Teaching your Kids to Read

We started teaching our preschooler how to read about 4 months ago and ever since then it seems like we've been getting lots of questions about how to do it. So for those of you who have been asking... this post is for you. If you haven't been asking, perhaps you can find a preschooler to teach after you see all of the fun and exciting resources that are available.

Everything below is most likely available at your library or for free online.

To start your child needs to learn their letter sounds. For this we used the Leap Frog Series Letter Factory. It worked like a charm and the kids LOVE it. I also LOVE it because it is sans character attitude, which is hard to find these days. 

The show follows Tad as he learns his letter sounds by meeting all of the letters in the factory that are creatively learning how to say their sound. He meets the "M"s who eat all day and say "Mmmmm" and the "O"s that sound like Tarzan as they swing through a jungle yelling "OooooooOoo". 

It's fun and they'll learn. 

I promise. 

After conquering sounds we moved on to our main book, Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. The title does a pretty good job of summing it up. 

Mary Clare is on lesson 93 and she can read, even after 93 easy lessons. 

The book teaches sounds as well, but it was more fun learning them through the movie. It takes about 20 minutes a day of one-on-one time, but we both really enjoy the time and I'll be sad when it's over.

In addition to learning the phonics of reading there are also sight words. These are those pesky words that you just can't sound out. For this we use Preschool Prep Company's Meet the Sight Words Sieres. 

The series is brilliant.

Each DVD introduces 15 different words. To do so they animate each word in a fun way, for example, the word "on" is a pig, like you see above. The only thing you hear the entire time the "on" is on the screen is the word "on" as the pig walks around the farm.

For additional reading supplements we use "Bob Books" These are short stories with simple pictures, but my kids think they are funny. They do a lot of sitting on things and on each other (For instance, Mat sat on Sam). The books build upon each other, so you just have to make your way through the sieres. 

Finally, meet Zac from starfall.com. Mary Clare cries (this is not a joke), if she can't play her "Zac games" at some point throughout the day. She's a little obsessed... we're working on it. Starfall is filled with online games, activities, movies and animated stories that your child can click their way through. 

Again, it's fun and they'll learn.

Again, I promise.

Making Daily Prayer Work as a Mother

For the last FOCUS Wives' Club Newsletter I wrote an article on prayer as a wife and mother. With Lent less than 2 weeks away I thought now would be a good time to post the article as Catholics across the world start considering how they will sanctify their Lenten season.

Perhaps this year is the time for you to commit or recommit to daily mental prayer?

After putting the kids down for their naps, I sat down at my computer to begin writing this article on the importance of daily prayer and how it changes when you become a wife and mother. I was drawing a blank. I had some bullet points in mind, but couldn’t formulate anything together. And then it hit me. I myself hadn’t taken the time to pray that day.

You’ve been there right? Tell me you have. It’s one of those day’s when you sleep in and everything gets started late so you tell yourself “I’ll pray during nap time”. Then you get there and you have fifteen things on the to-do list and you say “Let me just knock a few of these off and then I’ll spend some time with You Lord”. A few things later and the kids are up, “What!” you think “I just put them down... two hours ago”.

Getting our daily mental prayer time in as wives and mothers can be a challenge. It’s just not as simple as it may have been in the past, but that doesn’t mean that we are no longer called to it. So don’t give up! Instead, accept this change in your life and discover ways that you can embrace the new normal.

Step 1: New Vision

Let go of the idea that prayer consists of kneeling quietly before the Blessed Sacrament with complete focus and occasional levitation. More likely it will look like sitting on the couch with a prayer book and journal with occasional interruptions to free the captives (a waking child) or feed the hungry (a nursing infant).

Step 2: Be faithful 

It’s easy to get discouraged and let a few days slip by without praying, especially in times of transition. But, what God wants more than anything from our prayer time is daily fidelity.

Step 3: Put it on the schedule... 

And while you’re at it, put a backup time on the schedule too. Look at your daily routine and see what makes the most sense for you at this time for 10-20-30 minutes of mental prayer. For many of us this will be first thing in the morning or when the kids are sleeping. I know schedules can be difficult with infants, so you may need to be more flexible. Perhaps commit to praying during the first nap your child takes each day, whenever that may be. The key is to put first things first when your free time occurs. If you wait, chances are you will rush your prayer or not get it in at all. I’ve also found that when I spend the beginning of my free time with our Lord, I accomplish more during the rest of it.

Step 4: Set expectations for kids

Teach your older children about your prayer time and set expectations for them during it. If you try to get your prayer time in before the kids wake up chances are they will not always sleep until you are finished. But, if you have trained them to wait until you are done praying to ask for your assistance, interruptions will eventually be less of an issue. For non-napping kids you can still institute a quite time when everyone needs to be in a designated spot reading or playing quietly without interrupting mom.

Step 5: Have a plan for your prayer 

Sometimes when we sit down to pray we give up because we aren’t really sure what to do. While there are many methods of prayer, I suggest a simple version of the Teresian method of prayer, which is modeled after the instructions of St. Teresa of Avila, for those who are trying to get back into the grove of things. To begin, take a few minutes to calm your mind and heart, praying one decade of the rosary can help in this process. Then select a reading from the Bible or a meditation from a book, such as In Conversation with God which follows the daily mass readings. While reading, if something jumps out at you, take a moment to consider why and reflect on the idea until you are ready to move on. Once you have completed the reading, come up with a simple and concrete resolution as a result of what you have learned in your prayer time and write it down in a journal. From there you can continue to journal or offer prayers of petition. Finally, close with a prayer of thanksgiving.

Blessings to you as you decide how the Lord is calling you to deepen your relationship with Him in the upcoming season!

Feast of St. Peter's Chair

Last week Kevin posted this picture of a statue of John Paul II that he saw on his trip to Mexico City, but what he didn't do is tell you what makes it so unique. I think on this the Feast of St. Peter's Chair there is no better time to explain its history.

When JP II came to Mexico City in 2002 to canonize Juan Diego, who Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to, the statue was built in the Pope's honor.

What is amazing about it is that the statue is made out of keys donated by the people of Mexico. The keys were used to symbolize Peter's reception of the keys to the kingdom from Jesus and the authority the Pope has today. In order to display this symbolism, they left many of the keys semi-unmelted in the back of the statue.

Isn't that awesome!

After dinner Kevin read the names of all 265 popes. Paul perked up every time a Pope Paul was mentioned. "Oh, Paul!" Other than that we got blank stares, but it was still interesting to hear the full line of succession.

While they are a bit young to understand papal succession, we had some fun making miters!

I posted instructions for them here because you can make a miter on dozens of Feast days with so many popes and bishops who are saints!

Paper Bishop Miter or "Pope Hat"

With so many feasts that celebrate a bishop or pope, like today's Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, paper miters come in handy for many occasions!

There's not much to them so get ready to be amazed.

To start you need:

• Roll of paper
• Tape
• Scissors

Step 1: Cut a piece of paper that is about 20 x 24 inches.

Step 2: Fold it in half hamburger style from the top to the bottom, so the crease is at the top of the paper.

Step 3: Fold the top right and left corners in to meet in the middle and for a triangle. There will be a little strip left on the bottom, this is good.

Step 4: Fold the top piece of the bottom strip up.

Step 5: Flip the hat over and do the same with the other strip. 

Step 6: Fold the bottom right and left points in to form the hat. You can adjust the hat size by folding them in more or less.

Here is how it will look when you flip it back over.

Step 7: Add some strips to the back inside of the hat.

Step 8: Find a toddler to model your hat. 

 Step 9: Find a preschooler to decorate the hat to his/her hearts content.

Meet the Future Uncle Tom

This is Tom...

One day he will be Uncle Tom because he is engaged to super-fun Aunt Kelly, Kevin's sister. This weekend he and Kelly came into town to for an engagement party. They kind of like each other.

Tom likes water. He swims a lot and has a sailboat.

He likes to be outdoors.

(Which is a very good thing because Kelly REALLY likes being outdoors)

His an architect... but I don't have a picture of that. Nor could I spell architect without the help of spell check.

He is willing to wear the pilgrim and indian hats I make for Thanksgiving, so he is welcome in the family.

We went hiking with Tom and Kelly in honor of President's Day. I think those two things are related.

We live in a really beautiful part of the country.

This morning a fog came through and left the most beautiful mist of ice on everything. It was like a delicate lace had been strung about.

The kids were pretty jazzed about climbing the mountain.

At least if Paul fell he had a big pillow of a hat on his forehead.

Yep, we're pretty excited about adding Tom to the family.

Partly because the kids have some one new to go indoor camping with.

Archived Catholic Comics On-line

Every so often in my continual search for fun ways to integrate the faith into our home I run across something that gets me really excited. So what did I find? Well, since Tuesday is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, I'll let my example be...

Catholic comics.

Admit it, that's awesome. It is one of hundreds of archives of the Catholic magazine from the 40's-70's titled Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. Thanks to the people at the Catholic University of America most issues from the 40's-60's have been uploaded and you can search through them on-line. The rest are still under copyright, but maybe one day they'll be added.

Not only can you find Feast Day comics, but you can also find an array of other items from crafts to history lessons to tips on sports. 

Maybe you don't think this is exciting. That's okay. I still wanted to share it. So I did.

Kevin goes to Mexico City

Every year, FOCUS takes hundreds of students on mission trips domestically and internationally. This year our director of missions took all of our mission trip leaders to Mexico City for training.

I (Kevin) came along to help capture the curriculum provided and brainstorm how we can make it better--both in training the mission leaders and the curriculum we give to students while they are on mission.

Here are five highlights from the trip:

1. Being with Our Staff on Mission/Pilgrimage
The trip provided a real life experience of what it is like to be on a trip in a foreign country. This experience provided instant teaching moments for the leaders. Personally, I got to witness first hand the power of what a mission trip can do in someone’s life.

Also, I really enjoyed being with our staff. We have some incredible missionaries who work for FOCUS. They all have a great combination of faith, professionalism, leadership, and knowing how to have a good time. The perfect combination for reaching college students. For more on FOCUS missions, click here.

2. A Visit to Our Lady of Guadalupe
It is hard to describe the chaos that is the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. People everywhere. Pushing your way through the crowds to get into Church. Mass going on all the time. Bands playing outside. Viewing of the tilma during Mass. Plus, you view the tilma as you are pushed along by one of the four moving sidewalks. The Shrine is a completely other experience to an American. It is the epitome of Mexico in all of its glory and weaknesses. At the same time, it is a remarkable place. Pretty awesome to see such awesome miracle that converted 6 million people! For more on the tilma, click here.

3. A Mass with Norberto Cardinal Rivera Carrera at the Mexico City Cathedral
I didn’t understand much of the Mass, but the Cardinal did greet people after Mass and I was able to shake his hand. This man will vote for the next Pope and he could even be a candidate for the papacy as well!

 

Inside the Cathedral

 

Outside the Cathedral (building began in 1531)

4. Mariachi band
One night we traveled over to a specific square in Mexico City dedicated solely to Mariachi bands. There are literally dozens of bands in the square with lots of vendors selling food and clothing. In order to get them to play, your group pays one of the bands money and then they play songs that you request. We were able to get one of the best bands and have them play two songs. It was an incredible experience. There was even drive-thru mariachi bands. You can drive you car up through the drive-thru and have the bands play you a song while you sit in your car.

5. Boat Ride
We went on a boat ride along some canals on the outskirts of Mexico City. All of the boats were gondola style with no motors. The best part was that with the mariachi square experience was pretty much repeated on water. Mariachi bands on boats. Vendors making food from boats. Vendors selling blankets, toys, etc. from boats. It made for a great relaxing Sunday.

St. Valentine's Day

Happy St. Valentine's Day! I made my first ever cheesecake today!

It looks yummy, but we'll see how it tastes in about an hour when Kevin returns home from Mexico City! I'm sure he'll post about it sometime this week, but for now I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a sparkly Our Lady of Guadalupe statue from my Valentine.

Today consisted of a lot of hearts.

There were pancakes...

decorations...

(Looks like I need to change a lightbulb. Funny, I had forgotten about that until I saw this picture.)

and heart cookies to go with our pocket full of love cards for our friends, who we spent the afternoon delivering these bundles too.

We added a cross to each plate because Jesus is the ultimate Valentine!

Check out my little chef working hard!

We also read this biography of St. Valentine, which I picked up at the library, hooray! Although little can be known of this man who was a priest and martyr, it gives some of the legendary background of where the traditions of today's celebration come from.

I hope your day was a sweet as ours!