles, Grades 7-Up Series, Grades 7-Up Individual Titles and Grades 10-Up Individual Titles.

You are probably already familiar with the animal stories written by Thornton Burgess in the early 1900s. These go by titles such as "The Adventures of Johnny Chuck" and "Old Mother West Wind" and are sold by Dover Press for only $1. Each book tells about the life and adventures of various animals in such a way that the child easily learns about animal habitat and woodland lessons.

This picture book designed for "big kids" gives side-by-side comparisons according to length, height, area, life-span, speed, etc. of all kinds of things - animals, mountains, countries, modes of transportation, man-made structures and much more.

This is a very informative handbook on a large portion of nature, originally written for elementary school teachers. It covers wildlife, insects, farm animals, birds, fish, trees, flowers, weeds, vegetables, rocks, minerals, soil, climate, weather, magnets, the sun, moon, planets of our solar system and much more. According to the 1986 foreword, most of the living things described are common in the northeastern states of the U.S. but it covers a lot of material that would be helpful in other parts of the country as well.

Like many Catholic Home schooling families, providing a Catholic education was number one on the list of reasons my husband and I wanted to home school. In addition, we wanted a rigorous education, and one that emphasized the beauties of truth and love. Translating these goals into a curriculum is an on-going challenge. Sometimes the books that do a good job presenting a particular subject do it without the light of the Faith. Other times, books that are "solidly Catholic" are also unattractive and uninspiring. We have had to compromise in a lot of areas.

This program provides families who like to use living books with a Catholic framework from which to study science. It is not a textbook but rather is 40 pages, of which approximately half are outlines, that are three hole punched and ready to go into your notebook. The parent that uses this will find the eleven units of science outlined very handy for creating their own program and clearly laid out so that they can tuck personal notes and activities into their notebook using the 40 pages as their point of organizing.

"A Singing Science Text for Understanding the Concepts of Life Science Using Traditional, Patriotic and Camp Tunes of Long Ago"

This clever learning set teaches basic concepts in Life Science through cleverly written songs (to tunes like Battle Hymn of the Republic and Dixie). There are eleven songs in all, with a chapter in the text and three pages in the workbook corresponding to each song. These are the song titles:

We put this poster up in our upstairs hallway thinking that the colorful pictures would be attractive to the little ones and help them develop a better understanding of the Life of Jesus. The full color drawings are attractive but dignified. It's been a big hit so far. I find my six year old reading words here and there, my four year old asking about what happens in different pictures and my two year old pointing to her favorite scenes. The pictures include simple descriptions and dialogue along with Biblical references.

This documentary video presents rather compelling evidence, from diverse fields of science, that the Shroud of Turin is the authentic burial cloth of Christ. Scientists and doctors also explain the sufferings of Jesus based on the evidence present on the cloth in conjunction with other historical data. Because some scenes from Christ's Passion are dramatized, the movie may prove too intense for very young, innocent children. It would be more suitable for older grade school and high school ages.

Did you know that Jesus is also known as "Divine Mercy" and "The Incarnate Word"? OK, those were easy ones. Do you know the story of the "Infant Jesus of Prague" or "The Black Christ of Esquipulas"? Mrs. Ball has written an interesting book describing the numerous names by which Our Lord has been known throughout time and throughout the world. The earliest names, of course, come from the Bible, but many of the others have been made known through the writings of the saints, visions, and documented miracles. Others are simply devotional.