Stations of the Cross

 

If anyone knows my boys, they know that every day during Lent, they were doing stations.  They would come up to me and say, "Mommy, stations are starting at 9:40 if you would like to join."  It was my greatest delight then, when I discovered that the religious store at our parish had a discounted price on homemade stations of the cross!  I, of course, rushed in to buy a set for our house and I couldn't wait for the boys to see them when they were completed.  My middle child, Nito, was very excited to hang them with me in our atrium.  I had to get a little creative in where to place all 14 stations, but in the end I think it worked out.  Now, I just need to control my persistent urge to reorganize or otherwise the flow will be off!

 

 

Here is a closer look at the first few stations.

This wall has the first 6 stations.  It looks a little cluttered here, but in person they actually look quite beautiful.  Hey, the real purpose is for the children to meditate on Jesus' passion, so it doesn't really matter that much.  I'm sure if you look closely, they aren't equidistant apart anyway!  I had to let that one go.  I believe the baby was eating a rock that she ripped off the Good Shepherd sheep fold so I was a little rushed to say the least.  Glue from a hot glue gun digests right?! Ha

 

Here are the 8th and 9th stations.  This is an example of how I placed them around existing shelves.

 

These ended up being in sort of an odd place.  I may end up moving that table somewhere else so that the boys can access the stations easier.  T-man struggles to see then since he isn't very tall yet.

Ok this picture didn't come out the greatest with the glare, but the 13th and 14th stations are above the altar.

I hope that everyone had a fruitful Lent and is having a blessed Easter!!

 

 

 

Story of the Bible

OMG!!  A SOTW format regarding the Old and New Testaments of the Bible?!  I really didn't know what to do with myself when I came across these at the last homeschool conference I attended.  I was sold immediately, but I had to put on my poker face so that I could get a good deal for both sets!

We have been using these for about 5 weeks now and I am absolutely thrilled with the product.  (Please note that I am in no way affiliated with TAN books who produces Story of the Bible or Story of Civilization.  I am merely a very excited Catholic mom who has found a great resource.)

See my post on the Story of Civilization for the history curriculum we use. 

 

We got the Old and New Testament sets and this is the video lecture series for the New Testament.

Dramatized audio book

Here is a sample map from the chapter on Abraham. 

 

The children enjoyed coloring this page from the Activity book on Joseph's dream.  The children color while they are listening to the audio book.  This helps the children internalize.  (There is a formal Montessori quote from one of her books on this topic, but I couldn't find it.  So.....I gave up.)

Sample crossword puzzle from the chapter on Joseph. 

The kids had a good time make the craft for Noah's ark.  They colored and cutout the shapes here and in the picture below.

 

My previous post on Story of Civilization has a few more details of the sets.  Be sure to check it out!





The Good Shepherd

My child, Bubs, attends a weekly atrium class at our church.  The idea is for the 3-6 yr. old child to learn about the Catholic faith with a Montessori approach.  To learn more about the atrium, visit the national website here.  I have been teaching a class at our church since my daughter was two years old.  I took this year off to have a baby, but I value the program highly and wanted to incorporate some of the presentations into my home environment.  I started with the materials I could make quickly, like the chasubles, and moved to the ones that required a little more effort.  

So, now I am on the Good Shepherd.  I absolutely love this presentation and what child doesn't like to work with little sheep?!  I delegated out the wood projects to my dad (me + circular saw = missing phalanges).  I think I should stick to the scissors and a glue gun.  I scoured the Internet searching for these 10 wooden sheep and a shepherd.  I came up empty for months until a good friend of mine told me about The Shepherd's Closet.  Sure enough.  They had exactly what I needed and for a reasonable price.  So I ordered them.

The sheep have arrived!!  I was so excited to get started with my new craft project.  I whipped out the newspaper, paint, brushes, had music playing, etc. and got to work.  I had all the bases painted green and two sheep painted white.  Then my husband walks in......He wanted me to show him how the sheep were to sit in the base.  I was like, ok!  Then I went to put my nicely painted sheep into the green base and.......it wouldn't fit!!  None. Of. Them. Fit.  Sigh.  My nice craft project came to an end.  

In the meantime while I was waiting for my new sheep to arrive, I started making my sheepfold. I am not talented enough to make a proper one with dowels, rope, and a gate, so I just went with stones stacked on top of each other.  We'll see if it will hold up.  I just used a hot glue gun to put them together, but on the first try, my husband touched it and they all fell over!  Needless to say, I might be using dowels in the end.  We will see how long this one can survive with a two year old and soon to be crawler in the house!  I figured I already spent hours making it I might as well use it.

 

 

My sad attempt at a sheepfold.

So, I then had to call the company and tell them that the sheep did not fit in the base.  Long story, but they sent me new sheep and guess what?  The new ones fit!! All of them. (I will tell you that I cringed each time I tried a new one just waiting for it to be too big.). So I started the painting process over again and they turned out great.

Now I was attempting to paint my shepherd.  Did I mention that my brother was the one who got the artistic gene?  Anyway....I did my best and my daughter reassured me that it looked like the picture I was copying it from.  I then moved on to making my booklet and finally I was done!  

Now the moment of truth, the first presentation.  It was beautiful for the first, um thirty seconds or so, then Nito decided to throw a tantrum!  Bubs was so sweet and said it was ok to take care of Nito first.  Once Nito was settled,  I lit the candle and said, "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again".  Then I read from the booklet and he thoroughly enjoyed working with the material. 

 

 He continued to work with the material for about 15-20 minutes.  When I came back he had the sheep lined up following the shepherd!