Catholic Summer Reading Program for Children and Adults

Looking for a Summer reading program? Check out http://www.CatholicSummerReading.com/.

This summer, why not take some time to discover the rich treasure of Catholic literature?

Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, the official sponsor of the Catholic summer reading program, would like to invite you to join in a book discussion at your parish, local Catholic store or online at CatholicBookDiscussion.com. Kids can also get involved by downloading our Catholic Kids Reading Path and filling it in as they read Catholic books during the summer.

H/t: Oremus

Planning for Next School Year

Have you been putting off planning for the upcoming school year? Is it on you're to-do list? Have you already done the footwork but having doubts? Well. Jenny Bales has graciously offered to help us all with this task that some of us love and others of us loathe.

Jenny's homeschool group holds a Day of Reflection for moms in preparation for planning the next school year. They developed a self-evaluation survey for the mothers to complete with questions covering personal spirituality, successes and struggles from this year, and goals for the next year.

Now Jenny is bringing that experience to the entire Catholic homeschool community via two free webinars. These are ones well worth your time. Make sure to mark the date on your planner so you don't miss it.

Prayerfully Reflecting on Last Year
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
8:30 PM Eastern (7:30 Central)
Here is a chance to really step back from the busy-ness of family life and pause to reflect on the previous academic year's highs and lows. The focus will be to take some time to ponder our personal spiritual growth and our successes and challenges from the past year of homeschooling with a goal to prayerfully discern what, if anything, needs to change for next year. Participants will be provided with a thorough self-evaluation survey at the close of the webinar to complete on their own time, which has been an inspiring process for all who have done it, so far! This webinar is part one of a two part series, continuing with Prayerfully Planning for Next Year on July 15 but one can be attended without the other, if desired.

Prayerfully Planning for Next Year
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
8:30 PM Eastern (7:30 Central)
Regardless of what stage of planning for next year moms have completed, this will be an opportunity to consider our plans in light of God's will through prayerful discernment. Having evaluated the previous academic year in the webinar Prayerfully Reflecting on Last Year on July 7, our goals for this discussion will be asking the Lord for guidance in choosing materials and preparing lessons for next year and setting some goals for ourselves, our family, and each individual child that truly reflect our priorities. This webinar is part two of a two part series but one can be attended without the other, if desired.

Presenter's Biography
Jenny is a richly blessed homeschooling mother of two children, so far, a daughter entering second grade and a son entering pre-Kindergarten. Previously a middle school and high school English/Language Arts teacher, youth retreat director, and strategic planning consultant (among other things), her enthusiasm for and experience with personal and curriculum planning has been a great asset to her own homeschooling way of life. She cannot wait to share with you the process she developed with her local homeschooling group to evaluate each homeschooling year and make plans for the next year all focusing on God's will for our families and raising holy children in Christ-centered homes!

Ana's Picture Book of the Week

Insects Biggest! Littlest! by Sandra Markle, with photographs by Dr. Simon Pollard, 2009 Boyds Mills Press, 32 pages.

We have been spending hours in the garden where insects abound, and this new friendly title comes to entertain and inform my summer readers. The photos are very interesting and our 10 yr. old enjoyed reading about the reasons behind the dimensions of each of the unusually sized insects. The amount of information is juicy enough but also little enough to make this light and breezy summer reading!

Have fun learning about these insects: the most numerous animals on earth!

Interesting Book Review Site for Catholic "Tweens"

My friend just shared this link with me, and it looks really good!

Treasure Chest for Tweens

Ana's Picture Book of the Week

The Faraway Island, by Dianne Hofmeyr, 2008 Francis Lincoln Books, 32 pages. ISBN: 1845076443

So, it just slightly based on the meager accounts of a tale that may have really happened... but still, it makes for a wonderful picture book! Perseverance, kindness, mystery... and true love bringing life to a lonely soul, all in the backdrop of the great navigations involving the Queen of Portugal herself: how can a reader resist it?

Preview it on googlebooks here.

Choosing Worthwhile Homeschool Materials

Our very own Alicia Van Hecke is giving a free webinar Wednesday at 8:30 PM Eastern on Choosing Worthwhile Homeschool Materials. I hope you all will be able to join us as it's sure to be an evening filled with great advice on how to go about choosing curriculum.

And, hey, if you already know everything there is to know about curriculum, please still come and join us. You'll have the opportunity to share your tips and advice too! That's the great thing about attending the live webinars -- they're so interactive.

Please note that Homeschool Connections brings these webinars to you for free, thanks to the generosity of sponsors. The sponsor of this webinar is Emmanuel Books. Please make sure to visit their website and let them know you appreciate their sponsorship.

Prayers for the Unemployed

We've always had long sets of litanies as part of our family bedtime prayers: "Thank you God today for", "Please God tomorrow..." and we invoke all of our family saints at the end.

We've always included prayers for those in need of employment and the list has, naturally, grown longer in recent months. We're praying for Peter, Robert, Anthony, Tim, Jeff, Paul, Richard and others (though we use the more formal last names with the kids). I'm getting to the point where I'm always forgetting some and wanting to keep better track of it. But it occurred to me that it would be nice to have a place where everyone could share names (first names only, please) of those in need of employment so that we could all pray for them together.

So, please add your own prayer requests for employment and we will keep praying. Also, our family will bring these intentions to our nearby Shrine to Our Lady Help of Christians on a regular basis.

A Prayer to Saint Joseph (from the Comments Box):

Dear Saint Joseph, you were once faced with the responsibility of providing the necessities of life for Jesus and Mary. Look down with fatherly compassion upon me in my anxiety with my present inability to support my family.

Please help me find gainful employment very soon, so that this great burden of concern will be lifted from my heart and that I am soon able to provide for those
whom God has entrusted to my care.

Help me guard against discouragement, so that I may emerge from this trial spiritually enriched and with even greater
blessings from God.

Amen.

Ana's Picture Book of the Week

One by Kathryn Otoshi, 2008 KO Kids Books, 32 pages. ISBN:0972394648

Our own Number Seven have read this new picture book aloud to me countless times since I picked it up at the library last week. She loves it! Perhaps it is because the numbers in the story stop at seven... or more likely it is because the book gives the colors personality and emotion, creating interesting twists to a fun story.

Product Description

Blue is a quiet color. Red’s a hothead who likes to pick on Blue. Yellow, Orange, Green, and Purple don’t like what they see, but what can they do? When no one speaks up, things get out of hand — until One comes along and shows all the colors how to stand up, stand together, and count. As budding young readers learn about numbers, counting, and primary and secondary colors, they also learn about accepting each other's differences and how it sometimes just takes one voice to make everyone count.

Sample pages:

Quote of the Day: Pope Benedict XVI on Saint Paul

Our catechism discussion group is reading and discussing Pope Benedict's book on St. Paul right now. Here's an interesting quote on St. Paul's conversion:

This turning point in his life, this transformation of his whole being was not the fruit of a psychological process, of a maturation or intellectual and moral development. Rather it came from the outside: it was the fruit, not of his thought, but of his encounter with Jesus Christ. In this sense it was not simply a conversion, a development of his "ego", but rather a death and a resurrection for Paul himself. One existence died, and another, new one was born with the Risen Christ. There is no other way in which to explain this renewal of Paul. None of the psychological analyses can clarify or solve the problem. This event alone, this powerful encounter with Christ, is the key to understanding what had happened: death and resurrection, renewal by the One who had shown himself and had spoken to him. In this deeper sense we can and we must speak of conversion. This encounter is a real renewal that changed all his parameters. Now he could say that what had been essential and fundamental for him earlier had become "refuse" for him; it was no longer "gain" but loss, because henceforth the only thing that counted for him was life in Christ.

Nevertheless we must not think that Paul was thus closed in a blind event. The contrary is true, because the Risen Christ is the light of truth, the light of God himself. This expanded his heart and made it open to all. At this moment he did not lose all that was good and true in his life, in his heritage, but he understood wisdom, truth, the depth of the Law and of the prophets in a new way and in a new way made them his own. At the same time, his reasoning was open to pagan wisdom. Being open to Christ with all his heart, he had become capable of making himself everything to everyone. Thus he could truly be the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Online Classes

Because there is just so much to write about regarding Homeschool Connections these days and because it has virtually taken over my personal blog, I started a Homeschool Connections blog. So, head on over and check it out.

I've posted all of the summer course offerings and you don't want to miss that (you'll need to do scroll down to see it all). They are amazingly cool, totally righteous, and mind-blowingly awesome. Really.

Oh, and please tell all your friends. (Courses are not restricted to homeschooled students.) You don't want great news like this to go unheard.

The instructors of the courses are Catholic college professors who are carving out time from their summers to serve Catholic high school students. I'm really excited about having these two gentleman teaching for Homeschool Connections.

We use webinar technology for our online courses. The students can see and hear the professor via a webcam and microphone. In turn, the students can communicate with the professor through the chat room or their own microphone. There is also a Power Point presentation that is viewable on the same screen. The kids love the technology.

Note that the courses are not so lofty as they sound -- both of these gentlemen have experience teaching high school students in addition to their college and adult students.

This is an awesome opportunity to keep teens engaged and learning over the summer. These particular courses have been designed for summer time with no or light homework. Also, all classes are recorded so if you're away on vacation for a week or two, and can't access the Internet, you can simpley watch the recorded event later. In fact, registered students have access to the recorded classes for 6 months. This is a great value for the price!

Quick Links:
Beowulf and Christ with Henry Russell, Ph.D
The Catholic Shakespeare: MacBeth with Henry Russell, Ph.D
The Space Trilogy and C. S. Lewis with Robert Gotcher, Ph.D
Catholic Living for Young People with Robert Gotcher, Ph.D.
Writing for College Preparatory with Robert Gotcher, Ph.D.
Short Stories by J. R. R. Tolkien with Robert Gotcher, Ph.D.
The Mass Explained for Young People with Robert Gotcher, Ph.D.

TONIGHT: John Paul the Great Catholic University Online Open House

Dear Home Educators,

John Paul the Great Catholic University is holding an hour-long, online open house event tonight. The online open house is a presentation given by the professors, followed by a question and answer session. If you are interested in JP Catholic, this event is the best way to learn about the school aside from coming for an actual visit.

An online open house is done using the phone and the computer simultaneously . You listen with a phone to your ear, while the presentation slides are shown on your computer monitor.

To join, follow the instructions below, if you have any questions please call Martin Harold, Director of Admissions, at 858.653.6740 ext. 22. He will help you join the conference.

If you are not able to make this online open house, we will be holding another one soon. If you would like to attend shoot me an email at sflemings@jpcatholic.com.

If you know anyone interested in JP Catholic, please forward this email to them. Anyone interested in the University is welcome on the conference.





Martin Harold invites you to attend this online meeting.

Topic: Online Open House
Date: Monday, May 18, 2009
Time: 5:00 pm, Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)
Meeting Number: 578 545 163
Meeting Password: Openhouse1

Please click the link below to see more information, or to join the meeting.

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To join the online meeting
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1. Go to https://jpcatholic.webex.com/jpcatholic/j.php?ED=123836392&UID=0&PW=6c58294857025b041f1f0e5f
2. Enter your name and email address.
3. Enter the meeting password: Openhouse1
4. Click "Join Now".

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To join the meeting on iPhone
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Go to wbx://jpcatholic.webex.com/jpcatholic?MK=578545163&MPW=42ffeb605608555cbd7d036ac661154dc970a12dcbfb467717eb19f80cf31a90

Don't have the iPhone WebEx application yet?
Go to http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=298844386


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To join the teleconference only
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Provide your phone number when you join the meeting to receive a call back. Or, call the number below and enter the meeting number.
Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 866-699-3239
Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-408-792-6300
Toll-free dialing restrictions: http://www.webex.com/pdf/tollfree_restrictions.pdf

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For assistance
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1. Go to https://jpcatholic.webex.com/jpcatholic/mc
2. On the left navigation bar, click "Support".

You can contact me at:
mharold@jpcatholic.com


To add this meeting to your calendar program (for example Microsoft Outlook), click this link:
https://jpcatholic.webex.com/jpcatholic/j.php?ED=123836392&UID=0&ICS=MI&LD=1&RD=2&ST=1&SHA2=c0tjDXEi-hkeNBepwhMFllUBvPJS6prUiXSMMVIP6m4=

The playback of UCF (Universal Communications Format) rich media files requires appropriate players. To view this type of rich media files in the meeting, please check whether you have the players installed on your computer by going to https://jpcatholic.webex.com/jpcatholic/systemdiagnosis.php

Sign up for a free trial of WebEx
http://www.webex.com/go/mcemfreetrial

http://www.webex.com
We've got to start meeting like this(TM)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This WebEx service includes a feature that allows audio and any documents and other materials exchanged or viewed during the session to be recorded. By joining this session, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to the recording, do not join the session.

May Feelings II

hat-tip Karen Edmisten

May Feelings I

Quote of the Day: Edifying Reformers

‘The critic without love resembles rather a man who scratches himself all the more furiously, the more fiercely he itches, a process which of course can only result in exacerbating and spreading the inflammation. The great saints were reformers of the Church but they were edifying reformers. Not all great reformers were saints, that is to say those who truly loved; many of them destroyed more than they built up…’

Hans Urs von Balthasar (as quoted in Authenticity by Fr. Thomas Dubay)

I'm piecing together a virtual notebook where I'm collecting favorites quotes (and other tidbits), particularly on education and family life, in one place. You can take a peek at the project (under construction) here: Love2learn Notebook

Imagine

What Online Courses Would You Like Offered?

Walter Crawford and I are spending the month of May scheduling courses, seminars, and free webinars through the end of 2009 for Homeschool Coneections. We'd like your help if you don't mind. In fact, this is a great opportunity for you, as you will have a direct input on what we schedule.

Click Here to take survey

Our goal is to serve the homeschool community and prayerfully this survey will help us do just that. Please feel free to pass this link onto other homeschoolers.