Confirmation, Community, and Gas Prices

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of being a confirmation sponsor to a very special young lady, Callie. The Confirmation took place in the Grand Rapids Diocese and they do things differently than we do here in the Lansing Diocese.

Rather than the bishop coming to your parish, he has you come to him. Callie's fellow 69 candidates and their families had to drive an hour or more to St. Andrew's Cathedral in Grand Rapids. Additionally, another 5 parishes were confirmed the very same day. My guess is that there were about 200 candidates present.

When I asked a deacon about this, he stated this was a more efficient use of the bishop's time, freeing him up for more important duties. This comment flabbergasted me. What is more important than going out to meet the youth of the Church and confirm them?

At the end of the Mass, the bishop gave another explanation. He felt that bringing all these parishes together under one roof created community. We are, after all, part of a bigger Church. We need to get out of our parishes and meet other Catholics in our diocese. I think he also said something about neighborhood, but at that point he was losing me as all I could think about was whether or not my seven kids, seated far from me, were holding up okay after such a long Mass.

I'm afraid to say that I didn't feel a part of the community that day. It was more like being lost in a crowd. Plus, it was an hour and half drive from my house, it was difficult for my family to find seating, grandparents where unable to attend due to the hardship of the long drive, etc. I overheard quite a bit of rumbling outside the church about gas prices ($3.50 a gallon here) and how it's cheaper for the bishop to drive to a parish than for hundreds of people to drive to him.

I'm sorry to say it was more mayhem than community. We were rushed up to the bishop when it came time for the candidates to be anointed. Callie was literally pushed by the usher when her turn came. The bishop stood there with his thumb up and ready. By the time I got to Callie and my hand on her shoulder, he was already anointing her. Rather than have the sponsor tell the bishop the confirmation name, each candidate was given a name tag. The bishop could then just read the tag instead of spending precious time asking for the name. I felt like cattle, not part of the bigger Church.

Is this a common phenomenon? Does your diocese operate this way?

Boy, do I ever appreciate Bishop Mengeling of our diocese who travels tirelessly (until his recent illness) to meet his flock.

Oh, one more thing. The bishop told the kids he had a gift for them, a very nice prayer book. The book was handed out by ushers at the door as candidates departed. When one of the kids asked the bishop to sign the book for her, the bishop refused, saying if he did it for one then he would have to do it for all. Yep, that's community.

CDC by Steig

The best way to find cool kid books at the library, IMO, is to just find an interesting place in the Dewey Decimal System, sit down at that shelf, and start pulling off books.

This week, I found myself sorting through the 790 area where the math and word game books are located. I found a neat book titled CDC by William Steig.

This is a fun word play book. For example, the title CDC is code for "see the sea." The book is filled with such word puzzles. Can you guess this one: C U N 10-O-C ?

Be forewarned, if you check it out from the library, read it first. I didn't do this and there were a couple of questionable phases. Not horrible, but you may want to skip one or two. But then again, one clue is a saint.

The kids are really loving this book, plus this type of word play helps develop math skills, so I'm going to check out the prequel, CDB when I get to the library next time. That one is shelved in the Juvenile Easy section so is, hopefully, free of parental worry.

Indianapolis Catholic Homeschooling Conference

If you're anywheres near Indy and looking for a Catholic homeschooling conference, got this in my inbox this morning:

Quo Vadis: Where Are You Going?

Holy Family Home Educators and Marian College presents . . .
Indianapolis Catholic Home School Conference and Curriculum Fair
When: Saturday, July 21, 2007
Doors Open at 8:00 a.m.
Ends with Benediction at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Marian College Campus, Indianapolis
3200 Cold Spring Road
Indianapolis, IN 46222
Cost: $25 single/$30 couple - if registered before July 1
$30 single/$35 couple - if registered on or after July 1
FREE to Catholic Parish DRE, Youth Minister and Clergy with business card
Please see our website for more information http://www.hfheindy.org/

Home Again Home Again

The Dayton conference was great. This was their first full blown conference and they did an awesome job. If you missed it, make sure to mark your calendar for next year.

Dr. Ray's table was just behind mine so we were like neighbors and got to visit a wee bit. He brought along 3 of his 10 children and it was really nice to hang out with them while their dad spoke. I think they should start a support group along with my children for kids whose parents talk about them publicly.

I also got to spend a few minutes with Dr. Clark. It's always nice to get to see Dr. Clark. She amazes me with all she does. I was excited to find that Seton is writing their own grade school math series. I purchased the 2nd grade workbook and it is quite lovely. Much like the MCP books only with Catholic pictures here and there plus the answer key is built right in to the workbook. If you want the answer key to MCP math books, you have to purchase it separately. The reason Seton is doing the math series is because MCP has been purchased by Pearson and there are changes in the future. So blessings to Seton for taking up this task.

I also purchased a couple of Seton's handwriting books. My daughters all love their handwriting books and beg for them. (My sons run screaming for the hills when they just hear the word "handwriting.")

I also got to visit with Fran of Illuminated Ink and her teen son. They have the coolest stuff. My girls spent a bit of time and money at the Illuminated Ink table. I'll write more about them later.

Right now, I'm just happy to be home and I'm off to take a nap.

CE: Are You a Good Candidate for Homeschooling?

The weekly column is up at Catholic Exchange: Are You a Good Candidate for Homeschooling?

I am often asked what qualifications are necessary in order to homeschool. In my opinion there is only one qualification: the burning desire to take complete responsibility for your child's education.

Dayton Here I Come!

If you're anywhere near Dayton, Ohio this weekend, I sure hope you'll be stopping by the Catholic homeschool conference. They have some great speakers and vendors lined up. I'm bringing my shopping list and I'm hoping to see some of you there!

Blogging will be pretty dead until Monday.

Teen Library Thing

If you've been sitting around wondering what homeschooled high school students like to read for fun, I'm here to help you.

I head up a group of about 20 homeschooled teens who meet every Wednesday. The third Wed. is our book discussion. The teens all put out names of books they'd like to read as a group and then vote for the next month's book.

They've taken those book titles and cataloged them at Library Thing. Click HERE to check it out.

I'm also going to put it the sidebar (near the bottom). I already have my personal library and homeschool library up. (Though all are works in progress. It could be years before I get ALL our books cataloged, reviewed, tagged, etc.!)

Catholic Heritage Curricula: Language of God

Also on my order to CHC was Language of God for Little Folks by Nancy Nicholson. Mrs. Nicholson also wrote My Catholic Speller. I own tons of her titles and love them all.

Little Stories for Little Folks were a God-send 10 years ago when I was teaching my dyslexic child. You get 45 - 8 1/2 by 11 sheets made to be folded into little booklets. Kind of like inexpensive Bob Books. At that time, I needed lots of simple readers for practice. Today, I'm still using them with my non-dyslexic children. I let them color the booklets once they master each one. It makes for a nice reward. Except for the booklet about the rat, my kids love them.

Catholic Stories from Science 2 makes a nice read-aloud for my grade-school and preschool children. Very cute and gives us lots to talk about. And, like all of CHC and Nancy Nicholson's products, very Catholic.

The Language of God Grammar Series is very nice too and recommended to me by my friend Nancy Brown. They're consumable workbooks that weave our Catholic faith into the grammar lessons. They're pretty user-friendly and so far I find them to be thorough.

I look forward to Mrs. Nicholson's future titles!

(I have to admit here that I've never been a big fan of workbooks, but have come to rely on them more heavily lately as I'm teaching 7 different grade levels. And the kids ask for them! However, I am very picky about which workbooks I use and make sure to work them alongside the children engaging them in conversation. And, of course, our main curriculum remains Real Books.)

Catholic Heritage Curricula: Speller

I just love Catholic Heritage Curricula. I've been buying stuff from them from way back when, when they were Catholic Heritage Games.

I ordered their My Catholic Speller at the Milwaukee conference for one of my kids who's struggling in spelling. We love it! I hope CHC has a table at the Dayton conference this weekend so I can order some more for the other kids.

If you haven't seen My Catholic Speller, it's a consumable workbook. On the first day, Mom and Child go over the spelling words and then the child completes a workbook page on the words. There is also a Scripture passage to learn that includes some of the week's words. On day two the child completes another workbook page. Then there are quizzes on day three and four with review of any missed words. If the child hasn't yet mastered the spelling words, then a final test is given on the fifth day.

It's a very well laid out program, easy to use, and I find that it also helps with vocabulary and handwriting, as well as Scripture. Very nice!

Danielle Bean Gets The Companion

"The Catholic Homeschool Companion manages to give its readers an unbiased look at a wide variety of different homeschooling methods along with a great wealth of resources, information, inspiration, and support. There is something for everyone in this book!"

-- Danielle Bean, Author, My Cup of Tea: Musings of a Catholic
Mom

Thank you everyone who has made a donation or purchased The Catholic Homeschool Companion. I'll continue to off them at the discounted price indefinitely as well as donate my profit to 4-H. I'll also continue to offer the freee sample of Heart and Mind until I run out. And, yes, the books are autographed. (If you want the book personalized or the free magazine, please leave a comment when ordering.)

God has truly blessed this fundraising effort. I haven't raised big money through the blog ($30 so far) but every little bit helps and I so appreciate it! I also appreciate the checks that have been arriving in my mailbox all week through the kids' letter writing campaign.

I got one big check from a rifle club even though we hadn't solicited them. You see, we use their club for a big competition each year and so we didn't feel right about asking for money since they're already so generous to us. But after some of our kids went out to the club to help with their annual spring clean up, they sent a donation all on their own. These are such great kids, people want to help them any way they can. How cool is that!

Matt Pinto Gets The Companion

"This book is awesome, a real treasure trove of information about homeschooling. It will surely give confidence to any parents who are considering homeschooling their children. Wittmann and Mackson are to be commended for the work they've done."
-- Matthew Pinto, Author, Did Adam & Eve Have Belly Buttons?

So far, we've raised $20 for the 4-H kids. Order The Catholic Homeschool Companion HERE and $5 will be donated to the Sharpshooters 4-H Club. Or just click on that Make a Donation button in the sidebar. Tell all your friends!

Thank you to all who have contributed so far!!!

Inflatable Studios

Got this in my combox:

Hey there! I've recently started a comic strip about homeschooling called "Schools Are For Fish." I saw you had posted the first comic on your site, so I thought I'd let you know the colored version is at: http://www.inflatablestudios.com/
I set up a site for this and many future comics to come. Hope you enjoy them!

The T-shirt is very cool. I must have one!

Rob and Hillary

Rob's friends were getting worried he may becoming some kind of a liberal with his new vegetarian diet and getting the toxins out of our house. (At least he hasn't started wearing Birkenstocks.)

He showed up to his birthday party in this T-shirt and all their concerns were dashed.

Men and Duck Tape

I accidently ripped a hole in my nice white down comforter with a hanger. Before I could take a needle and thread to it, I found Rob had fixed it for me.

With duck tape.

More on Socialization

This CBN article goes perfectly with the sardine cartoon I posted last week: Socialization: Homeschooling vs. Schooling.

When most home educators and school administrators speak of successful socialization, are they referring to the same thing?

A Sweet Deal

My appeal on Friday yielded $15 for the 4-H kids. Still $4,435 to go! Time to sweeten the pot.

If you order a copy of The Catholic Homeschool Companion not only will you get $5 off the list price and have $5 donated to the Sharpshooters 4-H Club, but you will also get a sample issue of Heart and Mind - a $5 value! Now, how can you pass that up? (Just leave a note in the comments when you order that you'd like the sample issue.)

Of course, you're free to send a donation straight to the 4-H kids (how can you refuse those sweet cherub faces?) by just clicking on that MAKE A DONATION button in the sidebar to your right. No amount is too small or too large.

G. K. Chesterton Unit Study

My weekly column is up at Catholic Exchange. This week I offer a high school study on The Donkey, a very cool poem by the man himself: G. K. Chesterton.

In order to truly learn we need to understand, not just remember more information. When a writer is sharing something that is above our heads, we must rise to understand what it is that the writer is trying to communicate.

Also, if you'd like to check out the official American Chesterton Society blog, then click HERE.

Help 4-H and Save Money!

Have I got a deal for you! You can save money and help kids at the same time. (Scroll down a few paragraphs if you want to skip the saving money part and just help kids.)

I'm offering The Catholic Homeschool Companion for $5 off, plus, for every book sold between now and May 31st, I'll donate another $5 to 4-H. Click HERE to order (Paypal and credit cards).

As my faithful readers know, my two oldest children made the Michigan 4-H Shooting Sports Team along with five other homeschooled teens from our local club, and I got volunteered as Fundraising Coordinator. (I have cool business cards and everything!)

Sending seven teenagers, two coaches, and a chaperone to South Dakota is an expensive proposition. The training and ammunition costs alone are astronomical. However, the kids have risen to the occasion. They're doing pop can drives, giving presentations to local gun clubs, and so on (plus practicing almost daily). So far, they've raised $4,000 of the needed $9,000. We're almost halfway there.

Now, I'm doing my little part. Buy a book (makes a great Mother's Day gift!), save some money, and help kids. You can't get a better deal than that!

Oh, by the way, if you want to donate but already own a copy of The Catholic Homeschool Companion, you can still help out. Take a look at the sidebar on your right, at the top. There's a Paypal button for donations, including credit cards.

Addendum: If you prefer making your donation by mail, please email me, for the address.

Socialization, Homeschooling, and Sardines

My friend Ann sent this cartoon - I love it! Check out the artist's website HERE.

Catholic Mom: Getting the Most Out of Your Library

It's the first of the month and you know what that means, don't you! My monthly column at Catholic Mom is up. I know you've been waiting anxiously all month for this, so click HERE to check it out!

Prayers for Bishop Mengeling

Please offer up many prayers on behalf of our Lansing bishop, Bishop Mengeling. Having been out of town the past few days, I am not up on all the details. From what I understand the bishop had emergency surgery Thursday evening where they found a large tumor on his bladder. I'm told they were unable to remove the entire tumor and recovery will be long.

Heavenly Father, we commend to You your most humble servant, Bishop Carl F. Mengeling, Bishop of Lansing. You, O Lord, know the plans You have set before him. We trust completely in your mercy and grace. We ask that You watch over our bishop and all those caring for him. Grant Bishop Mengeling peace, patience, and healing in whatever ways he needs them most and according to your holy will. These things we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

St. Peregrine, Patron of Cancer Victims, pray for us! Amen.

I would like to note that Bishop Mengeling is a friend to homeschoolers. If you own The Catholic Homeschool Companion, you'll find he wrote the foreword.

LSJ Update.

American Papist Update.

Milwaukee in Pictures

Let's have a contest: How many homeschoolers can you name?

I'll post the answers in the next day or two. Meanwhile, I have to recuperate from all the wild antics that go with hanging out with Catholic homeschoolers from all over the country for an entire weekend. Hopefully, I'll be back to normal by the Dayton conference!

Update.
HINT: If you click on the pictures you can see the name tags. Or, you can go to Michele's blog where she has the bottom picture labeled.

CE: Composting Unit Study

My weekly column at Catholic Exchange is a unit study on composting. Just in time for spring!

If you've never composted or if you live in an urban area, I encourage you to still be open to introducing composting to your homeschool studies. Composting can be a wonderful addition to your science studies, in a very natural way. Both the novice and the urbanite can pull it off. This unit study introduces all the resources necessary for success.

Wisconsin Here I Come!

I'll be spending my day today preparing for the Milwaukee conference. I leave first thing in the morning. Blogging will be light to nil until Monday morning. Everyone have a great weekend. And, I hope to meet lots of you in Wisconsin!

God Answers Prayers

Its so cool how God answers prayers. And so typical how I'm so lacking in faith.

As you probably already know, my two oldest kids are going to be competing at the national level for muzzle loading.

Seven of the twelve teens representing Michigan 4-H Shooting Sports are from our local club (and all homeschooled, btw). This is quite the accomplishment, but also a huge financial task. We need to raise $9,000 to cover their travel to South Dakota, lodging, practice fees, ammunition, equipment, etc. I'm the one in charge of fundraising.

So, here's the cool part.

I had set it in my mind that I needed to have at least $2,000 raised by last night's meeting. I was so disappointed when my mailman didn't deliver any envelopes with checks yesterday, leaving my to-date total at $1,950. I really let it get me down.

Well, I went to the meeting and, just as we're about to start, another mom handed two checks to me that put us over $2,000. I was so ecstatic I couldn't stop hugging her. Then, when the meeting was over, another mom gave me a check.

Here I was praying and praying over this fundraising, and still I didn't trust God would handle it. I was so untrusting. Boy, God humbles me every day. And that's a cool thing.

Milwaukee, Here I Come

If you're anywhere near Milwaukee or Chicago, I sure hope you're planning to attend the Greater Milwaukee Catholic Home Educators Conference. All the cool people are going to be there, including Fr. Ray Gawronski, Holly Pierlot, Nancy Brown, Stan Schmidt, Rita Munn, Mary Daly, Dan and Kristin McGuire, The Donut Man, and more. And I'll be there too.

I'll be speaking to the teens Friday night on job search skills and then Saturday I'll give my God's Wildflowers talk. Also there'll be a book signing at 2:00 on Saturday at my table.

Please pray for my safe travel as I drive with Teen Daughter 2 and her friend Catherine to the conference. Thank you Nancy for giving us a place to lay our heads!

PopeStNick5: Unprotected and Unhooked

My friend Linda sent the following article to me

Rotten fruit of sexual revolution’s tree focus of new mainstream books

The article mentions three books: Unprotected, Unhooked, and The Thrill of the Chaste. I featured The Thrill of the Chaste on Pope Saint Nicholas V not too long ago. I'd like to now feature these other two books. They are not Catholic books, however, I think it important to have them available in our public libraries.

Check to see if these titles are already in your library's catalog. If they are, put a hold on them and check them out. If not, fill out a patron request form right away. This can usually be done online at your library's website.

Title: Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student
Author: Miriam Grossman, M.D.
Publisher: Sentinel
Date Published: November 2006
ISBN: 1595230254
Price: Hardcover $23.95 (Amazon $15.09)
Comments: "How could the so-called caring professions ostensibly dedicated to student welfare have collapsed so completely?"
Review: National Review

Title: Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both
Author: Laura Sessions Stepp
Publisher: Riverhead
Date Published: Februaury 2007
ISBN: 1594489386
Price: Hardcover $24.96 (Amazon: $16.47)
Comments: Also available in audio book.

Review: ABC News

Our Week in Pictures

A busy week. Not only did we catch Junior, but we celebrated a birthday, had a Confirmation, and went shooting.

Super Boy turned 5-years old. As of September, for the first time in almost 18 years, I'll no long have a preschooler in my house. My "baby" will be a kindergartner.

Teen Daughter 2 celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. It was interesting as I watched each of her classmates step forward to be confirmed. They were all so nervous they looked like they may pass out any second. But TD2 had the most beautiful smile on her face. She was not only fully ready to receive the sacrament, but joyful about it. I'm so proud of her.

And . . . for the first time in my life, I shot skeet. As a girl and a young woman I had experience with hand guns and rifles, but that was a looong time ago, and I've never held a shotgun. I have to admit it was a lot of fun. It was hard, but fun. Thank you to Andrew who talked me into giving it a try and then coaching me. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.

The teens and their friends got a kick out of it too. They were at a different part of the range, shooting muzzle loader. When someone told them I was shooting with my friend Debi, they all climbed up on the burm with binoculars to watch us. We had no idea at the time.

Today, we celebrated with our friends the B's as their son Matt made his First Holy Communion (sorry I don't have a picture). It was a lovely Mass and a lovely day.

Now, I'm going to go lay down and rest for a few days.

The Siege Has Ended: Alleluia

Rob finally turned the sofa upside down, tore open the bottom, reached in, and pulled out Junior.

She is now residing comfortably in the Rat Skyscraper. There is one problem though. Maggie, Princess Rose's pet rat, isn't too happy about having a new roommate. Miss Maggie is currently in time out in the corner. (Actually, in the traveling cage.)

It isn't enough that I have to play referee to the little people who live here, now I have to play referee to their pets.

Maybe, I should play some John Lennon for them. Give Peace a Chance!

Eighties Lit Quiz

Uber librarian Adrienne Furness asks:

Maureen,

Hi! How are you? I have a patron looking for a book she doesn't know the title to that I can't find, so I am polling as many colleagues as I can think of to see if I can find it. It's a chapter book that she read as a girl in the 80s about a really smart girl who ends up in another world/reality where animals teach her about the Golden Rule.

I'm usually pretty good at these kinds of questions, but I've
searched and searched and come up with nothing. Does it ring any bells for you?

I hope all's well there....

Best,
Adrienne :)

I can't help her. Can you?

Prayer: Learning from Our Children

This week's column is up at Catholic Exchange: The Power of Prayer

As she told the story, I could almost hear Our Lord say to me, "Oh ye, of so little faith. Your children never gave up hope and I have answered their prayer."

I Look Good

When I went to Lowe's to purchase the live trap, I got into a conversation with the cashier. Upon finding out I'm the mother of seven children she exclaimed, "Dang girl, are you for real!" "Yep," I replied. "Whoa you look good for havin' so many kids." "No," I mumbled, "not that good." She quickly replied, "I'm tellin' you girl, you look goooood! I'd like to look that good. Seven kids, wow." As I took my package and walked out the sliding doors, she waved and hollered one more time, "You look goooood girl!"

I'll be doing all my shopping at Lowe's now.

Day Five: The Siege Continues

Junior continues to live in the sofa. A couple of homemade traps only scared the wits out of her and she's barely peeped out since. I bought a live trap from Lowe's and she managed to get the food without setting it off.

I think God is trying to teach me patience and perhaps a few other lessons.

PopeStNick5: Love in the Little Things

My library asks for links to amazon.com and book reviews when making purchasing requests online. To go to amazon.com just click on the hyperlink at the book's title or on the picture. I do my best to find online reviews for you but this is sometimes difficult when a book is brand new such as today's book Love in the Little Things.

To read past library recommendations, or to join the email list, visit: Pope Saint Nicholas V.

Check to see if this title is already in your library's catalog. If it is, put a hold on it and check it out. If not, fill out a patron request form right away. This can usually be done online at your library's website.

Title: Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life
Author: Mike Aquilina
Publisher: Servant Publications
Date Published: March 2007
ISBN: 0867168145
Price: 12.99
Comments: Foreword by Scott Hahn
The table of contents.
Back cover blurbs at the author's blog

Note: This book would be a perfect Mother's Day or Father's Day gift if you're looking for something for that special someone. Even if you buy it, still make a purchasing request to your library and still check it out if they do shelve it!

Update: Review at Karen's blog.

Prayers for the Loss of a Child

I recently asked for prayers on behalf of my brother-in-law Tom who has been deployed to the Persian Gulf. This is from a recent email from him (I've made a couple of minor edits to protect identities):

Last night I did the hardest thing I have every done in my some 20 years of ministry – tell a parent (father in this case) that his 8 month old son had died. The flash message came from the Red Cross (what we call an AMCROSS message, or AMCROSS for short) came to the ship’s chaplains; they found out who the sailor belonged to; found me in a brief; and I and his chief petty officer (who was also in the brief) went to find him. I didn’t know the content of the message at this point; my instructions were to take him to the chaplain’s office. We got there, and the chaplain told me to come into the office alone. I knew then it wasn’t good, but was still not prepared for him to tell me about the death of AW1’s child. He then asked me if I wanted to tell him, and I knew in my heart I had to do it. I couldn’t pass the buck on this one. We brought him, his chief, and his buddy into the office, and I pulled my chair up close in front of him and told him. I have never witnessed pure shock before. He kept asking, “My son?”, and I had to keep answering yes. While all this was happening, our administrative chief petty officer (I think) informed the Commodore (our boss) and got the ball rolling on getting him off the ship ASAP. I’m sure our staff helo pilot and liaison with the air wing had a lot to do with it as well. To end this sad story, he will be leaving the ship at 1130 Hawaii time for the LONG flight back home.

Please keep this young soldier and his family close in prayer. What a terrible tragedy.

St. Martin de Porres Pray for Us!

My friend Margaret Mary writes:

Do you know the story about St. Martin and the little creatures? According to the story, they were eating the bed linens at the convent. And someone wanted to get rid of them. But he talked told them to stop eating the linens and live in the barn and he would feed them there, and they did. I don't know if it's legend or fact, but I do know that he's known for his love of, and ability to deal, with the animals. I love him for his charity and gentleness with people, and his love of God.

I guess we need to get St. Martin praying for my rat/sofa problem!

Day Three: Under Seige

Today is the third day of our sofa being occupied by the pet rat Junior. This is causing me some mental stress as well as some marital discord.

I'm all for picking up the sofa, turning it upside down, and shaking the little bugger out. However, my dear husband, being the animal-loving Franciscan he is, doesn't want to cause poor Junior any distress.

Twice, the younger children have caught Junior, but only for a second. They let her go when she fought to get away. I guess she really loves my sofa.

So, I've decided to do what any good self-respecting homeschooler would do: create a unit study.

Each child will be assigned to design and build a humane trap. Grades and Carnegie credits will be given for the successful completion of this project. The learning goals include planning, architectural design, trigonometry, working as a team, rat psychology, and Christian love for all of God's creatures even icky pet rats.

Trips will be made to the hardware store and library. Surely, google searches will take place. I wonder if Wikipedia has any articles on the humane capture of rats.

This is what homeschooling is all about. Let the fun begin.

The Saga Continues

Junior continues to set up her apartment in the sofa. Oh well, I was thinking about buying a new sofa anyway.

In fact, she's peeking out right now. If I move to capture her, she'll only run back inside. I have a little bowl of water in the corner of the couch for her, lest she get dehydrated.

We tried putting food in the carrying cage and then tying a string to the door. The plan was to coax her into the cage and then pulling the string, locking her in the cage. It didn't work. She's a child and much faster than Rob's middle aged hands. The kids are too impatient and end up scaring her before she gets into the cage.

I went to Home Depot to buy a habitrap. I told the sales guy, "I need a trap to catch a rat without hurting it." I wonder why he looked at me funny. They only had live traps for little mice and for huge squirrels. Nothing in between.

I'm open to suggestions here (aside from moving out and leaving the house to the pet rats, please).

The Continuing Saga of the Pet Rat

We still haven't captured Junior, but we know where she is. She's living in our sofa. There's probably enough crumbs in there to sustain her for a month.

We had company over and I had to tell them, "I'm sorry, you'll have to sit on the love seat as there is a rat in the sofa."

This is my life.

CE: Educator's Discounts

The weekly column is up at Catholic Exchange.

Many years ago while purchasing supplies for a homeschooling potluck at a paper store, I happened to mention the purpose of my purchase to the sales clerk. She exclaimed, "You're eligible for a 20% discount!"

Cutting the Grocery Budget

My monthly column at Catholic Mom is up. Actually, it's been up since April 1st, but I forgot to tell you. Forgive me?

If you are an average American family, you can cut your grocery bill in half – through baby steps.

Snow Tip of the Day

For those of you who, like us, still have snow on the ground, I have a tip.

You know that hunk of ice and snow that collects under your wheel well? You know how tempting it is to kick it off every time you go to the car? Well, if you drive a rust bucket like me, don't let the temptation take hold, otherwise a chunk of your car may come off with the snow.

I know. It happened to me.

Even More Catholic Homeschooling Blogs

First, another prayer request. Please offer up Heather from the Homeschool Blog Awards in prayer. She learned just yesterday that she has a brain tumor. As Alicia points out, the timing is uncanny. With this being the week of the awards there have been many calls for prayers on her behalf that she may not otherwise have received.

Second, here are even more nominated Catholic homeschooling blogs I need to add to my blogroll. Make sure to check them out and if you like them, you can vote for them at the Homeschool Blog Awards.

Living Without School (Unschooling/Eclectic)

No Fighting No Biting (New)

Mozart and Mud Pies (Crafts and Projects, Super Homeschooler)

Lapaz Farm Home Learning (Living-What-You-Believe, Unschooling/Eclectic)

As Cozy As Spring (Cyber Buddy, Design)

Journey of a Mother's Heart (Living-What-You-Believe)

My Thoughtful Spot (Cyber Buddy)

Among Women (Nitty Gritty)

Liber Parma (Teen)

Happy Hearts at Home (Thrifty - one of my favorite topics!)

Thank You St. Isidore

And thank you prayer warriors! My computer is miraculously working again. My friend Linda B. called and said to try unplugging it and then replugging it in. I told her I already tried that a couple of times, but what the hey, I could try it again. It worked!

Now I have a new prayer request (warning: not for the squeamish). Sparky got a new rat, Junior, to replace the late great Sandy. I told the kids not to touch her and leave her in the cage for the first few days, but Princess Rose couldn't help herself and took Junior out for a visit. Unfortunately, the princess let Junior get out of her hands. I now have a rat loose in the house. I'm not a happy camper and not too excited about going to bed.

You all came through on the computer problem, now I'm counting you to come through on the rat problem!

Catholic Homeschool Blogs

Now that I'm home, I've spent a few minutes going through the Homeschool Blog Awards. There are a lot of neat blogs to be found there.

I was also happy to find quite a few Catholic bloggers included. The nominated category is in paranthesis:

Maureen Wittmann (Super Homeschooler)

Karen Edmistin (Encouragement, Cyber Buddies)

Cay Gibson: Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks (Nitty-Gritty)

By Sun and Candlelight (Super Homeschooler - and currently in the lead, Design, Crafts and Projects, Encouragement)

Melissa Wiley: Here in the Bonny Glen (Super Homeschooler, Mom, Encouragement)

Melissa Wiley: The Lilting House (Super Homeschooler, Mom, Encouragement, Unschooling/Eclectic, Funniest)

Cottage Blessings (Mom, Crafts and Projects, Encouragement, Live-What-You-Believe, Unschooling/Eclectic, New)

Elizabeth Foss: Real Learning (Mom, Live-What-You-Believe, Curriculum/Business, New)

Love2Learn (Group)

Chesterteens (Teen)

My Domestic Church (Live-What-You-Believe, Current Events/Politics)

Van Goal (Teen)

Minnesota Mom (Funniest)

Danielle Bean (Funniest)

Blessed Among Men (New)

O Night Divine (Group)


Please let me know if I've missed any.

Voting closes at midnight on Friday, so go and vote now!

Addendum: I found loads more, but I'm off to Teen Wed. and then I've got a meeting at my house tonight. I'll post them all tomorrow.

St. Isidore Pray for Us!

We got home from St. Louis only to find our computer on the fritz. In fact, it appears to be completely dead. I'm typing now from Teen Son's laptop. Please offer up a prayer that my computer may be raised from the dead and no files lost.

Homeschool Blog Awards

I thought you might like to know that voting has started today on the Homeschool Blog Awards http://homeschoolblogawards.com/

I was surprised to find my blog on the list. I guess I better actually blog something this week even though I'm out of town.

Also nominated is Love2learn Blog (best group blog) and ChesterTeens (best teen blog).

Margaret Mary wrote a very nice blog entry about my nomination (I'm blushing). Thank you MM.

He Is Risen!

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' Then they remembered his words."

(Luke 1: 1-8)

Happy Easter!!!!

Death of a Rat

While the world wages war, life with it's trivialities continues here.

This week, Sparky's rat Sandy passed on to rat heaven. It was quite the ordeal. It became obvious in the late morning that Miss Sandy was in trouble. She was lethargic and weak. The kids called Rob, who in turn asked me to take the rat to the animal hospital.

I knew that if I took her in that all they would do it euthanize her. I instead called my friend Linda G. (not Linda B.) who is a vet. She came over and examined Sandy. Her prognosis was that Sandy's life was at an end but insisted on doing everything to save her life.

Linda gave Sandy a shot of penicillin and warmed her up in a towel. She then took her home to give her fluids intravenously. But Sandy took her last breath as Linda put her on the heating pad on her kitchen table. Linda then applied CPR. (Yes, for real!)

I am so grateful for friends like these. She brought some peace to my little children, as well as Rob, knowing that nothing was left undone.

Sandy has been properly buried and eulogized.

On a completely different note, I'm off for Easter vacation. Blogging will be little to none for the next several days.

May you all have a very blessed and joyous Easter!

The Nimitz and Iran

This is my brother-in-law's ship.

We're doubling prayers here.

CE: High School Oration

This week's column is up at Catholic Exchange.

Great speeches stir the heart. Throughout history distinguished orators have mobilized nations toward grand actions -- noble, as well as evil -- through their words. ...

Birthday Cake

Rob's birthday was this week and so we had a little party for him on Sunday. He's never been much of a sweet eater and with this health kick we're on, he wasn't really interested in a birthday cake. But, you can't have a birthday party without a birthday cake, can you?

Teen Daughter One made a traditional chocolate cake for our guests and I made a healthier version (sort of) with angel food cake and fresh fruit. The funny thing is that the angel food cake went faster than the chocolate cake. Our guests loved it.

Here's what I did, with the help of my friend Julie: We sliced an angel food cake in half (see the picture). Then I put scoops of mango and raspberry sorbet on the bottom half. Then I put the top half on top of that. Julie and I then filled the center with mango, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I put more ice cream scoops on top and then Julie put more berries over the top. Then I drizzled strawberry All Fruit down the sides.

Totally yumcious!

Prayers Please

My brother-in-law Tom is being deployed today to Afghanistan and Iraq at 4 pm California time. He is a chaplain and has already been over there several times. Prayers for his safety and for my sister and their children's peace of mind are greatly appreciated.

Frogs and Spring

In Alaska you know spring has sprung when you hear the ice break.

You know spring has sprung at my house whe you hear the mother shriek, "Get those frogs out of my house!"

Copyright Infringement and Homeschooling

This week's homeschool column, To Photocopy or Not to Photocopy, is up at Catholic Exchange.

"Oh my, you've got the new Lyrical Science tapes. I'd love to have those myself!" I said to my friend.

The Vatican Board Game

My friend Tammy asks:

Has anyone ever heard of or played The Vatican. I was thinking of getting it for my hubby for his birthday, but wasn’t sure if it was . . . poorly done.

Can anyone help her out?

Starting Them Out Young

I could not resist sharing this picture. This is Super Boy (who'll be 5 in just a few weeks) shooting a BB gun for the first time. Teen Son is helping him. Way too cute.

Last night was the Family Fun Shoot for our 4-H shooting club. We invite all the other 4-H clubs in the county to come join us for an evening. We offer archery, BB's, air rifle,and some simple games like darts, rubber band guns, and this funny air contraption thingy that blows down pop bottles. It's a great way to share shooting sports to other 4-H'ers.

The kids all had a great time. At the end of the evening was an award ceremony and, of course, the Wittmanns did well. In fact, Buster got first place in his age group (9 to 11). If that boy ever actually put in some decent practice time, he'd be an Olympic shooter!

Super Boy didn't hit a single target so no trophies where in his grasp, but he did get a participation ribbon. As soon as we walked in the door, he ran to Rob exclaiming, "Daddy, Daddy, look I won an award! I'm a shooter!" I think he's hooked.

Her First Shotgun

Some mothers cherish the day they take their daughters out for their first manicure or to buy their first prom dress.

This week I took Teen Daughter One out to buy her first shotgun.

I'm not sure if I'm suppose to cherish this moment or not.


(She's shooting a muzzle loader in this picture, hence all the smoke.)

Sparky and His Pet Rat

After meticulously editing his essay and seeking his father's advice on capitalization, Sparky has asked that I post his literary creation on the blog so that the rest of the world may benefit from his words (I have changed the names to protect the innocent):

Sparky's New Rat
By Sparky

Sparky asked his dad for a new rat. Dad said yes. Sparky named his rat Sandy.

Sandy loves her ball. One day Sandy got out of her ball. Dad and Sparky looked everywhere. They looked under the couch. But then Sandy popped out of one of the cushions and then they grabbed Sandy by her tail and put her back in her cage.

The End

South Dakota Here We Come

Both Teen Son and Teen Daughter One made the Michigan 4-H shooting sports team and are going to the national competition!!!

When I learned this news yesterday, I was so excited and happy for them. This morning I woke up and the reality hit me. I have to do some major fundraising between now and June, and somehow get these kids to South Dakota for competition. And, along the way, there will be LOTS of practice and LOTS of costly ammo. What was I thinking when I encouraged these kids to go for the gold? Why can't I have normal underachieving children?

Okay, enough whining. Something has to give here. Teen Son and Teen Daughter One are working like crazy preparing for the state Science Olympiad competition which falls on the same day as my speaking engagement in Milwaukee. If they win that and go to the Science Olympiad national competition, it's the same day as my speaking engagement in Dayton. And then the national 4-H shoot is just a couple of weeks after my speaking gig in Kansas City. Between my travel and their achievements, it's too much. I think next year, speaking engagements will have to go.

The Overpopulation Myth

This week's column is up over at Catholic Exhange. It's a reprint from Earth Day 5 years ago, originally appearing in Our Sunday Visitor. April 22nd, Earth Day, is right around the corner, so start preparing now!

She looked up from the literature and into the eyes of the gentleman manning the table and said, "We must be your worst nightmare." Shocked, the man said nothing as my friend strolled away. Then suddenly she heard him calling after her. He was running toward her, waving his literature frantically, yelling, "Wait, wait! It's not too late to stop!"

The friend mentioned in the story is Kim over at Starry Sky Ranch.

What Would Chesterton Say About Harry?

I just finished proofreading Nancy Brown's new book on Harry Potter. I have got to tell you all that it is FANTASTIC! It won't be out until after the last HP book is released, so perhaps I shouldn't be getting you all excited about it yet, but I can't help myself. You've got to put this book on your summer to-buy list, whether you hate, love or are unsure about Harry.

I'm so proud of Nancy. She wrote it in a way that I would've never dreamed. She ties J. K. Rowling's story of Harry Potter to G. K. Chesterton's Battle of Lepanto. Very cool! No one but a Chestertonian like Nancy could pull that one off.

The Sacrifice of Going Meatless

I've come to the conclusion that giving up meat for Lent is not so much a sacrifice of the taste buds or stomach, but of the hands and wrists. If I want to cook a slab of meat for dinner, I season it, put it in a roaster, and slide it into the oven. So easy.

When cooking vegetarian, you chop, chop, and chop some more. I've been chopping so many fresh fruits and veggies that I had to pull my wrist braces out of the medicine cabinet. Yet, it's been worth it. Rob has lost 20 lbs. and looks great. I've dropped 10 and feel healthier.

I think starting Lent with the fast and moving to the meatless diet has been beneficial both spiritually and physically. If we had moved directly from our old diet (which was spiralling downward, health wise) to a meatless diet it wouldn't have been as easy on our taste buds. But, after fasting for 10 days, all I craved was fresh fruits and vegetables. Really!

In fact, on Friday I had to take Sparky for his checkup at UofM Hospital in Ann Arbor. It's about a 2 1/2 hour round trip, if traffic is decent. I always take Sparky to McDonald's for a treat afterward. I decided to treat myself too. It was Friday, and Fridays in Lent call for fried fish, right? I so looked forward to that McDonald's fish fillet and my taste buds were watering. Well, I got to tell you, it was awful! After three weeks of eating only home-cooked vegetarian (with the exception of one baked fish dish) the McDonald's sandwich tasted like grilled grease. Ick. Next time, I'll get the salad!

So, I guess the trick is to make sure we keep eating healthy and not ease ourselves back into bad habits. Oh, trust me, I plan on eating the occasional meat dish once Lent is over. Besides, I've still got a quarter of a cow in my freezer. However, it's practically organic with no steroids or hormones, raised by our friends Linda and Chuck. It not only tastes way better than grocery store meat, but is way healthier.

Yet, I suspect that Rob and I won't quite be the carnivores we were before. We'd like to keep vegetarian 3 or 4 days a week.

Breach

Rob and I saw Breach this weekend. It was a bit of a surreal experience because I kind of knew the Hanssens in a third party kind of way. You see, when this spy scandel broke out I was in a small women's Bible study and the leader of our group was very close to the Hanssens. They were in the DC Opus Dei together and their kids went to college together. In fact, the older children were pretty tight friends.

I watched firsthand how this man's evil transgressions tore apart those close to him. I heard how his children were devasted and the toll it took on his precious wife.

Yes, I know Hanssen's betrayal put our country and her cititzens at great risk. People were murdered because of his activities. But, somehow, that is news. It's not really real, is it? When you read it in the paper, but don't know the participants, it's almost like it takes place in another world. It's too easy to forget about such things - most Americans don't want to be bothered by bad news.

When Rob and I left that movie theater, we were numb. The evil that man did, for perhaps no other reason than a thrill, is beyond words. And it was ever more real because we saw how it affected people who loved him in real life.

I'm not sure how much longer Breach will be in theaters. I assume not much longer as the cinema was pretty empty when we went Saturday. But, if it's still showing in your town, I recommend seeing it. It's been the hot topic all over the blogosphere if you want to read more: here, and here, and here.

UPDATE: I sent this website to Rob this morning which tells what parts of the movie were made up. I found Rob's comments interesting and would like to share them with you here (as you can see, he is far superior to me in intellect):

As I have slept on the movie, and read this website, I am starting to believe that Billy Ray intended, albeit pretty subtly, to lead viewers to link Hanssen's orthodox Catholicism at least to his mental instability, which from this you can either infer or not was part and parcel of his treason. I believe he intended to link it to his treason, again very subtly. Granted, much of the portrayal is true and it was only a snapshot of his life pretty much at that exact time, but that might be part of his strategy, i.e., to not allow other potential "influences" to get much play. I think the insertion of the fictional homophobic piece tips you off to Ray's real views of orthodox Catholicism, though perhaps in his study of Hanssen he found some specific evidence to conclude that he was personally "homophobic." I am intrigued to read and/or watch more of O'Neill's perspective, particularly to find out if Hanssen was as uptight, cynical, and condescending (particularly to non-Catholics) as the movie portrays.

My read on his "reason" for the treason remains that he became bitterly anti-government from a lifetime of bureaucratic mistreatment, which caused him to act out because he didn't separate himself from it before the treason began. This bitterness over-rode his ideological disapproval of the Soviets ("lost the Cold War because of their atheism") though he may have had some bizarre attraction to Russian society, particularly their anti-libertinism (such as banning pornography). It is quite intriguing (and very much not out of the realm of possibility) that he could have been blackmailed by Soviet agents as his wife believes, perhaps for some sexual impropriety. Given his study of Russian language/culture and his extensive work in Russian counterintelligence for the bureau, it's very possible he could have come into contact with Russian spies pretty early on in his tenure. This theory (blackmail, possibly sexual in nature) would tie well to his background, that he would need to cover it up so he was an easy target. It might explain why he never left the FBI despite becoming so cynical about bureaucracy. It might also explain why he didn't get that much money for the secrets. I don't believe O'Neill's opinion that he did it for the money.

Two things to keep in mind. Russia is a very depressing country and culture, as their social statistics attest to and as a Russian history prof at UMSL used to teach (according to a friend, who said he committed suicide some years ago). If Hanssen did have some psychological issues (perhaps depression) feeding into his anti-government views, it might explain some attraction for an intellectual to Russian society, which means he could have done it without blackmail. Secondly, Hanssen is in his mid-60s, so he grew up almost completely in the pre-Vatican II church. It is entirely possible that, as a strict orthodox Catholic adult from youth, he was embittered by the whole Vatican II experience, which I think was probably hardest on people exactly his age, who were fully adults when it hit but still quite young and not as inculturated by age to adapt easily. It would be interesting to know more about his college experience, probably very conservative, ending just before the radical 60s started happening around 1966-67. If I had the time, it would be worth reading some of the biographies that have been done on him since the arrest.

Judge Goes After Homeschool Mom

Please pray for this homeschooling mom.

New Jersey Judge Orders Penal Charges Against Mom for Home-Schooling

If you're a judge and you don't like the law, just make new law from the bench.

More on the Library Thing

A really, really easy way to get books on your Library Thing is to visit the Library Things of like-minded friends. You can just click on the green plus sign and the book will automatically copy to your account. I just gave it a try over at Alicia's Library Thing and it worked beautifully.

Also, everyone is raving about the bar code scanner and so I absoluetly must have one. This will help get books into my Library Thing quickly and as well as help me keep track of what I've lent out. But, first I need to sell a book to pay for it!

Campaign for The Companion

For all of you taking advantage of Library Thing, make sure you've included The Catholic Homeschool Companion and given it a rating. If The Companion gets at least ten ratings of 5 stars, it'll receive special status at Library Thing. Cool.

UPDATE: It seems there is a bit of a glitch. As of a week or more ago, there is no author name when uploading The Catholic Homeschool Companion. As a result, when you want to see who else has The Companion in their library, it doesn't show all of the members. To correct this, add "Maureen Wittmann" (2 t's, 2 n's, no h) to the author box. Hopefully, that'll fix the problem.

CE: We Are What We Read

The new Catholic Exchange column is up. However, I can't give you the link because Blogger is still on the fritz. I'll put the link in the comments.

Library Thing

Some time ago, Alicia over at Love2Learn suggested I give Library Thing a try. She raved and raved about it, but I just couldn't see the point. Finally, I signed up and now I'm hooked. It is a very cool service.

Here's how it works. You set up an account (the easiest set up on the entire Internet!) and then start cataloging books. The free service allows you to catalog up to 200 books. To catalog any more on one account, you need to buy a membership. It's $10 for one year or $25 for a lifetime membership. You can also set up several free accounts (one for yourself, one for the kids, etc.).

But, why, oh why, would you want to catalog your books? For one thing, it's fun! There are places for comments, ratings, catagorizing, reviews, etc. You can sort your list by title, author, rating, or just about anyway you would like. (I just love lists!)

You can even see which members share your books. For example, I clicked on The Catholic Homeschool Companion and found that Alicia has it in her library.

Note: If you like, you can set up your account to be private so other people can't peek. My Library Thing is public so you can see a sampling in the sidebar of this blog. I also have a Library Thing set up at The Thrifty Homeschool blog and the teenagers have one set up over at Unrecognized Talent. It's too fun to share!

On a practical note, Library Thing is an user-friendly system to keep track of your inventory. I don't know how many times I've purchased a book I already owned. Also, if I loan out a book to a friend, I could make a note to myself on Library Thing in the book's comment section. Additionally, you can search Library Thing on your cell phone, so if you're at the book store you can check to see if a particular title is already in your personal library.

One more example of Library Thing's practical application. Our Science Olympiad team has put together a nice library of science books for team members to borrow. However, keeping track of books and knowing which ones are best for what events was difficult at best. We're in the process right now of getting the Science Olympiad library cataloged on Library Thing. We use the comments section to track the location of the book, the review section to indicate how to use the book in preparing for competition, the tag section to show what event the book is for, and the rating section to show it's usefulness. It's an almost perfect system.

I only have 60 books cataloged to date, so I have a long way to go yet. But I'll get to it eventually.

PopeStNick5: Good Discipline Great Teens

To read past library recommendations, or to join the email list, visit: Pope Saint Nicholas V.

Check to see if this title is already in your library's catalog. If it is, put a hold on it and check it out. If not, fill out a patron request form right away. This can usually be done online at your library's website.

Title: Good Discipline Great Teens

Author: Ray Guarendi, Ph.D.

Publisher: Servant Publications

Date Published: Feb. 28, 2007

ISBN: 0867168358

Price: 13.99 Softcover

Comments: Dr. Ray Guarendi is a clinical psychologist, author, public speaker and radio host. His radio shows "The Doctor Is In" can be heard weekdays. Dr. Ray has been a regular guest on national radio and television, including Oprah, Joan Rivers, 700 Club, Gordon Elliot, and CBS This Morning.

Note: Dr. Ray is scheduled to speak at the Dayton, OH Catholic homeschooling conference (Preregister as there is limited seating.). I highly recommend his talks! If you can't make the trip to Ohio, you can purchase his DVD's at Ninevah's Crossing. (You can even see a close up of me holding a baby, Princess Rose, in the opening credits of the You're a Better Parent Than You Think DVD.)

Homeschooling and Dyslexia

In response to my recent Catholic Exchange column on dyslexia, I received the following email. The sender gave her permission to reprint here:

Dear Maureen,

I have a nine year old daughter who is the fifth of my six children whom are all homeschooled. She is dyslexic, with a written expression disorder and has dysgraphia. We have based most of our curriculum on Seton Home study materials. I was told my daughter will not learn well from a workbook. She did learn to read last year with the Lindemood Bell program It is an excellent program but way to expensive for us to continue. I need to find material that I can give to her to work with on her own at her own pace. She is an eager learner but gets frustrated with me when I try to instruct her. I want to homeschool but don't know how to!? Any suggestions you can offer to me is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Very frustrated but a willing heart,

Here is my response to the writer. (Note: I'm not a special needs expert, just a mom sharing personal experience.)

I'm not sure that a dyslexic child could work on her own. My son didn't take off reading until he was ten, after two years of intensive one-on-one, multi-sensory, reading lessons with me. We only spent 20 or so minutes a day as that is as long as I could keep his attention. But we did it every day consistently (including through the summer).

I'm not sure either how you could do it inexpensively. I'm the queen of thrift and I'm also the queen of 'here's a book kids, go learn!' But, with a learning disability that's a difficult approach at best.

I'm not familiar with Seton's structure, but I do understand that they do have good learning disability counseling. And I hear the Lindendwood Bell program is good.

I took a class from someone trained by the Orton Gillingham Society. It cost about $200 for the class and materials. More money than I had to spare, but you do what you have to do.

They are right in saying that dyslexic kids can't learn from workbooks, however, you can supplement with workbooks. I found the MCP phonics workbooks to be horribly useless with my dyslexic children (I also have a daughter who struggled). What I recommend is the Explode the Code workbooks for supplemental material.

It's also good to have lots of very simple readers for practice. You want to keep them simple as you don't want to discourage her. Bob Books are great and you may find them at the library. Also good are the Little Stories for Little Folks from Catholic Heritage Curricula and Little Angel Readers from Stone Tablet Press. We even made our own homemade readers. Plus, the library will have other readers.

If you really can't afford these materials, your last option is looking into services provided by your local public school.

The most important thing to do is to read aloud to your child!!! Since you have older children, get them involved. They can read aloud, give instruction, listen to her read, etc.

I hope this is helpful.

If you have any additional advice for the letter writer, please leave a comment. It's always good to hear from more than one source.

Muskrat on Fridays

Muskrat love: A Lenten Friday delight for some Michiganders

O joy. How lucky I am to live in Michigan!

(Thanks Mike for sending this article to me.)

Catholic Exchange Needs You

Would you like to do some good this Lent? Go HERE to find one way you can make a difference.

Great Book Sale

From Mike Aquilina's blog:

Loyola Press, publisher of my book The Grail Code: Quest for the Real Presence is offering a Lent-long 30% discount not only on my title, but on lots of other good stuff as well, including the Loyola Classics series, which I’ve often blogged upon, and two books by one of my favorite human beings, David Scott: The Catholic Passion: Rediscovering the Power and Beauty of the Faith and A Revolution of Love: The Meaning of Mother Teresa. Also check out the titles by Bob Lockwood, Liz Kelly and Matthew Lickona. Gosh, it’s all so good. Talk about temptation!The discount is good for one-time use only and not valid on textbook or curriculum orders. The offer expires at the end of the Easter season, May 27, 2007.

TO GET THE DISCOUNT, make sure to enter the promotional code 2261. Now … keep reading your way to the fullness of Easter.

Loyola has a lot of great titles and I've really been wanting to collect the books in the Loyola Classics series. This is the perfect time. Ooh, and I've been wanting the David Scott titles too. Thanks Mike for the heads up! (PS I already own The Grail Code - very cool book!)

CE: Homeschooling with a Chronic Illness

This week's column is up over at Catholic Exchange: Carrying Our Crosses: Homeschooling with a Chronic Illness.

My husband, bless his heart, kept telling me that I had too much on my plate and had to take a few things off. Being the dutiful wife, I took off dishes and gave them to him. I took off housework and gave my children more responsibility, as well as hiring a housekeeper for four hours a week. The one thing I refused to take off of my plate was homeschooling.

Flu and Testing

Sorry I haven't been blogging the past few days. I've got a touch of the flu and so feeling a little under the weather.

Also, we're testing this week. I got the CAT/5 achievement tests from Kolbe Academy to check on the kids' progress. It's a pretty nice deal - even if you're not enrolled in Kolbe, you can still get the tests through them. I think Seton offers a similar service.

Catholic Book on HP

Nancy Brown is writing a new book and she even has a contract! And I get to help with proofreading. Very exciting! Make sure to head over to her blog and tell her "Congrats!"

Catholic Mom Column: Educators' Discounts

The March Homeschool Companion column is up over at Catholic Mom. This month's column: Educators' Discounts.

Many years ago while purchasing supplies for a homeschooling potluck at a paper store, I happened to mention the purpose of my purchase to the sales clerk. She exclaimed, “You’re eligible for a 20% discount!”

PopeStNick5 Success Story

I rcvd. the following email today:

Dear Maureen,

I just did my periodic check of books I have requested my library system buy. My library now has the Dawn Eden book. It purchased 5 copies; all are currently checked out or being held for someone. I am the only person on the request list. My library system did own the Josh Harris when you posted about it. I did check that out.

-- Sharon

This is why I run the Pope Saint Nicholas V email list (join today!), as well as post the library suggestions here on the blog. How awesome is it that Thrill of the Chaste is not only in libraries, but being checked out by the masses!

Go to your library website now and make a purchase request. Click on the PopeStNick5 label below if you need some ideas.

CE: Mass Control

This week's column is up over at Catholic Exchange.

As the parents of seven children, my husband and I have worked hard over the years at keeping our little ones under control during Sunday Mass.