Happy Easter!

Blessings to all in this Octave of Eater, and throughout all 50 days of celebration! Last year I posted this picture of our baptism materials:

During Easter we first present the Risen Christ to our children with the image of LIGHT, and secondly we present the symbol of WATER as the beginning of our life with Him. Some parishes recycle their large Easter candles, but I've learned that many don't; they are simply put into storage. What a beautiful way to make use of these blessed candles, by taking them out of storage and putting them into our homes to teach our children about them! I know the priest I received ours from was a bit taken aback by my request, but I fully explained to him what we were going to use it for, and even sent him a copy of Moira's presentation and a copy of the photo above.

I've also been meaning to ask which books we have among us about the Catechesis. We could pass around the ones we aren't currently reading.

The main one to read is The Good Shepherd and the Child.

I also have: Listening to God with Children.

Living Liturgy.

A is for Altar.

3-part-card holders

A Montessori standard that I love using are 3-part cards. (You can see an example of a presentation here.) They are a great way for learning new words - both increasing vocabulary and learning how to read & spell the words. Younger children use them simply for matching, and then matching labels. Older children match a label to a photo, and use the control cards to check their own work.

Anyway, my pregnancy nausea has finally subsided (Praise God!) so I have more energy and motivation to do things now. However, the nausea was replaced by a lot of lower back pain, so I am choosing tasks which involve time on my derriere, like blogging and sewing! Yes, after a nearly 2-year absence, I got out my sewing machine and completed many tasks that have been gathering dust on my to-do list. One of those tasks was to make some holders for 3-part cards. I made several using a stiff plastic sheet to make them see-through; they were easy and I was very pleased with how they turned out. Let me know if anyone wants one, or wants the instructions. Some examples:

Mainly I wanted these holders to go in the continent boxes that I have been putting together. (I have been planning these for a very long time!) The first one is completed - now I'm putting finishing touches on 7 more, one for each continent. When they are ready, I'll do a geography post about them.

Another Cenacle

(sara): As a follow-up to the Seder Meal, we got out the Cenacle presentation from last year, brushed off the dust, and touched up the paint. I haven't made darling figures as some of you other moms have done - our 12 Apostles are wooden spools with wooden spheres glued on top! (I borrowed your idea for writing the name of each Apostle on the bottom. I didn't add the symbols, but might use those for another activity. I did include Judas, for historical purposes, rather than Mathias.) Jesus is a Sacred Heart statue Father Andrew gave me. I do like the cardboard building, however, because it clearly shows the Cenacle having an "upper room", and if you turn it around, there's a convenient place for storage on the first floor! Our "table" turned upside down is a storage container, and the Holy Grail and unleavened bread were cut out of a religious-goods catalog. Finally, I printed out the main Scripture phrase, as I do with each presentation, for the sake of my son who knows how to read.

Seder Meal

Matzoh

(sara): We've already had our Seder Meal. Hubby is having a second eye surgery on Holy Thursday, so we had our meal early this year. We were joined by our 5yo. For the second year in a row, we used this script. The dinner seemed much "easier" to prepare this year, since I sort-of knew what I was doing!

Above is last year's meal, ready to begin. This year I added a beautiful table cloth and 2 tapers in crystal candle holders. The boys oohed and ahhed over the table!

And here is the matzoh (unleavened bread) wrapped in cloth.

Imagine your family sitting down to dinner one night, and being served only crackers and wine. We teach our children about the Eucharist being a "meal", but without an image of the Passover Meal in their heads, I think their comprehension is impoverished. (Speaking from experience! I didn't know anything about the Passover until high school, and not in much depth until I took an OT class from Steubenville.) Yet this weekend, my sleepy son watched with great interest as 3 times during the meal, his father took a piece of unleavened bread, broke it, and distributed a piece to each of us. That's an image that I hope to give him each year during our Seder meal. The first piece was eaten with bitter herb and haroseth. The second piece with the meal of lamb. And the third, with only the Cup of Blessing (the 3rd cup of red wine.) I know that a Seder meal is not a common tradition in many families, but it will be in ours!

"rainbow letters"

(sara): combining ideas from Lynnette & Montessori teacher Karen Tayler, we've been happily doing what we call "rainbow letters" in the classroom. Set-ups are always left-to-right, as in reading. On the left is a basket of 6 Ferby pencils, in the center is a binder with one large bubble letter or number on each page, on the right is a guide for the rainbow colors. The child practices staying inside the lines 6 times in a row - that's the beauty of it. Before beginning a new letter, he traces the sandpaper letter the way I demonstrate, with his first 2 fingers. Thanks for the inspiration, Lynnette!

wheat

(sara): I just searched for "wheat" and "wheat field" on Google images and found this darling picture!



Also a diagram of wheat growth here and a coloring page here. My seedlings are 1-2 inches tall now, and I'm going to present this Gospel passage today.

Stations of the Cross Mobile

My four-year old and I made this mobile for the Stations of the Cross. She has been able to name all 14 stations by looking at the symbol or picture and can narrate what happened during each station. It has just been a really good visual cue. I did most of the prep work of cutting, copying, gluing, etc and she punched all the holes in the symbols and helped me string them on the hanger.
Shannon