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This is an amazing little book. It is full of dates and names and events, but it is not boring. It contains all the names of heresies and saints and major events in Catholic history placing them in time. This book will not hurt your head to go through as it is basically very broad strokes, but it is so nice to finally be able to place things in history using one source.

The Conference page has been updated with upcoming 2011 Catholic Homeschool Conferences. The conference organizers are busy bringing vendors and speakers together and need your support. Please consider purchasing tickets early. You will find that conferences are a great place to be encouraged, to find new resources, to be inspired, and to find better ways to homeschool.

Resource Review

Do you have a resource that you'd like to have reviewed? Send me an email using the Contact Us form. I'd love to hear what's new in the Catholic homeschooling world.

What a treasure of a book! Study is Hard Work is written by William Armstrong. It is a very small paperback book back to the brim with wisdom. I have been reading this aloud to my older kids each morning.

It is a fantastic book that puts the need to learn squarely on the shoulders of the student. The first chapter talks about listening - learning to listen is learning to follow the leader. The student who listens is the student who learns, because listening, above everything else, makes the task of acquiring knowledge easier. But poor listening is worse than none.

In the next chapter, he states, "if you cannot find in your heart and soul the desire to learn, then you need not expect help from without." He uses Abraham Lincoln as an example of what can be done with very little - few teachers, only a couple of books, learning time is restricted to what he can do in between chores - but he had desire to excel and the willpower to do it.

He explains that education's goals are perception, thought and communication. There are 3 skills in education - the skill of finding what you want, the skill of fixing in your mind, and the skill of organizing it for use. And, there are three tools of education - time, books, and teachers - and time is the most precious and limited resource (i.e. you can have all the books and resources in the world at your fingers, but you can't get more time in a day). He says "books are the memory of mankind".

Most of the first two chapters is just affirming the fact that the student is ultimately responsible for his education. I know homeschooling families are stretched for time. And, we often suffer from guilt over the fact that we cannot provide better resources or more time or more outside classes for our students. But this book affirms the fact that students can learn in even poor conditions. And then he discusses how to do this. Word of warning ... in the end there are no tricks or shortcuts. Ultimately it is about learning to discipline yourself to listen carefully, develop and follow a schedule and then some specific how - to's.

Written by Elizabeth Ficocelli and illustrated by Shannon Wirrenga, this is a small paper back book of about 14 pages with simple illustrations.

It begins:

Did you ever wonder where priests come from?
Do they grow on a farm? No. Are they made in a factory? No. Priests come from God's people. They once were young boys, just like you.

The book discusses how priests come from boys just like the ones reading the book. They play baseball and climb trees. Some know earlier and some do not know that God is calling them until they are an adult. It then goes on to describe the process of becoming a priest from talking to their pastor to the vocation director. She describes what a seminary is and briefly what the 4 years of study include. Also described is the fact that there are different kinds of priests from those who work with the diocese to Franciscans to missionaries. She then talks about the vows he takes including the promise of celibacy. But she does not explain celibacy other than to point out the fact that a priest does not marry and start a new family. At the end of the book is a page of vocabulary.

It is a sweet book that simply explains to boys what it entails and means to become a priest. The material is presented very faithfully.

You may visit her website: http://www.elizabethficocelli.com/

I think this is a lovely book to give a second, third or fourth grade to help encourage listening to what God is calling our young men to do with their lives.

I am sure the rest of her books are equally good including "Where Do Sisters Come From?" Be sure to check out her other titles at http://www.elizabethficocelli.com/books_young_people.html.

I received this book from the author to review.

My new favorite Latin program ... "Cambridge Latin". We are using Henle Latin syllabi from Mother of Divine Grace, but I have slowed the pace down, and added in Cambridge Latin Book 2 (this one I couldn't find from any Catholic homeschool providers, so I had to use Amazon - be careful when purchasing the TM that you get the spiral bound edition that contains all the translations and the answers to the workbooks). We used Book 1 last year and had a very successful year, but decided to follow a more conventional path this year. But, my students really missed the story line. I watched them really blossom in their ability to read Latin.

Another success - First Form Latin and Second Form Latin. I like the format much better than Latina Christiana. More grammar, declension patterns and conjugation patterns are introduced. The approach is more systematic and has more drill built into the workbook. I found the books (both levels) available from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts.

Making Music Praying Twice - complete review

I wrote a quick initial review this summer, but I finally found some time this week to implement the program with my family, and I was so pleased with the resource!