It's Here!! Advent and Christmas People and Their Stories Pt.III - Fun learning for this week and beyond

Get it NOW!  Shell from Thinking Love, No Twaddle blog has finished the last portion of her Little Lesson: Advent and Christmas People and their stories Part III!

Father reminded us in his homily yesterday about doing our duty as Catholics - and it wasn't what I thought he was going to say.  I thought he was going to talk about going to church or confession, but he didn't.  He explained that many do not understand what the word "duty" means, especially in today's world, which gives the word a negative connotation.  He easily explained that means doing what needs to be done, in the right spirit, for the glory of God and that duties should directly correspond to our vocation. 

At this time of year many are overwhelmed in things that they think need to be done - what they sometimes consider "duties."  Keeping God at the forefront of every hour of the day can get lost among shopping, wrapping, standing in line, cooking. and entertaining.  Let us help by suggesting you take a bit of time out this week to teach a Little Lesson on Advent and Christmas to your family (or even just sit down by yourself and go through the lesson on your own.)

This third installment of Advent and Christmas People and Their Stories focuses on St. Nicholas, St. Stephen, the angels, St. Wenceslas, St. John the Baptist, the Baptism of our Lord, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the use of chiaroscuro.  You can expect an engaging text and many opportunities for discussion with the kiddos or quiet independent pondering.  Shell has thoughtfully left spaces throughout the text to keep notes or jot down points of interest.  Carefully chosen artwork images really bring this lesson to life as well.

As always the little extras make this lesson even sweeter including the prayer to our Guardian Angel, English and Latin version of the lyrics of Good King Wenceslas and three sets of quick quiz cards for review and narration opportunities.  Download this part of the lesson or all three of them now.

Little Lesson of Advent and Christmas Part III
Little Lesson of Advent and Christmas Part II
Little Lesson of Advent and Christmas Part I

So while many people are busily bustling around preparing for Christmas, we are taking things slow this week and trying to keep God at the forefront of every hour of the day.  We are having our final choir practices for Christmas Eve Mass, listening to real carols as we relax in front of the Christmas tree playing board games, watching classic Christmas specials on DVD, and participating in our church cleaning and decorating for Christmas. (Oh! It is such a wonderful time of fellowship and activity for the family.  Many families from our parish get together to clean all of the nooks and crannies and put up all of the beautiful decorations for Christmas.  Then we pile into the hall for a wonderful lunch altogether.)
May you have a wonderful week of relaxing preparation for Jesus Birthday - however your family chooses to get ready for it!  :)
Blessings,
Kalei

Little Cut-n-Paste Rebus to Learn About the Angels and the First Sin

Answer Key Sample

When I ask my CCD classes what is the first sin ever committed, more often than not I am told about the original sin of Adam and Eve in the garden and eating the forbidden fruit.  Although I am always happy that children know the story of our first parents' disobedience to God, I know that I have my work cut out for me in  teaching the truth about the first sin ever committed. 

The need for the distinct explanation of the first sin ever committed and the first sin ever committed on earth may arise in your religious education class or home catechises session too.  To help explain this in a tactile and inviting way for younger learners, I have created a cut -n-paste rebus about the angels and the first sin.

This activity is fun, simple and fast to complete so it can be a quick perfect addition to your lessons at home or in the classroom.  Simply cut out the pieces, read the story together and paste in the pieces where they match in the story.  St. Michael is depicted as a warrior angel with a bow and Lucifer is depicted as a plain angelic figure - as he would have been originally.  This provides a great opportunity to talk about how sin can change us spiritually and even physically.

Scrambled letter clues are given for each piece, CCC passages are noted and an answer key is provided.

Find the Angels and the First Sin Rebus as well as other resources to teach about sin and forgiveness in our collection now.

Blessings,
Kalei

Resources to Celebrate the Feast of the Archangels - The Transcendent Trio

Get to know our angelic helpers - St. Michael, St. Raphael, and St. Gabriel - The Transcendent Trio on their feast day.

Learning about the Archangels is always neat and enlightening for children as well as adults.  Today we offer a few helpful and fun resources to highlight this special occasion.  These resources could be used at home or class today or anytime during the year when they are mentioned in your Bible study.

Saint Trading Card for the Feast of the Archangels

Find out about the Transcendent Trio by name, what each name means, and when to call on them for intercession using our fun Saint Trading Cards.  These cards are inexpensive to make and very colourful.  Cards print four to a sheet for convenience for families, classes, and CCD use.  Simply print out, cut apart and glue.  You can laminate them and put them on a key-ring for fun and easy reference.  You will find our entire collection at the link above.  We have received requests for some new modern saints, so visit us often over the next week or so.  New cards are on the way.

Cut and Paste Activity on the Angels and the First Sin
This link will take you to a fun rebus style activity comes to life with its cut-n-paste design.  The story of the first sin is told in an easy to understand format.  The CCC reference as well as an answer sheet is included.  This sheet and other activities on this page from our resource site focus on the ideas of sin and forgiveness and were created for my CCD class use.

Little Lesson on the Archangels by Michelle Scott
Although we've mentioned this resource earlier in the month by Michelle Scott over at Thinking Love, No Twaddle, today is one of the day's to really pick it apart and have some learning fun.  This Liturgical Lesson for September on the Triumphant Cross and the Archangels is well done and great to do as a family.  You will find this as well as all of Michelle's contributed Little Lessons at the link above.





Have an angelic day!

Blessings,

Kalei - That Resource Team

Worksheets on September Feast Days Triumph of the Cross and the Archangels

New worksheets honour our Lord and highlight the archangels.

As many families head back to scheduled learning, the days will fill with activities, lessons, field trips, and bustle.  So many families spend the summer months going gung-ho on religious crafts and fun faith building activities but slow right down to a snails pace when the realities of the school year return.  Our sincerest prayer for all families is that they may live and school with our Lord at the centre of it all, year-round!  Many of our resources incorporate the faith right into them whether it is a math game, adjective worksheet, wall calendar, family project or virtue lesson.  We want to keep God present and obviously placed everywhere we can in our lives. 

Today's shared resource is an seven page worksheet packet shared by Michelle Scott over at
Thinking Love, No Twaddle.  This packet provides a good solid way to go through the month of September walking right next to our Lord.  September is traditionally a month dedicated to the Holy Cross.  Michelle has chosen to highlight, and cover very well we might add, Sept. 14th Triumph of the Holy Cross and Sept.29th the Feast of the Archangels in this packet.  Her always informative and engaging sheets help children make connections in their faith.  She includes great information, morsels of forgotten richness of our Catholic faith, art history, a little bit of Latin, a notebooking sheet and more.  These are geared for independent learning for a bit older or great for family learning and discussion too!!

We hope that this resource will help you keep Christ at the centre of your homeschool this month.

Click Here to download this resource packet for September.
Click Here to see all of Michelle's Contributions on our website.

Blessings,

That Resource Team