Great Little Lesson of Advent Stories

Advent is upon us and what a better way to celebrate it than with a little lesson perfect for family learning.  Advent and Christmas, People and their stories is a great little lesson written by Shell of   Thinking Love, No Twaddle blog. 

In her lesson Shell reminds us that Advent is a time of waiting and preparation but it is also a time for reflection.  In this unique lesson she examines the people who have been a part of the original story of Christmas from Scripture, tradition or even myths.  The people she highlights include:  St. Anne, St. Joachim, Anna the Prophetess, St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Zachariah, St. John the Baptist and others including the shepherds in the field,   The events highlighted include the Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity and Circumcision of Jesus, the Nativity and Circumcision of St. John the Baptist and more.

This file is 49 pages in length and is designed for double sided printing so that you can cuddle up on the couch and read this like a book to the kiddos.  You could very easily print this single sided as well.  Some great features of this double sided printable lesson include:

-A wonderfully engaging text,
-Scripture references with a space to make notes on the page,
-Notebooking sheets,
-Lapbook pieces,
-Art lesson and picture study prompts,
-Discussion questions,
-Greek references for fun factual learning and more.

I must say that my favorite piece in this lesson is the Family Tree of Jesus!  (You can't see me, but I'm clapping.)  Oh! This will be great for the kiddos to see simply the comparison of Mother Mary's side of the Holy Family and St. Joseph's side as well.

My family and I are so excited to have received this in the inbox to share with you all today.  In a gesture of thanksgiving, please keep Shell and her family in your prayers. 

Download this Little Lesson: Advent and Christmas, People and their stories now.
See other Little Lessons and Resources from Shell.

Please feel free to share this post with others who may find it useful!

Blessings,
Kalei

Teaching Grammar and Reviewing Theology with the Apostles' Creed Prayer

As promised, we have been focusing our home learning efforts on the learning and memorizing the new form of the Apostles' Creed.  To that end we have done grammar study, art work, memorization, copywork, catechism and spelling too.  I will pass along what we have done briefly and give you links to gather the resources for yourself from the new faith area of our resource website.

Memorization
To help with memorization of the Creed and help children learn some of the other prayers said at Mass, I made some new Learning Prayer Cards sets.  The new form of the Apostles' Creed is featured in one of the learning card sets as well as the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel for Protection, which is said after daily masses.  Another learning card set features the Sanctus or Holy. Holy, Holy in Latin and also in English.  The new form is provided.


Grammar
In the grammar department I typed out the new form of the Apostles' Creed as well as the old form and put them on separate sheets.  We then began comparing and contrasting the prayers grammatically.  The Apostles' Creed prayer sheets (plus the text from this lesson) are very useful for reference with many of the activities below.  We made some unique observations.

1. The new form has only two sentences.  The old form has nine sentences.   Don't believe me?  See for yourself. Together the kids pointed out the subject and predicate of each of the long sentences.  Presented in a Who or what/Does what format, it is very simple to pick out the subject (noun portion) and predicate (verb portion).  You will also see the change in the number of pronouns as well.  Because of the reduction of sentences, there isn't the need to use the pronoun "he" very often. 
2. The new form uses quite a few semi-colons and to a lesser degree, commas.  This is the perfect opportunity to highlight the functions and differences in both of these punctuation marks.  The semi-colon is used to separate complex ideas within the sentence - in its simplest explanation, but using your favorite grammar text will help you give further examples of proper use of both the semi-colon and comma.
3. Another addition to this form of the Apostles' Creed includes the use of italics to signal the need for reverence to be given by the person or persons praying. The line which uses italics is: "who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary,"
4. This is a great opportunity to discuss plural nouns. 

Apostles (more than one apostle)

Apostle's (belonging to one apostle)

Apostles' (belonging to more than one apostles or a group of apostles) 

Note the position and proper use of apostrophe.*

Spelling/Handwriting
For our spelling practice this week I selected ten words that best represent the prayer to use as spelling list words for the week.  With only ten words, it can be easily accomplished by kiddos.  I also created a set of Ten Words about the Apostles' Creed copywork sheets.  This set includes trace work in print and cursive as well as a blank version for learners with better handwriting skills.  I simply printed out one sheet to use daily and gave a quick spelling check at the end of the week.

For other copywork, handwriting practice and also as an aide to help learn the prayer, I created copywork sheets for the Apostles' Creed.  Styles include a set for the Apostles' Creed in trace print, a set for the Apostles' Creed in trace cursive, and for more advanced writers, the Apostles' Creed in non-trace style.  With only a few lines per page, one sheet could be given out daily until the entire prayer is completed.


Catechism
One of the easiest things to do with the Apostles' Creed is to pick out the twelve points on which our faith is based as it was proclaimed from the twelve apostles so many centuries ago.  Use the prayer sheets from above to look throughout the prayer.  Have children underline the points with different colors.  Here are the points distinguished with different colors below.  You can also find these in the CCC as well.

I believe in God,

the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, 
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried; 
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
 

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.  Amen.

Art

These coloring art sheets help to distinguish and illustrate some of the important parts of the Apostles' Creed.  Each sheet gives a title, summary of what is occurring in the image as well as a line from scripture or the prayer itself.  Here are the sheets I used:

The Descent of the Holy Spirit Coloring Sheet

The Holy Trinity Joined by the Saints Coloring Sheet - This sheet depicts the Holy Trinity but also the communion of saints.  See if you can note the heavenly Father, the Son (the lamb) and the Holy Spirit (dove), the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Queen of Heaven , St. Joseph, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Mary Magdalen, the Holy Innocents, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Gabriel the Archangel, St. John the Baptist, the terms "Ave" (Hail) and Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb).

Easter, The Resurrection Coloring Sheet - This last sheet features a portion of the Apostles' Creed in image and words.  Mary Magdalene meets Jesus just outside His tomb.  The angel is present as well.  Note the beautiful pious halo that is above Christ's head.

So, this is what we did this week to begin getting ready for the transition for the New Roman Missal. 

I hope you find this lesson very helpful!

Blessings,
Kalei

The Apostles' Creed is Changing. Are you ready?

Apostles' Creed Prayer Mini-book

Advent marks the beginning of the new liturgical year as well as the institution of the New Roman Missal.  We are fortunate to be experiencing history in such a unique and heartfelt way.  There will be quite a few changes in the Mass including postures, prayers, responses, and music.  I will be sharing new resources, as I get them web ready, to help bring children (and even a few parents) closer to their faith this coming year.

One thing that many people do not realize is that the words to the Apostles' Creed prayer are changing.  The new translation should bring the English words closer to the Latin translation and will definitely cause us to pray more carefully and with a new kind of energy.  Oh, it is exciting!

Many of you who have been with us for the past few years know that we have resources that pertain directly to the Apostles' Creed.  Today I went through and updated all of our current resources that contain the words to the Apostles' Creed - Put it in Order prayer game, Prayers I Should Know Sheet, our printable Reconciliation booklet for children or adults and our Create an Apostles' Creed Prayer mini-book.  That being said, children will need to learn the new changes especially if you pray the rosary at home or use it in your parish instead of the Nicene Creed, which , too, has changed.

I will be featuring new resources including learning cards, copywork, coloring sheets, and prayer sheets to help teach about the new Apostles' Creed in the next bit - as soon as I finish the lessons with my own kiddos at home.  :) 

Blessings,
Kalei

Narration, Narration, Narration

I have been under the weather lately as the tasks and demands of the school year are constant, my CCD class is in full swing with Advent and the New Roman Missal fast approaching, our choir is feverishly trying to learn the new music for the Holy Mass, and of course there is always life - laundry, cooking, training and disciplining the kids for heaven, helping with the family business, washing the dog, and on the list goes.  Serving others, however rewarding it is, can be very hard work.  But now I turn to homeschooling and the task of narration, which to young ones can also be very hard work.  But it doesn't have to be.

On one of the listservs I am on, has hosted quite a bit of posts and questions about narration in the CM style.  The same questions seem to come up. 

When to do it?

How to do it?

How to correct it?

How much is enough? 

So I thought that I would just take a moment to add a few thoughts.

In our home we tried starting narration orally while omitting writing.  This didn't work very well for us as my children wanted to begin writing very early, about age 6-7 years old.  I also tried making them wait to write, but that, too, was a waste of my time and energy and only lead to painful teaching periods.  So, I began written narration when my kids were ready irregardless of their age.  I recommend never squelching your child's desire to write.

When the kiddos wrote, I just let them write.  We ask our teen aged children to just write to get content down and then go back in a later draft, so why not just let the little ones do the same thing - write for content for the first while?  I did it for a whole year and the kids began writing even more and began noticing their own errors in their read-aloud sharing time. I didn't correct for grammar or spelling until they really understood the grammar concept first.  I began gently correcting more as more concepts were learned and vocabulary increased.

*As a side note, I never used a red pen, but rather green, orange, purple or something else that was fun and unexpected. 

Many moms are not sure about how much to require their children to narrate.  Just be fair to your child and you will have no problem.  We can't expect them to narrate every single subject daily until they are very comfortable writing and can do so when asked without any real hesitation.  Might I suggest writing daily, but in a specific variety of subjects.  I reserved two non-math/non-foreign language subjects to be really covered daily in the early years moving to about four to five subjects by grade 8.

How to narrate is actually the easiest for me share about as it just seemed a natural progression, however I must add that I have one gifted child who was already writing and typing her own full page narrations in Gr.3.  So rather than rewrite them out I will just share my series of three posts about CM style narration.

What Can We Do Once We Read a Book?

CM Series: Part I. Narration for Confident Readers and Writers
CM Series: Part II. - New Writers
CM Series: Part III. - Confident Learners Who Want to Be Creative

I hope my experiences will help you in your CM learning adventures in some small way.

Blessings,
Kalei