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Psshh03
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| Posted: July 11 2012 at 12:29pm | IP Logged
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Our local Catholic homeschooling group is trying to plan for the upcoming year. We are coming off a year of Blue Knights and Little Flowers that is just not working for our group.
What other kinds of activities do you do together?
We have planned a monthly adoration/rosary/fellowship/religious art meeting and then a mixture of service and feast day celebrations.
Some background: I am new with only two little ones and my oldest is 4! The majority of our group doesn't want structured activities or crafts because there are a lot of boys.
Thanks!
Karra
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: July 11 2012 at 12:40pm | IP Logged
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Why not just meet at a playground? help the kids play together and moms can just (somewhat) relax and talk. 
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: July 11 2012 at 12:40pm | IP Logged
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field trips!
We try and do one a month and a bigger one 2-4 times a year. So we might do a trip to the veternary clinic as a local trip or the fire station or something like that (these are good for winter!) And then a big trip might be in early october and going 2 hrs away to a u-pick orchard and getting a tour (they also have a small commercial side) and then being able to pick apples (this is one of my favorites.. we get ALOT of apples and I slice them up and soak a few minutes in a lightly sweetened lemon and water solution and then let the solution run off as I pick them up and pack them into freezer bags to use in pies and crisps and stuff all winter)
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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MaryM
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| Posted: July 11 2012 at 2:11pm | IP Logged
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Yes, field trips. We try to do at least one a month as well. Field trips are nice in that there is no set-up/clean-up or that kind of extra work or worry about a facility. They aren't great for building community though if you have lots of new people because the focus is usually on listening to someone else - so not as interactive for play and socializing. But fun and beneficial none the less - just depends on the needs of the group for meeting together.
We also do a monthly liturgical year/feast day celebration. We often have crafts but you certainly don't need to. If that wasn't working for your boy group. would focus on the food and games aspect of that.
A gym day is another great opportunity. We have done that - every other week.
A monthly science/nature study club is a great one for a boy group.
Nature Study Clubs, A How to
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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organiclilac
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| Posted: July 11 2012 at 2:14pm | IP Logged
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Our group just does a weekly playgroup. At one time, we tried to have an activity each week, for maybe 15 minutes, and then we'd let the kids loose. This worked well, and I hope that we can do it again starting in the fall. We really tried to keep it simple - a short craft based on the liturgical year, usually. Once we made a rosary on the table out of cookies and then ate it. Once every month or two we did something a bit more elaborate, like an All Saint's Day party, St. Nicholas celebration, or May Crowning. We also did an occasional field trip.
I pretty much dropped out of our group last year due to pregnancy and new baby, but now I'm getting excited to get things going again!
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Tracy, wife to Shawn, mama to Samuel (4/01) and Joseph (11/11), and Thomas (2/15)
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Amber-v
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| Posted: July 11 2012 at 2:34pm | IP Logged
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A variation on the field trip idea is to do the field trip and then meet at a nearby park for lunch and/or play. Then people get a chance to socialize without being rude during the field trip. Of course, it doesn't always work that well during the winter months!
The group I belong to is looking to do 3 field trips (with park time after), three pray and plays (where we pray the Rosary or Stations or go to Adoration, then play at a park) and three structured craft/activity days that are tied to the liturgical year. We are hoping this is a good balance - we have some families who really like activities and some who don't want to bother, and some who don't want to dedicate a day a month for the whole school year (and the drive - some live an hour away!) to hang out at the park. We will see how it goes!
Amber
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Amber
Mom to dd (born 2002), ds (2005), ds (2008), ds (2011), dd (11/2013)
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stacykay
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 1:31pm | IP Logged
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Our group has the following activities:
Once a month meeting. This is for moms only, and although we usually try to have a topic, like curriculum, sharing liturgical ideas, etc., we usually take up the bulk of the evening chatting!
Once a month roller-skating. We have a local roller rink that very kindly allowed the areas Christian homeschoolers to set up an afternoon of roller-skating (regular or inline) complete with Christian music. They still play it really loudly, but at least it isn't anything offensive.
Park days. We usually meeet once a week in the summer, but it seems to have fizzled out this year, probably due to the extreme heat.
First Friday Mass. We arranged with a very kind priest at a local church (my parish, so I guess I am kind of biased about our priest!) to allow us to have our children sing, lector, altar-serve, and bring up the gifts. Sometimes, there is a gathering after, depending on everyone's schedules.
Other activities we have done/do, but not neccessarily on a regular schedule:
-Bowling
-Ask a Priest (one of the mom's set up a q and a with some more wonderful priests- not my parish, but they are super, too!, where the kids meet with the priest after Mass and can ask questions. Sometimes there is a set theme. The kids really enjoy this.)
-Nature classes (Our local park service holds homeschool classes on many different topics. We have gone to classes focused on bats, Michigan herps, birds, astronomy, history of MI lumber, pond study, frogs in the evening, tapping maple trees, etc. While this isn't from our homeschool group, so many of us go, it's like a mini-gathering!)
-Field trips to ... scrap box, located in Ann Arbor, where you can pick up all sorts of materials for crafts and projects, ...water treatment plant!,....Historical church tour in Detroit,...fire/police stations,...etc.
-Game nights. These are nights for kids to get together and play board games. Initially begun to help the kids who don't know each other to break the ice. They are usually divided up a little by age levels.
-Book discussion groups. One of the moms set up a book discussion based on what they do at the local Catholic schools. I can't recall the title of it...Battle of the books?, I think. My oldest ds did a book group when he was in 7th and 8th grade that another mom set up. They met weekly and discussed the books they read, plots, got vocab. lists, etc. It was a really good group.
-Talent show
-Science/history fairs
-Assorted homeschool sports
-volunteering at soup kitchen. We usually host a Valentine's Day party for the needy seniors at a church in Detroit. The kids really enjoy setting up the decorations, making special foods and desserts, and serving the elderly.
-Caroling at local nursing home.
-Lots more, but I can't remember everything!
I hope these ideas help.
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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Mary K
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 7:45pm | IP Logged
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Our homeschool group has done short walks/hikes at local parks, with a picnic lunch afterwards. If there was information available one of the moms would look it over before the hike and summarize it for the kids.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Help w/local Catholic homeschool group
