I learned to speak French YEARS ago. I was blessed to go to a bi-lingual Catholic grammar school where French was a large part of the day. I didn't take French in high school, college or graduate school; that said, I still remember songs and rhymes and simple vocabulary learned many years ago.
I love Christmas. I love all the preparing during Advent, the feasting during Christmas Day itself, and the Catholic and secular traditions surrounding the entire Advent-Christmas-Epiphany cycle. I love reading about Christmas and planning new traditions and dusting off old ones.
It’s often the little things that make a resource stand out from the myriad of great products out there. Maybe it’s color pictures instead of black and white; or maybe it’s the typeface used; or maybe it’s the weight of the paper.
There are many reasons why I like the Catholic Heritage Handwriting series more than the many other options available for practicing writing, spelling, even grammar and punctuation. For this review, I’ll be referring to Level 2 (about a 6 or 7 year old level – basically 2nd grade).
I don’t much care for science fiction books or movies. One of my brothers loved them, spending every Saturday afternoon watching movies on television, checking out every sci-fi thriller from the library and spending his hard-earned dollars to watch, and re-watch, and re-watch the first Star Wars the summer of 1978. I took a pass on joining him (and to this day, don’t think I’ve ever seen any Star Wars movie all the way through!).
The Sally Books by Elizabeth Coatsworth
Away Goes Sally (pgs 117), Five Bushel Farm (pgs 142), The Fair American (pgs 134), The White Horse (pgs 168), The Wonderful Day (pgs 139)
This November, to coincide with our American History studies, we will study American saints, blesseds and venerables. One of the venerables we will study is Fr. Solanus Casey, a Capuchin Franciscan, born in Wisconsin in 1870 and died in Detroit in 1957.
What would you say to a historical novel filled with action and adventure? What would you say to a book written with boys in mind by an author famous for his morally strong and upright heroes? What would you say to a book that gives the “other side” of the story?
Well, I would say – “sounds wonderful; bring it on!”
About five years ago, I met an amazing woman: a woman with now 6 girls and one boy, a home school mom steeped in the Catholic faith, a charitable and crafty woman. I “knew” this woman only through the Internet, and yet a real friendship grew and flourished.
Here are two great resources for Catholic bookshelves everywhere. Written by a homeschooling dad named Paul E. Nowak, Guerilla Apologetics for Catholics and Guerilla Apologetics for Life Issues are wonderful resources for educated debates on Catholicism and pro-life concerns.
I first heard about these books because my brother, Paul A. Nowak, did the cartoons in the Life Issues book. So, I do have a bit of bias on these books. But I really like the clean, direct apologetics contained in both of these slim volumes.
My Books of Prayers is a nice booklet to keep handy, too. The prayers are the standard ones -- although for some reason the "Guardian Angel prayer" is a bit of an insipid version and the traditional "Morning Offering" is not included. Otherwise, I think this is a great little prayer book.
The book is divided into two major components -- prayers and the liturgical year. The prayers section includes: