Catholic Virtue Training for Children Using the Rosary

J.M.J.

For years now, I have been helping families and the occasional Catholic school and parish teach children a few of the treasures hidden in the Rosary: The virtues!  St. Louis de Montfort has shown us in his book, The Secret of the Rosary, that each Mystery of the Rosary has within it a virtue or grace to be prayed for.  Our Lady emulates each virtue and grace perfectly within the Mysteries, teaching us how to imitate her.  She is a perfect example of who we should strive to become.  Don't we want to show our children her example as well?

To celebrate October - the month dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary - I am giving you the complete lesson plans and workbook pages for the first Joyful Mystery, which we pray for humility.  I never claimed to be an artist but humility calls me to post my pictures of the Mysteries online anyway LOL Anyway, below is a sample of my Rosary Quilt program, along with some extra files to enhance your family rosary time.  Couldn't we all benefit from a lesson or two in humility?  (Be careful how you answer that one!  LOL)  Enjoy these pages!

ROSARY QUILT LESSON PLANS

1.    The Annunciation: For the Love of Humility Activities

Read Isaiah 10:15. Talk about what kinds of jobs can be accomplished by using such tools. Lay out a few tools your child may use for her own talents. For instance, a pianist needs a piano; a painter needs a brush, a writer needs a pencil, a carpenter needs sandpaper and a saw. Explain that your child is the piano, paintbrush, saw, etc. and God is the pianist, artist, carpenter, etc. Your child is simply the tool for the things God wants done. Just as it is silly for a paintbrush to take credit for a painting, it is also foolish for us to take credit for the work God does through us.

Practice responding to compliments. When someone compliments you on one of your talents, respond with something that directs all glory to God instead of to yourself: “Thank you! I have been very blessed.” If pride/boasting is a temptation to your child, make sure he/she receives a petal for responding appropriately to compliments.

**(WB pg 4) Help your child make a list of her God given talents. Have her write God a thank you note, thanking Him for these talents and noting how she might use them to bring Him glory.

Have your child look in the mirror and pretend to be “snooty”. It should not be long before he closes his eyes and sticks his nose up in the air. When he does, say, “Freeze! This is what a prideful heart looks like.” Explain that turning one’s nose “up” at someone else shows pride. It tells other people that you think you are better than they are. Now ask him what he is looking at when his eyes are closed. (“Nothing” or “My eyelids”) Ask him where his nose is pointed. (“Up” or “Towards the sky”) Explain that when one is not humble, one is sticking his nose up towards God. When children’s eyes are closed, they are not looking for God’s will, nor are they able to see God’s hand in whatever success they are being “snooty” about. They are, in essence, snubbing God and denying God’s hand in their successes.

Have your child look humble. This usually looks like a shy look: head cocked to the side (listening for God’s will); chin down (and not vain or prideful), eyes looking upwards (towards God above). Tell him that a humble heart looks like this. Which heart did Mary have? Which heart should we have? Take pictures of your child “acting” out these two traits. Put them in your scrapbook and label each feature and what they are saying to others.

Discuss the fall of Adam and Eve – Satan tempted them with the idea that they too could be like God. What a thought! One of the effects of Original Sin is a temptation to make ourselves into our own gods! The Catechism tells us that the meaning of life is: To know, love and serve God in this world so that we may be happy with Him in the next. Original Sin makes us want to make others know, love and serve US in this world so that we may be happy in this world. Make your children more aware of how we all make ourselves into gods during the day. Discuss how this makes others feel. What happens when our entire household is filled with people trying to make themselves into gods?

Discuss with your children the trend our society has to build and protect self-esteem at all costs: schools adjusting test scores or passing students who may need to be held back, bombarding children with over exaggerated compliments, etc. How is this harmful to souls? How can this be harmful to society? How does this affect a person’s earthly life? What will happen to these children when they grow up and live “in the real world”?

Discuss Proverbs 15:33.

Examples of humility

The fall of Lucifer: Aside from being pure spirits, angels also have a perfectly informed intellect. Because of this, the angels knew God’s plan for humans and for our salvation. They knew of God’s power, too. He gave the angels a chance to serve Him and two thirds of the angels joyfully announced that indeed they would serve Him! Unfortunately, Lucifer, who was the brightest and most beautiful angel, dared to say that he would not serve God. A third of the angels also made this decision. Why would they do such a thing? They knew of God’s power and His love, yet they would not serve Him! Lucifer was full of pride. He was bright, powerful, and beautiful, but he was created to serve God. He thought he was better than a servant – he wanted to be a god. And not just any god, but he wanted to take over God’s throne in Heaven and be God Himself!

Matthew 8:5 – 10: In this story, the Roman Officer, though pagan, acknowledges Christ as an important person. He admits he is not worthy to receive Him in his home, but has faith that all his servant needs to be healed is Jesus’ word. Recall the words we speak before receiving Communion at Mass, as the priest holds the Blessed Sacrament up: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” Both this story and the words we speak during the Mass represent the degree of humility we need to strive for.

Philippians 2:1-11: Paul challenges us to imitate Christ in His humility. The verses also show us how great Christ is because of His humility.

The Cure’ of Ars: This Saint performed many miracles in his life. When each miracle occurred, he humbly, and appropriately, directed all eyes to God instead of to himself. He shied away from praise from the villagers and always credited other Saints’ intercessions and God for the miracles for which he himself prayed. His humility did not even allow himself to believe that it was his own prayers that God was responding to – he always believed that it was another Saint’s intercession on his behalf that the miracles occurred.

Verses for memorization

Proverbs 30:32

Proverbs 16:5  

Proverbs 22:4

Luke 18:14


WORKBOOK PAGES  (Pages correspond to activities above)

BEADS PAGES  Family members suggest their intentions for each Hail Mary.  Who suffers from pride?  Who needs to accept God's will instead of forcing their own will?  etc.  Read the prayer at the top to announce the Mystery.  Announce each intention before each Hail Mary. Recite the prayer at the bottom of the prayer to end the Mystery.

Here is the page with the Annunciation bead.  Print and laminate it for your younger children to hold as you pray this Mystery.  It can also be used along with the Rosary Quilt itself.  (The activity blanket which is explained in the manual)  The blank beads may be copied and used to help young children keep track of their prayers.  (There are actually 10 blank beads in the file, not 2)

What is NOT pictured here is the Virtue Chart which goes with the set.  All I could get was a portion of it, pictured below so you can't really use it, but I wanted to at least show you what it is.  Its purpose is to help keep track of your child's progress, whenever you catch your child being good.  The manual explains this concept in a little more detail, but you get the idea.

I hope you enjoy using these prayer aids!  I would love to hear how you like these pages. 

If you are interested in obtaining the 4 digital file set (Manual, instructions and workbook plus virtue chart) for $17 and the color painting Beads files which supplement the program for $5,  please contact me at

poppe clan at gmail dot com 

Rosary Behavior Poster

J.M.J.

3 year olds are at that "special" stage of discipline where they understand much but can control very little.   Since we were having so much trouble with our daughter's newfound self-awareness and pride, I have decided to dust off the Yes Ma'am chart I created when Fulton was 3 to give him positive reinforcement for the times he cooperated with my requests.  It has become clear that I need to start using these again, for both Marialina and Fulton!

It is a simple reward system to keep track of the times my children have been good and cheerful helpers around the house.

We start each day at the Cross and say a little prayer, such as:  "Dear Mary, help me to be more like you every day and help me to say 'yes' when Mommy or Daddy ask me to do something, just like you said 'yes' to God.  Amen"

Once the prayer is done, have your child color in the Cross.  Whenever your child responds to a request with a 'Yes Ma'am', your child gets a sticker on the bead or gets to color it in. Every Our Father bead equals a reward (a Smartie candy is nice to use.  It is small, but tasty, and it is always smart to obey, right?)  If the rosary is completed, or a designated level within the rosary is complete for the day, give your child a bigger reward, like a game, extra story or a movie.  What fun to watch the rosary of good intentions fill up!  And how excited they are to show Daddy their progress when he gets home!


I created this using graphics I found online and combined them.  Just save it as a JPEG file (important!) and you can print it out for your own children!  If you don't want to print out new sheets each day, laminate a page and use erasable markers to color in the beads.  Or you may use the same sheet over the course of a few days to reach a big goal at the end of the week.  Whatever works for you!

 

Preschool Day 2

J.M.J.

Here is day 2 for the preschool program I am putting together.  This year's plans will come in fits and spurts (and not necessarily in time for specific feast days) and as time permits, so my apologies to those who have 4 year old children this year.  But if you have 3 year olds, the these plans should be ready for you to use by next year!  Enjoy!

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We will call today Day one and a half, as we only got through half of the curriculum.  I had waaaay too much planned for a 4 year old!  But that is OK, because I have also decided he needs school almost every day.  So instead of a new plan for Friday, I will have the rest of today's plan to use tomorrow.  :)

We celebrated the Immaculate Heart of Mary today, as it is her feast day on the Traditional calendar, but it is also her month, so this would work for anyone in August.  :) 

My thought process behind today's lesson plans is focusing on Our Lady and her Immaculate Heart.  With this, we will also be exploring issues of personal hygiene and keeping ourselves 'immaculately' clean.  We only got through the religious portion of the lessons today, so tomorrow we spend the day with a petri dish, washing our hands, learning about germs, playing a fun game online and going on a germ hunt and a 'sin' hunt in the house, both of which will be appropriately labled.  (You'll just have to see it tomorrow - trust me!  LOL)

We wanted to make the Immaculate Heart cookies seen on Catholic Icing.  One quick comparison between her cookies and mine will tell you I did not have some crucial ingredients onhand today.  I thought I had food coloring, but alas I did not.  Living 40 minutes away from the nearest store meant I had to do some quick thinking.  So I convinced Fulton we needed to have the hearts white because Our Lady's heart was so clean and pure.  We colored the flames with carrot juice (and you all know why I suddenly have a gallon of that stuff aroung the house!) and the strip of flowers was made out of dough colored with homemade blueberry preserves!  We tossed a chocolate chip to give a color contrarst to the flame and voila!  Immaculate Heart of Mary cookies, natural style!

They smelled soooo good baking, but I had to resist, as they were not on my fast plan, even if they were 'natural'.  The children are still enjoying them as I type, though, which means the temptation will not last long.

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Use ‘Yes Ma’am’ page throughout the day and use as part of accountability to Daddy

Read 2^nd half of Treasure Box book

Do pre-writing worksheets, write name, etc

Rosary Quilt program:  Discuss the story of the Annunciation.   Pray the Our Father, Hail Mary and a Glory Be using activity blanket

Color Immaculate Heart picture and write 'I love you' on it  (picture found below)

Read this book  pgs 2-15 and 26 – 28

Quote for the day:  St. Francis of Assisi:    “Immaculate Heart of Mary, cause of our joy, pray for us.”  (Recite for Daddy at dinnertime as part of his accountability)

Make Immaculate Heart cookies –  Listen to ‘Immaculate Mary' song and try to sing it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCgk-b4iMOk

 Also use this time to count, discuss letters of the alphabet, and talk about Our Lady 

Play online puzzle of Immaculate Heart of Mary while cookies are cooking  http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/20155468E57

End with praying the prayer the angel taught the 3 shepherd children before Our Lady appeared to them:

Fatima prayer of the Angel

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, who do not adore, who do not hope and who do not love Thee.

 

Coloring page



Raw cookie

Cooked cookie

Carrot juice and blueberry preserves colored cookie dough!

Catholic Preschool Plans

J.M.J.

I must be slightly out of my mind, but I am considering writing a preschool curriculum, even though none of my children are currently in preschool.  Fulton is too old, and Marialina is too young, but I had so much fun creating lessons for Fulton back in 2012, I thought I would continue them.  My plan is to eventually have 3 'classes' a week, but that will depend on how well my computer is working and if I can actually get to use it, now that the children are working on it all the time.  HA!  We shall see. 

I had so much fun doing this with Fulton, but I am getting a little teary eyed, too, remembering him before the accident.

Below is a copy/paste job from my old blog with the first day of preschool posted.  It will be tied into the liturgical year and will be mostly internet based, so the only materials you will need will be some crafting and baking items and maybe one of those mega-curriculum workbooks you can get in many stores this time of year.  I will try to use online workbook pages when I find them.

If people like this, I will maybe lay it out a little better....we shall see where the Spirit leads me.  But I need your input too!

 So let me know what you think!  Should I continue this or not?

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(Post from my old blog)

First day of preschool for Fulton!!!  I can't even believe how quickly time is flying by, but here we are, homeschooling 5 kids this year.  (Prayers, please!)

I have decided to toss the preschool programs I used in the past and piece together something I could work with. He just turned 4 in June, so I know I will have to take it a little slower in some areas, but overall I think he is more than ready for this adventure.

I decided to revolve his school year around the Liturgical calendar, using the day's feasts as my guide.  I went cheap and bought 2 different MEGA preschool workbooks, plus some Catholic-specific workbooks for him to work through.  He has never had any formal training on writing before, so this week we are working mostly on how to hold a crayon, how to trace and follow 'mazes' and so on.  He loves coloring and painting on his own, so I highly suspect he will catch on fairly quickly.  You have never seen a little boy happier than the frst time he sees his name in print - in his own handwriting!

Today is St. Bernard of Calirvaux's feast day, so here was the plan:

Read half of book #1 of the Treasure Box series and discuss
Do pre-writing worksheets, write name, etc
Begin Rosary Quilt program: Just introduce activity blanket and its components today.  (Have it out for him to get used to during family rosary at night)
Color picture of St. Bernard of Calirvaux  (picture found below)
Read some basic information about St Bernard of Clairvaux
Memorize his famous quote: "Jesus is honey in the mouth."  (Recite quote to daddy at dinner as part of his accountability)

Discuss bees

• Only insect that makes food for people
• Makes wax
• What does it make honey out of?
• Why does he make honey?
• Why does it make the wax?
• The bees live to serve the queen bee.  Should we live to love and serve Our Blessed Mother?  What sweet things can we bring to her? 

Read 2 quick stories on bees found here and here   Lots of giggles with these!
Make honey candy (recipe follows)
Play online bee puzzle while waiting for candy to boil and while it cools
Decorate candle for prayer room
Cut out bee pieces and have him tape together the bee.  Attach to stick and make it fly!
Read this story
Pray the Memorare (a prayer St. Bernard wrote):

REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.



Devotional candle decorated with stickers



Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Coloring page

Honeycomb Candy Recipe

•3/4 cup sugar

•2 tablespoons honey

•2 tablespoons water

•1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Instructions

1.Grease a casserole dish or pie plate. You can use oil, butter, or non-stick cooking spray.  But be generous and grease it all the way  to the rim or you will have a difficult time removing it from the pan.

 2.Add the sugar, honey, and water to a saucepan. You can stir the mixture, but it isn't necessary.

 3.Cook the ingredients over high heat, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 300°F. The sugar will melt, small bubbles will form, the bubbles will become larger, then the sugar will start to carmelize to an amber color.  Do not burn!  LOL!

 4.When the temperature reaches 300°F, remove the pan from heat and whisk the baking soda into the hot syrup. This will cause the syrup to foam up.

 5.Stir just enough to mix the ingredients, then dump the mixture onto the greased baking sheet. Don't spread out the candy, as this would pop your bubbles adn you will lose the 'honeycomb' effect.

 6.Allow the candy to cool, then break or cut it into pieces.

7.Store the honeycomb candy in an airtight container.

 I am sure this this candy would be delicious, had I not burned it a little, and if I actually stirred it.  The baking soda made it foam up so quickly (we used a small pan), that I had a moment of panic and dumped it in the pie pan before it was completely mixed.  Hence the white chunks in the picture.  CJ loved it, everyone else just focused on the 'burnt' taste.  I took the tiniest taste (Honeycomb Candy was not part of the 40 Day Fast-40 Day Feast plan!) and could imagine it would have been quite good with a bit less time over the flames.  Lesson learned.

I think we will do preschool 3 days a week with other activities on the off days.  Fulton needs to stay super busy, both in body and mind, but I have other children to teach as well.  It is going to be a delicate balance between the 2 different types of schooling, but Lord willing, I shall succeed!