Category Archives: Education

Tangrams: combining math and art

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Connie Rossini

I love combining subjects for homeschool when I can. Tangrams are a great way to combine math and art, along with science, religion, or history. We haven’t worked with tangrams for a while, so I’ve decided to make today a … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged Art, Creation, homeschool, Math, Michelangelo, Puzzle, Tangram | 6 Comments

Teach your kids something useless

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Connie Rossini

Every once in a while, educational fads turn toward “back to basics.” Schools emphasize necessary and useful subjects–meaning, useful for getting a job. Math, reading, and science take center stage. Other subjects get cut. In fact, one of the biggest … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged Catholic, Common Core Standards, Curriculum, Cursive, homeschool, Liberal Arts | 25 Comments

Homeschool narrations and Christian prayer

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Connie Rossini

Many homeschool families make narrations a part of their curriculum. With a narration, a child retells in his own words what he has read, recalling as many details as he can. Narrations replace comprehension questions and workbook pages. You can … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged Bible, Catholic, Charlotte Mason, Eucharist, homeschool, Meditation, Narrations | 5 Comments

A fresh start for religious ed at home

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Connie Rossini

Some families are already gearing up to start school on Monday. We don’t start back until September 8, just after our parish festival. But no matter when you begin, here are some ideas to take your religious education to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged Bible, Catholic, Feast Days, Holy day of obligation, homeschool | 2 Comments

Educate your kids for divine union

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Connie Rossini

Through prayer and study, I’ve created a list of the elements of an education that I think best starts children on this road. Divine union comes through living a life of prayer and virtue. So, generally speaking, we want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Tagged Beatific Vision, Catholic, homeschool, Josef Pieper, Modeling, Prayer, Virtue | 7 Comments

Homeschooling and original sin

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Connie Rossini

When we choose a homeschool philosophy as Catholics, we should consider whether the worldview behind that philosophy is in accord with the Catholic faith. Many of the proponents of these philosophies are Protestants. Others are Mormons or secularists. One area … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged Catholic, Discipline, homeschool, Modeling, Oliver DeMille, Original sin, Ruth Beechick | 6 Comments

Should we “push” our children to learn?

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Connie Rossini

I’m going to start critiquing some of the homeschool methodology/philosophy books I’ve read. Oliver Van DeMille (along with his wife Rachel) created the Leadership Education method, also know by the title of Oliver’s first book on the subject A Thomas … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Tagged Catholic, homeschool, Leadersip Education, Lev Vygotsky, Modelling, Motivation | 8 Comments

Homeschooling parents, you can change the world!

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Connie Rossini

This past weekend I attended the Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference. I heard two excellent talks and discovered interesting materials I had never seen before. I would like to spend the next few weeks here reflecting on what I learned. … Continue reading →