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 Lesson of Advent Stories Part II

If you enjoyed the first part of the Little Lesson of Advent Stories by Shell of Thinking Love, No Twaddle blog, then you won't want to miss the second part of the lesson. 

This additional forty page section continues where the last lesson left off.  The stories include:

Jesus is presented in the Temple.

The purification of Mary and the prophecy of Simeon.

The Magi and the star

Herod

Flight into Egypt and St. Dismas

Immaculate Conception and the Ark of the Covenant

It includes a wonderful and inviting text that allows for much discussion and notes to be written as well.  There are notebooking sheets and the present for Jesus is my favourite little piece!

Thanks Shell for you energy and we pray for you in thanksgiving!

Download Little Lesson of Advent Stories Part II now.

Blessings,
Kalei

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