February. A short month with a week break (hurray!) in the middle. But looky, looky, I'm writing another homeschool recap post.

Morning Basket

Singing "O Canada". Learning Attende Domine for Lent. Memorizing "The Wind" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Reading fairy tales. Reading winter and snow picture books. Counting down the days until Easter with Lent calendars. Reading stories from the New Testament.

Language Arts
The Sword in the Tree is probably my favourite chapter book we've done as a read-aloud all year. It was new to me and so exciting we finished it in less than a week, instead of the three weeks it should have taken. Joseph finished reading This is Our Parish from the Faith and Freedom readers (and so much more I can't always keep track). The boys listened to the entire Ramona Quimby audio book collection (18 hours!) during quiet time. They listened to Henry Huggins (15 hours!) in January and just can't get enough of these stories.

   

Math

Lots of work with telling time and counting money. Practicing addition and subtraction to 10. Learning double digit addition. 

Despite my best intentions of not pushing kids to start school too early, John Paul will not be deterred. He wants to do school and not just playdough and blocks. He is matching numbers with objects. But that was not enough. He started teaching himself to write numbers 1-10 so I am beginning with a bit of one-on-one for him.

Social Studies

We are learning about Canada this year (and probably most years). These are some books we ordered into our library with stories from all across Canada.

Across Canada Bundle

We recently had this puzzle given to us and it's been a great favourite. We coloured a Saskatchewan flag, a Saskatchewan map and learned about the different lakes and rivers, trees, animals, and natural resources.

Science

Covering food groups and Canadian food guide. The boys also played a bunch of online games sorting food. I'm also trying to get the kids more involved in food prep. They love peeling and cutting vegetables and measuring ingredients for baking. Joseph and John Paul designed out meal for tonight and did most of the cutting and prep... then I forgot to take pictures. But it was delicious chicken wraps with something from each food group, of course.

Science with friends is fun. We made structures (again) and tried to see how high we could build them.

Mama School

I love learning. I'm on a read-aloud kick and getting my hands on some well-known books on reading aloud to kids. I am more and more convinced that this is the single most important thing a parent or teacher can do for kids. I'm sure I'll add to this opinion again soon.

Catholic Culture Reno: Salve Regina

The Salve Regina. The great 12th century Marian prayer sung by the Church each night at Compline. Of course it is often sung following the rosary (Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy...), and I've heard it sung many times at the Traditional Latin Mass. At the Mass it floods my heart and soul each time with deep devotion. I never was in a seminary, but I can just picture how this hymn would be sung so beautifully by devout young males before they head off to bed in silence. There is a beautiful tradition where at a priest's funeral all present priests and bishops gather around the coffin and sing the Salve Regina one last time for their brother priest. It is truly touching.

I never knew the traditionally sung Salve Regina growing up. Latin was still too uncool for school back in the late 80s and early 90s. It wasn't until I went to Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy that I first took notice of the Salve Regina. Following our rosaries often my fellow classmates (and the profs) would sing it. At first I was a little perplexed. Maybe even I thought: "Wow, don't you guys think you're so special." But it did seem rather sincere on their part. And wouldn't it be nice to join them?


It was on one of my Christmas breaks when I was at home, and we were about to set out on a six hour drive to visit my grandparents, that my mom and some of my siblings decided to take the plunge. We were going to learn it on that trip. That was that. And you know what? We did! All it took was actual effort. So many times in life we simply don't put in the effort. I'm glad we did on this particular day. Ever since then I've very much enjoyed singing it.

Back in the Fall Becca and I started singing it following our family rosary. The first time we sang it our children smiled sweetly and cuddled in with us while we sang. They loved it instantly. We've been singing it ever since. Within a few days Joseph and John Paul were singing parts of it. Within a month they were singing all of it. We still sing it, though at times, as with our entire family rosary, the boys are distracted as Emilie tries to steal the spotlight as only a one year old can during prayers.

My point, Catholic Culture Renovation and all, is that you NEED to learn this Marian hymn with your family and sing it frequently. The Salve Regina is a great treasure offered to us by the Church. It is a source of deep comfort and intercession. It is noble and childlike. It captivates and frees the soul. Why are you Catholic? Yes yes the Sacraments of course. But what does it mean to be Catholic? For one, to be completely and utterly different than the secular world. The world says: "Do what you want." We Catholics say, in chanted Latin no less, "O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary." I consider the Salve Regina and think to myself: "This is why we're Catholic." To be holy. Set apart. And like little children. And so I urge those with families to pray this with their children.

The saints tell us to meditate daily on our death. St. Alphonsus Ligouri in particular gives stark images of how we could not even be buried in the ground yet and our family members will already be fighting over our estate. I will spare you the descriptions given by saints on how stench and worms start infiltrating our flesh. Such is the end of life. But when I die I do have one last request. That the Salve Regina be sung for me one last time. Not in sadness. But as it is meant to be, with childlike abandon to Jesus through His Holy Mother. For this is why we are Catholic.

For a different take, here's Pope Benedict XVI with his priests at a prayer vigil back in 2010. How he used to pack in the crowds! Dear Pope Benedict, how I fear your time is soon approaching. The Church has not been the same without you. It's been five years exactly. Dear Mary, "Show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus."

Notes from our Home School

It's now over halfway through the school year and all my well-meaning intentions of posting on our homeschool back in the fall came to nothing. So, I'll try, for my sake at least, to do a little recap here.

All in all, I love homeschooling! I have never really had any big regrets about dropping out of the education program I'd begun, back in 2009. Homeschooling is (or can be) everything I wish public education could be. More child-centred. More relaxed. Moving at the child's pace. One-on-one. Classical liberal arts. I could go on and on. There are truly awesome teachers out there (I happen to know some!), but oftentimes the system seems to tie their hands and they can only do so much in the way of really forming the little minds entrusted to their care in the things that matter most. Homeschooling, for us, is a great alternative.

Morning Basket

I did a little "homeschool style" quiz recently - this is a thing, homeschool styles (funny, I know!). But I came out with Charlotte Mason style which, from what I know of Charlotte Mason, makes sense. Morning Basket is a Charlotte Mason thing. Every day we begin or make a priority in our morning the stuff we keep in our "basket". For us, it looks like morning prayers, Bible reading/Catechism or saint of the day, poetry memorization, whatever song or hymn we are learning, and read aloud picture books and/or our chapter book. It's all the little things that with short amounts of time add up to a wonderful collection of beautiful language, song, and culture. 

We have read a ton of books. Everything from historical fiction, stories from cultures from around the world, fairy tales, Winnie the Pooh, stories from different parts of Canada... everything. But there is so much more we want to read. The boys have memorized a bunch of poems. 

Reading, Writing, and Math

If we get nothing else done in the day, we always to the 3R's. Joseph loves, loves, loves reading. And it makes my heart so glad. He has just soared this year and is racing through grade 2 readers now easily. The best part - he reads for fun!

We have been experimenting recently with dictation for writing (because Joseph finished his writing book for the year! It was short... he's not completely a keener.). It has been a lot of fun to pick passages from our favourite chapter book read-alouds and work through the spelling and punctuation together. Mostly fun. And definitely challenging in a really good way.

And math. We made up a great little math box with all kinds of money, stuff to count, and manipulatives. We try to keep it as hands on and fun as it is book work. Making a "store" in the living room to buy stuff and count money, building houses to count the hundreds, tens, ones families. John Paul will not be left out and has been begging to learn numbers. He is now trying his very best to write 0-10 and counting/sorting the same numbers.

Art & Science

We love spending time outdoors. "Let's study this for science!" or "Could we do an experiment with this?" were regularly heard all through the fall. We made a couple trips to our local wildlife conservation and made regular walks around town collecting, examining, drawing, experimenting, etc with natural stuff.

Later in the year, we toured our local bee outfitters and bought stuff to make beeswax candles. 

Everyday our recycle bin has pages and pages of (already recycled) paper that's been reused by the kids for drawing and scribbling and cutting. Our office/schoolroom floor is always littered with the scraps that they have cut or torn. But sometimes, we do real art. For school. Dan introduced us to Art Hub for Kids and we have watched and done a bunch of art projects from it. Our favourites to use are oil pastels and watercolours.

I guess we could also put "shop class" down in the books. The boys love to build with Daddy and use their new Christmas tools. We already have a few of their projects in real use around the house and they have big plans for summer.



There you have it. A completely disjointed and long-winded, very imcomplete picture of some of what we've been up to. I've plans to make this a monthly recap and hopefully I can do just that. I'm already keeping track for our year end reporting to the school board, so why not here too?

CCR (Catholic Culture Renovation): The Workout

Catholic Culture Renovations. At the risk of being sued: CCR. We are indeed fortunate sons to be Catholic.

Today's topic is a little off-topic. The process is messy, but the final thesis ultimately argues my soon to be trademarked interpretation of Theology of the Body *kiss bicep*. Catholic culture renovations require either saints or health. Rarely do we see a healthy saint, right? St. John Bosco was surely the last! No, to work in the Lord's vineyard we need a certain degree of health, and not bed-ridden families offering up heroic suffering all the while being entirely unable to pick apples off a tree and make a pie for a neighbour, or sing the Salve Regina with even a minimal degree of forceful recognition. Renovating Catholic culture requires strength. Holiness requires Catholicity. Therefore Catholics require strength before they can be saints... What? I lost myself somewhere around my last bicep kiss. Let's just jump into this.

Image taken from Amazon website

It would be entirely irresponsible to speak of a reno of Catholic culture without bringing in Anthony Esolen's excellent Out of Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture into the conversation frequently. However, I will strategically use his book to argue against my main point.

Esolen, I believe somewhat tongue-in-cheek, pokes fun at the very core of my Theology of the Body *kiss.... you get the point*... He attacks THE WORKOUT! Bah! Impossible! *jumps out of chair and does tricep dips* Let him explain:

"When the bicycle was invented, people used it to go places, even if it was to go someplace for the sheer pleasure of it. The idea of pedaling a bicycle that was riveted to the floor - that went nowhere -  would have struck people as slightly mad, or sinister. People had not turned what should be play into a form of work, and work that actually accomplishes nothing: it is work for work's sake, the 'workout'" (Out of the Ashes, 158).

He is not critical of exercise. Actually the very opposite is true. Yet he attacks work for the sake of work. It is as if he is saying: "For crying out loud, at least have some fun! Play man! How Puritan!" Why run on a treadmill when you can run on a trail? Why skate hockey drills when you can have the same effect playing a game? I do a wood chop exercise with my dumbbells (oh what a name...). Why not just, oh you know, go chop some wood? Same workout. One produces physical and mental/material results. The other wears out one's body, for the sole purpose of wearing out one's body.

To be fair, I don't think Esolen lives in Saskatchewan. You go jog into a 50 below wind and then tell me about virtues of play and being one with nature. I will stick to my basement workout regime for a good six months of the year. No, we cannot always play in order to gain physical fitness. Sometimes it is hard work. Yet Esolen is correct in suggesting that, wherever possible, we at least try to make it productive and fun.

And why, by and large, are opportunities for "play" unavailable? He explains:

"You do not feel comfortable sending your child outdoors to play. Of course you don't. You have no neighborhood, only a geographical area. You have no local school. You do not know any of the mothers nearby. Old people live far away. Everyone is indoors or in a sports corral somewhere. Small businesses are gone. Responsible people are never to be seen, because they are at work, both mother and father. They live too wealthy a life to afford more than a couple of children, so that you never have a sufficient number of children just roaming about to get going a game of anything much. The older people do not play cards with one another. No one visits anyone. Hospitality - your home's openness to anyone who might show up at the door, any day, any hour - is a thing of the past" (165).

Yes, somehow Catholic Culture Renovations unavoidably come down to having children. Giving them space to play. And playing yourself also. But alas my off-topic topic needs to be honed in. I speak of the actual physicality of the body being a great interpreter of the soul. Let me explain.

Body and Soul Working Out

There is a strong position of the Catholic saints that we must always remember that we are great sinners. To minimize our sinfulness is to minimize the workings of Our Lord. Once you think you're humble... you're not. Yet what if there was a way in which, on an introductory level, we could at least with some surety set our souls on the straight and narrow path? I speak of the body as a type of metaphor of the soul. Yet really and truly connected. Indeed,I work out every single day. I pray every single day. Would this not make me both fit and holy? Not even close.

Working out each and every day can present challenges. The body likes routine for growth, but not too much routine. For instance, I can work out my biceps using the same exercise. This will ultimately produce few results. But if I change even how I position my wrists for bicep curls, suddenly new muscles are hit, and better results can be achieved. Or suppose I work out every morning in a state of sheer exhaustion (which I do). Over time the workouts suffer. The results are snagged. Truth be told, one can even grow weaker if this is allowed to continue. The time and effort is, in short, wasted. The motivation is gone. Wake up! You're doing it all wrong!

Apply this to the soul. I pray every morning (and at other times of the day). I am dead tired when I do so. I can pray the same prayers, such as the rosary, but they can be stale if I am not careful. Do I put myself inside the mysteries of the rosary? Do I focus in on a different aspect of the psalms during lauds? Do I switch up my spiritual reading? There are so many spiritual masters. Am I aware of how easily the soul can be numbed?

Now let's combine the two. When I am physically sinking into a lax stage, I can feel the tug of extra dead weight on my body. Clearly I am not eating right, not sleeping enough, and not exercising properly. The slightest slip up in any of these three categories brings noticeable - and unwanted - results.

Hmm. Not eating right? Why? Connect this to the spiritual life... Am I not controlling urges for snacks? Am I taking too much food at supper? St. Jose Maria Escriva, I seem to recall, would say that to not leave the table with at least a small mortification is to have eaten like a pagan.

Hmm. Not exercising right? Am I wasting time in the workout room? Am I lacking focus. Being healthy is such a blessing. The opportunity to exercise is just that, an opportunity. Am I taking it for granted? Am I, as Esolen would suggest, at least trying to find ways to enjoy it? To want it?

When workouts, sleep, and nutrition suffer, of our own accord, I believe they can also signify a suffering of the soul (not always... but they can). Laziness, lack of focus, or weakness to mortify are not limited to just the body or just the soul. They belong to each other. Theology of the Body *flex* is just that... we can find God in a way through our bodies. Our bodies can reveal much about our souls. Not to say all fit people are holy. God knows 3 hours in a gym while ignoring your wife and kids is a great spiritual ailment, just as serving your family protein shakes for supper is, or not fixing the family van in order to spend more money on the latest Olympic weight set. But I still hold truth to what I say: while you may never know how close you are to God (holiness), your bodily workouts and well-being can give you important insights into whether or not your soul is ailing. Is it true in reverse as well? That's not for now to discuss.

Ultimately a Catholic Culture Renovation does require us to use our bodies properly, and yes Esolen, productively. To be healthy while we have a God-given opportunity to health. To use our body to help our soul. And yes, for heaven's sake, to try and enjoy the pursuit of health, with mortifications and all. For we are supposed to enjoy, i.e. have joy in, the pursuit of holiness, sufferings and all. The end must always be in mind: heaven. Not heaven on earth. Catholic culture is not about that. It's about leading us to heaven when we leave this earth.

I'll work out for that.

UPDATE:

Well I took my own advice, or Esolen's, and went out to our golf course ski trails. The air was just warm enough. An owl flew right in front of me in too. It was a great workout. And good for the soul too.

Though I doubt selfies are good for the soul. 

Catholic Culture Renovation

I bring you the latest installment on the Millette Family Blog. I intend to post frequently (weekly...?) on our Catholic culture and how we can, or should, be restoring it. Given that I have undertaken many renovations on our house, I can't help but consider how a similar process can be taken spiritually in our homes. Well thought-out ideas based on the treasury of Church wisdom and traditions can guide us. By renovate I refer more to restoring, or bringing back to life, areas which have been violated by flighty modernist styles and trends. When Becca and I consider home renovations, we love timelessness. Be it white subway tile backsplashes, natural products like stone and wood, and most of all and overall beauty matched with functionality and thoughtfulness. Thus should our spiritual Catholic homes be renovated. Postings will be be varied and touch on many aspects of life, just like Catholic culture should leave no stone untouched.

I begin with Attende Domine. I would like to think everyone reading this is very familiar with this hymn. Sadly, I was not. Not until recently. We are now learning it at home. And singing it as if we have many years of lost time to make up for! It is a 10th century hymn which simply means: Hear us O Lord, for we have sinned against Thee. Clearly I prefer the Latin: Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi. Often it is sung at Vespers during Lent.

What a holy, peaceful, yet soul-provoking hymn! Where have you been my whole life?

The Exercise of Lent

Sometimes I throw my tried and true Catholic beliefs aside, put on my Make Heresy Great Again red hat, and try to be a liberal. Like a good liberal, I have the ability to interpret the teachings of popes in the manner which suits me best. Of particular interest to me is St. Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. The body. Let me say that again with greater emphasis... The BODY! *flex, kiss bicep, run to a mirror* You get my drift? The connection between the Theology of the Body and lent is undeniable. Let me flesh this out for you. Let's work out this idea, if you will. We'll gain insight. Flex our ideas. Lunge ahead. Just weight and see.

The Exercise of Lent

First, when working out you should have a proper warm up. The warm up should be a suitable length, and get the muscles primed for the task at hand. Well the Church used to provide a pre-lenten warmup. Septuagesima Sunday brought a pre-lenten transition complete with the removal of the Gloria and Alleluia, and the introduction of the colour violet. This is the equivalent to breaking out a light sweat and having a good dynamic stretch before hitting the weights. Vatican II, of course, removed the warm up for workouts. No more Septuagesima for the non-traddies. Vatican II is clearly against muscle lengthening via muscle spindle activation. So we now begin our lenten exercise by jumping right into the work out. No warm up. Just Ash Wednesday. Show up, hit the bench press and go to it.

Ash Wednesday

Ahh Ash Wednesday. The old familiar feel of hunger. The hunger can also represent our hunger for muscle gains. Once that hunger is lost, as with Rocky in Rocky III, there is no hope. The hunger is good.

Now following this recent Ash Wednesday I noted on Facebook a trend of Ash Selfies. Maybe I should hashtag that, or ashtag it #ashselfie. Complete rookies. Posting a picture of yourself with ashes on your forehead is the equivalent to those people who post pretentious pictures of themselves at the gym. You know the kind. They have to tell the world that they are working out. But their hair is perfect. There is no sweat. And is that a new Under Armour compression shirt? They are true amateurs. They haven't done nothing. No, no, no. One must wait until the end of the workout, with sweat and blood dripping, before taking a selfie. Similarly, Ash Selfies are for amateur Catholics.

The Struggle

But soon after Ash Wednesday the realization kicks in: "Holy Crap this is going to be kind of tough." You soon realize where you're at. "I guess I am sort of addicted to chocolate, and TV, and eating chocolate while watching TV..." This is similar to: "I guess I can't actually lift as much as I thought I could... and I'm out of shape... and this Under Armour compression shirt makes me look fat..." Tough lessons. This can either inspire you, or send you to the showers early. At this point it's mind over matter. No pain, no gain. No fasting, no lasting. No tussle, no muscle.

And don't forget Fridays. Let's be real, if you can't "bring it" on a lenten Friday, you can't bring it period. Extra discipline with food. The stations of the cross. Self-flagellation. Which is comparable to that extra effort on your last set of tricep dips. If you can't bring it on the last set, you can't bring it period.

Take a Break

Ahh, but there are Sundays which don't count for lent! Take a break! A mini-Easter. Not a whole break, mind you. Just a breather. Like taking a break from your workout to go the bathroom. Or check some messages. It's good to get away for a second. Does this help you with your workout? Mmmm, probably not. But you don't want to burn out either. And sometimes we get a solemnity too, like St. Joseph's feast day. This is equivalent to opening a Gatorade during a workout. How sweet. How energizing. "And they say it's good for me! I will show off to the rest of the gym! I hope they notice!" Nah, Catholics never make a big deal to others about solemnities in lent... Never... Now get back to work.

Holy Week

Oh but lent drags on. Some workouts are like this. And if it feels like this, then you are quite possibly not gaining with lent. Just like a lame workout. You're lucky to maintain, not gain. But there is a game-changer at the end! It's there for the taking. The last 5 minutes of your workout! If you bring it, you can win it. No matter how poorly you're doing, the final 5 minutes of a workout can salvage everything. You can still earn that great muscle burn. But it's up to you! Don't give up! And this, my friends, is also what is known as Holy Week. Even if lent has been pathetic, you can make up for lost time. BUT!... if you can't get psyched for Holy Week, you will forfeit your prize at the end.



Most especially you must be psyched for Good Friday. Good Friday is the last gasp. It is the final push. It is what you came here for. To quote Nike: Just do it. And just do your last set. That final burn. That striking pain on your last bicep curl is why you're there. It will all be worth it! Push forward! Nothing else matters! Dig deep!

Roll That Stone Away

And you made it! The reward has been won! Take that Easter Vigil Selfie. Or take that End of Workout Selfie. You are free for another year. Or another 47 hours. Of course, if you don't live right in between that time... you might not be any better off. Ultimately Theology of the Body can only go so far. In the end I guess there needs to be a true conversion of heart and soul. Maybe we ultimately are just dust, and to dust we shall return?

#9 - Breakaway

Joseph played another hockey game this past weekend. The lesson:

If at first you don't succeed...

(nice head shot)

Try try again.