We celebrate the feast of the Epiphany.
We follow in the footsteps of the Magi, who travelled to pay homage to the Baby Jesus; who brought Him gifts ; who were changed and converted after their encounter with the Infant Jesus in the manger. To (poorly and succinctly) paraphrase Fr's homily from last night ~ we Christians, on this day of the Epiphany, remember to pay homage to Our Lord, truly present on the altar in Holy Mass; to bring gifts, the gift of ourselves, our life, our love, our wills; to have a conversion experience on encountering Our Lord in the Eucharist.
Our family are sharing our usual gold coins and I am asking dh to pray with us the yearly Epiphany Blessing.
There is comfort in these sinple routines, continued year after year, in our homeschooling family.
From Simplicity Parenting, a book a friend shared with me over coffee, yesterday.
(Quite Simply) Rhythm builds islands of consistency and security throughout the day.
Meaning hides in repetition: We do this every day or every week because it matters. We are connected by the things we do together. We matter to one another. In the tapestry of childhood, what stands out is not the splashy, blow-out trip to Disneyland but the common threads that run throughout and repeat: the family dinners, nature walks, reading together at bedtime (with a hot water bottle at our feet on winter evenings), Saturday morning pancakes.
Now, I am no Becky Home-Echy, Lois and Pam! We don't do the whole pancake or even breakfast thing and we love family dinners around a DVD, precariously balancing plates on our laps and laughing and talking and arguing together over the show. But the common thread of spending a lot of time together, of attending Masses together, of celebrating the liturgical year together with activities and reading and food, of gold coins and blessings..these rhythms have formed our family during the course of the time.
For better or for worse.
Which is why I am an unschooler.
Radical Unschooling is the trust that a child will seek out and learn what he needs to know, when he needs to know it, without coercion, without school or school type methods, in the freedom and safety of his family. Our role as parents is to facilitate and make available our time, space, money, and lives to helping them explore the world.
Radical Christian Unschooling is the Trust that not only will a child seek out and learn what he needs to know when he needs to know it, without coercion, without school or school type methods, in the freedom and safety of his family, but that God will direct the child's path Himself. Our role as parents is to act as guides and mentors in the learning process, and to disciple our children in our Faith through our daily example of walking out our Faith before their eyes.
Our Unschooling Catholics blog.
We follow in the footsteps of the Magi, who travelled to pay homage to the Baby Jesus; who brought Him gifts ; who were changed and converted after their encounter with the Infant Jesus in the manger. To (poorly and succinctly) paraphrase Fr's homily from last night ~ we Christians, on this day of the Epiphany, remember to pay homage to Our Lord, truly present on the altar in Holy Mass; to bring gifts, the gift of ourselves, our life, our love, our wills; to have a conversion experience on encountering Our Lord in the Eucharist.
Our family are sharing our usual gold coins and I am asking dh to pray with us the yearly Epiphany Blessing.
There is comfort in these sinple routines, continued year after year, in our homeschooling family.
From Simplicity Parenting, a book a friend shared with me over coffee, yesterday.
(Quite Simply) Rhythm builds islands of consistency and security throughout the day.
Meaning hides in repetition: We do this every day or every week because it matters. We are connected by the things we do together. We matter to one another. In the tapestry of childhood, what stands out is not the splashy, blow-out trip to Disneyland but the common threads that run throughout and repeat: the family dinners, nature walks, reading together at bedtime (with a hot water bottle at our feet on winter evenings), Saturday morning pancakes.
Now, I am no Becky Home-Echy, Lois and Pam! We don't do the whole pancake or even breakfast thing and we love family dinners around a DVD, precariously balancing plates on our laps and laughing and talking and arguing together over the show. But the common thread of spending a lot of time together, of attending Masses together, of celebrating the liturgical year together with activities and reading and food, of gold coins and blessings..these rhythms have formed our family during the course of the time.
For better or for worse.
Which is why I am an unschooler.
Radical Unschooling is the trust that a child will seek out and learn what he needs to know, when he needs to know it, without coercion, without school or school type methods, in the freedom and safety of his family. Our role as parents is to facilitate and make available our time, space, money, and lives to helping them explore the world.
Radical Christian Unschooling is the Trust that not only will a child seek out and learn what he needs to know when he needs to know it, without coercion, without school or school type methods, in the freedom and safety of his family, but that God will direct the child's path Himself. Our role as parents is to act as guides and mentors in the learning process, and to disciple our children in our Faith through our daily example of walking out our Faith before their eyes.
Our Unschooling Catholics blog.
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