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Cay Gibson
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Remember, everyone, if you don't feel organized enought right now to begin the MOsaic study (or don't have the books you need)...plan ahead.
The Liturgical Year officially starts on the First Sunday of Advent. Order the book , plan ahead, pick-up a couple of books or request a few as gifts from grandma and godmother, set-up your family altar, and get ready to start on Dec. 3, 2006.
You are never late and never behind in starting an observance of the liturgical year (and the notebook).
There are some feast days my children and I did not get around to last year while doing Mosaic. We were able to cover more this liturgical year and we still have more to do this coming liturgical year.
With this message board, we will all be able to exchange ideas, share books and crafts, continue to expand on the Liturgical Year, and stay inspired. 
Pick-up wherever you are or whenever you are ready...and enjoy it! 
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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JSchaaf
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I just received my copy of Catholic Mosiac and am very excited to get started. But, I decided to wait and start in December. That will give me some time to get organized!! I know I'll have lots of questions between now and then. Here's one: Do you do a Liturgical Year notebook every year? I was thinking about it-how nice it would be to see the changes from year to year and it would also be a chance to add in new and different books each year. Also, is the notebook a family project or does each child do their own?
Thanks
Jennifer
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graciefaith
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How much organization and prep work does Catholic Mosaic require?? I'm a first time homeschooler and i want to start off slow, plus finances are tight. I want to purchase it but it wont be until Sept.
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Cay Gibson
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JSchaaf wrote:
Here's one: Do you do a Liturgical Year notebook every year?
Also, is the notebook a family project or does each child do their own?
Jennifer |
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Jennifer,
The answer is: It's completely up to you and yours.
While reading and compiling Catholic Mosaic , we did one family notebook. Now, having seen Donna's new covers, there a strong possibility we'll start new notebooks for the two younger girls. Our family notebook from our Mosaic year is very stuffed and full...yet still incomplete. There are always new ideas, new narrations, new pictures, new studies to include.
Either way...you can't go wrong.
The reason we did a family liturgical notebook is because I have three teenagers. When dealing with older dc you have to goalie their interests and yours. You can't (or shouldn't) mistake one for the other. If you command that they will do notebooking and they will read picture books and they will enjoy it...you're pitting yourself up for disappointment.
Alot of the success has to do with the approach.
As Tracy mentioned in a very recent post...does fun learning stop when kids get older???
I don't think it stops but the techniques and presentation certainly change. And, yes, there is more independent learning.
I've talked to more than one mother of high schoolers who has sighed disappointedly over her children growing up and needing her less and less. I believe even Seton's Mary Kay Clark has mentioned this...how she pleaded with her older boys to let her join in their studies. She felt she was missing out on all the fun. Perhaps hsing is more fun for us as teachers than it is for the kids. 
It's common for teenagers to want their independence and to test their wings on their own. I try to give them this freedom within certain boundaries.
Leonie has often talked about how to approach this. I've learned a lot from her.  You have to let go of your own interests and expectations and embrace your child's. So, to answer your second question "Also, is the notebook a family project or does each child do their own?" here is how we did things with the Mosaic:
My three older children heard (and read to their younger siblings) the Mosaic books. I also *strewed* the books on the kitchen table and in the living room where they older ones might pick them up and read.
Sometimes I'd make a passing hint, "Could you please help Annie change the liturgical cloth on the altar? It needs to be red today." More often than not, I wander to the back to find that older child helping the younger one set up the altar.
My 2nd and 3rd teenagers still love to assist with the crafts so I'm lucky that way. I don't ask them though. The girls and I just begin the activity and the other two, more often than not, usually wander in at some point and start messing with our supplies. The little girls feel superior in telling them what we are making and why we are making it.
I have also had my younger teenage son help me with the Mosaic class. He's terrific when it comes to helping me pack up the craft box, clean up the rented room, and load stuff into the car.
Some of the other families' older siblings have also assisted. They make the best teacher's aides. They are growing up and want to be a help. They feel a need to be a help and are great in helping the little ones with the crafts. I'll see if I can find the pictures from our group doing the Mosaic crosses. Even the moms got into the act.
In this way, I believe one is able to get the older children involved without the eye rolling, complaining, and sighing.
It really doesn't have to be complicated at all. Sometimes our expectations for our families (and ourselves) are far too high. We need to enjoy each other more and worry less about the product.
It can be as simple as baking cookies. An example: my daughter was given a Children's Bible from her grandparents on the day she made her first communion this year. She has it in her head to read the whole Bible from Alpha to Omega. So, she read her nightly chapter last night and asked to bake cookies with some leftover colored cookie dough. I gave her the okay and she took it out, cleaned off the kitchen table, and diligently got to work. I was putting up supper dishes and looked over to find her and her little sister making rainbows out of this multi=-colored cookie dough. Kayleigh came in to put the cookies in the oven for them and, as she did so, questioned all the rainbows. Chelsea proceeded to narrate the whole Noah's Ark story to her. Of course this is an age old story and we've read several picture books on Noah's ARk (Jan Brett's version included ) but, for some reason, reading the story in her new Bible sparked a cooking moment. Of course, my oldest dd has heard the story (who hasn't?) but she got a laugh out of listening to a younger child narrate it.
Were the older dc included or left out? Oh, you can guarantee they were included. Once the cookies came out of the oven, they were upon them like a dewdrop on a sunbeam.
This is one of those crafts that simply can't be kept in the liturgical year notebook. You take a picture instead and have the child write (or type) his/her narration and stick it in the notebook. You have to be very careful to catch the moments when they present themselves. It isn't always when you are poised and ready with pencil and paper (or computer and blog) to record it. Today, my 8 yr old gave me a very thorough rendition of Patriots and Loyalists during the Revolutionary War...while standing in the supermarket check out line.
There are several opportunities for the older children to make their own notebooks. Confirmation sparks a whole new study into the faith. Even the recent DaVinci Code sensation can spark an interest in notebooking. If your older child feels he/she is being harnessed into a project with the younger kids, don't require a notebook. Simply keep any religious essays, sheets, etc. that he/she does and insert them into a notebook. By the end of the year, he'll be happpy that you preserved his work in a meaningful way.
Have I gotten long-winded or what?!?!  In a way, I was answering Tracy's post as well because it's been on my mind since I read it.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Katie
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Thank you Cay. This is a good reminder to me that it is okay to just jump in with what I have on hand and enjoy the experience. My tendency is to want to collect all the books, have them organized neatly on a shelf with a detailed plan in place and supplies ordered. There is more than enough to get me started with the few titles I already own. I just need to let my OCD tendencies go!!
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Mother of 5 in South America. No 6 due in April.
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Molly Smith
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Cay Gibson wrote:
set-up your family altar, and get ready to start on Dec. 3, 2006.
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Okay, now I'm interested, December 3rd I can do!!
Please forgive me, but how does one go about setting up a family altar? What are the basics? Are these instructions in the book? I don't have one yet (the book, or the altar for that matter) because I found it all overwhelming UNTIL I read your blog where you say, and I hope you don't mind me pasting this here,
"The observance of the Liturgical Year is not another planning calendar, class in time management, or burdensome project. It is simply living in the present and hoping in the future without forgetting the past."
That did it for me and now I can't stop thinking about it.
So, back to the family altar...does it need to be a particular size? Is there anything that always should be on it? Is there a proper place in home where it should be? Do you keep your notebook on it (we'll likely do a family notebook)? What else do I need to know?
Thanks so much!
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Molly Smith in VA
Mom to seven beautiful children, ages 1-14
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Cay Gibson
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Molly Smith wrote:
| Please forgive me, but how does one go about setting up a family altar? What are the basics? Are these instructions in the book? |
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Molly,
Do you have Moira's GS albums? I strongly recommend them in CM. CM is the literature side of the coin. Moira's albums are the Montessori/ GS side.
Still, you don't need the albums at first. These message boards give the beginner plenty of information in starting your Montessori/GS activities.
A picture of my children's altar is here.
Molly Smith wrote:
So, back to the family altar...does it need to be a particular size?
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Our altar is a simple two-tier shelf. I believe I bought it at Wal-Mart. K-Mart or Target has these as well.
Molly Smith wrote:
Is there anything that always should be on it? Is there a proper place in home where it should be? Do you keep your notebook on it (we'll likely do a family notebook)? What else do I need to know?
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Other than the crucifix, our altar changes as the children set it up. The primary change is the altar cloth. I use it for the album presentations. Other than that I leave it in the children's hands. You'll see at the pictures here (click to enlarge each one), that the children have placed rosaries, Lenten crowns, and a candle that they made out of sculpey clay. There is usually a vase of flowers and holy water bottles that they made in Little Flowers.
I keep it in my bedroom as that's the quietest room in the house.
Regarding the notebook:
I tried putting a photo of our bookshelf here but it's too large. I'll try getting it up at my blog before I leave tomorrow.
The notebook seldom stays on the shelf though. It moves around the house as we work on it. But it can easily be placed on the bottom tier under the liturgical cloth. That's where I *hide* the GS albums.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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ElisabethGrace
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Cay,
Where did you find such lovely holy water bottles? I'd love to have large ones like that!
Edited to add: Now that I read more carefully  , I see that you said you girls MADE the holy water bottles in Little Flowers. Could you share where you found the materials for them. They are so pretty!
Angela
Who currently stores holy water in the little syrup bottles from Cracker Barrel.
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ElisabethGrace
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Me again. I thought of another question!
Which CGS Album should I buy? My dc are 11 1/2, 8 1/2, 4 & 2 with another due to arrive in December. Would you recommend both albums? I don't want to overwhelm myself, but since we won't begin until December I can get alot of prep done while I have some energy! 
Thank you for such a wonderful way to keep us in "Real Learning"!
Angela
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JennGM
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Cay,
You're going to think I'm nuts...actually, you probably do, but now I'll be certifiable.
I have nothing to contribute to this thread, except for the comment that I love the subject line: The Fullness of the Liturgical Year. When it hits my inbox I enjoy reading it every time -- it evokes so many images to me. But that's because that's my obsession: the Liturgical Year.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Cay Gibson
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ElisabethGrace wrote:
Cay,
Where did you find such lovely holy water bottles? I'd love to have large ones like that!
Who currently stores holy water in the little syrup bottles from Cracker Barrel. |
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I thought the "little syrup bottles from Cracker Barrel" (my favorite restaurant ) is so incredibly cute and funny.
I didn't buy the water bottles. The Little Flowers teacher did. (Our Mosaic class was separate from LF.) I believe she bought them at Michael's Crafts. At least I've seen some bottles there. The girls glued the cross on the glass front.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: June 10 2006 at 9:01pm | IP Logged
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ElisabethGrace wrote:
Me again. I thought of another question!
Which CGS Album should I buy? My dc are 11 1/2, 8 1/2, 4 & 2 with another due to arrive in December. Would you recommend both albums?
Angela
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Angela,
Yes, I would recommend both. As horrifying as the total price is for both albums and the CM book, I really wouldn't be able to decide which of my albums to give up.
For beginners, the first album is so easy to follow. It's basic so perhaps you'd rather start with that one. Buuuutttt....when I received the other album, I feel in love with it. It has so much more in it than the first one. I'd be torn to suggest which one to buy first.
You're looking at both age groups in your own family who can benefit from both albums. The 8 1/2 & 11 1/2 would use the age 6-9 album while the 4 & 2 year old would use the 3-5 album. I really think you'll be pleased with both of them. Moira tells you what to say and when but, still, in going over the material you need to use your own voice. After a trial run, you'll be ready to go.
An important part of this home catechesis (and the Good Shepherd program) is to listen to the child. Don't over do the presentation. Less is best. Moira gave me a short lesson in this after I wrote to her about (what I thought was) a failed presentation while presenting the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price. She set me straight. You must let the Holy Spirit speak through you. Don't be too hard on yourself and don't try to force the presentation on the child. They will receive from the presentation whatever the Holy Spirit wants them to receive.
But I've gotten totally away from your question...
What a looooong answer.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Helen
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Cay Gibson wrote:
The Liturgical Year officially starts on the First Sunday of Advent. Order the book , plan ahead, |
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Thanks Cay for the great organizing advice!
I ordered the book and look forward to your help in implementing it.
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Ave Maria!
Mom to 5 girls and 3 boys
Mary Vitamin & Castle of the Immaculate
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Meredith
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Cay, I'm so thankful you have laid this all out for all of us, I'm looking forward to receiving my copy to peruse and plan with all summer. God Bless your extensive efforts on this beautiful and holy addition to all of our Real Learning!
__________________
Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Topic: The Fullness of the Liturgical Year
