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graciefaith
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| Posted: April 16 2008 at 7:35pm | IP Logged
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I'm thinking of purchasing A Year With God. My kids are 5yo and 6yo. If you have this, do you like it and how often do you use the ideas in it? Thanks!
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Blessed wife and mom of 3 girls, Sept. '01, Dec. '02 and Oct. '07
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joann10
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| Posted: April 16 2008 at 8:24pm | IP Logged
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I have the same questions. I don't have any money to be spending right now-but this is one of the books I would like to hear about.
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msclavel
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Worth every penny!
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JennGM
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Hmmm...my copy sits on the shelf most of the time. I have yet to find something we like to do. I remember this thread wondering if many of the ideas are girly.
As I have a boy, I would tend to agree most things aren't as appealing to him. But he is young, yet.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Michaela
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| Posted: April 17 2008 at 12:48pm | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| Hmmm...my copy sits on the shelf most of the time. |
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Same here.
I haven't looked at in a while, but I remember thinking that most of the info is what's being shared on many blogs. I'll have to look to refresh my mind.
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Lorri
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I don't really care for it. We use it as a resource in our Catholic homeschool group and to me, many of the activities are a bit contrived. An angel crossword puzzle (if I remember correctly) seems like busy work to me and to many of the children we handed them out as well. The St Patrick "cheer" went over like a lead balloon.
Our group does better with coming up with liturgically centered crafts from the internet. I really like Seton's Art 1 for young Catholics that follows the liturgical year.
Just my opinion, of course, your mileage may vary.
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RenB
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I've owned the book only a year now, previously owned a "part one" copy with less inside and thought this new issue would offer so much more as it promised to. Many years ago I subscribed to the monthly newsletters from the CHC Johnson family's older girls and noticed much, if not most of those were quite a chuck of the mainstay to create the book, along with photos and ideas from their original catalogs. The price for me was much more than the catalog fee once the dollar was converted to Canadian funds. I could see the "Ching, Ching" in my eyeballs when figuring out exactly what it cost me in the end.
The book itself is eye candy for Catholic families. There are many crafts and things to do, following the liturgical year of course, though very limiting in the end. Many of the ideas have no patterns included. There is also a very large section featuring cartoons of saint figures at the back of the book (and a few sprinkled into the pages around the year) long out of print by author/illustrator. They do have merit although they aren't child friendly at all for use as a coloring sheet, so I don't particularly care for these and think they need to be changed somehow in their presentation so they become much more useful to families. The rosary cards by Anna May McCallum are also featured in the book, but I had already purchased these for another pretty penny a few years back, so they are doubles to me. Taking just the last two items alone, initially a family would have had to pay quite a bit to acquire them, so perhaps the general fee alloted for them in the pricing. As well there are a few how to draw items, blank calendar pages (though available readily on the internet) and other items of interest not found anywhere else.
I have been a CHC patron since their very beginning when I first saw their humble table of offerings at the very first "Seattle Family Education Conference" the same year they began their business. I've purchased many items for our family and to use as gifts. I subscribed to their newsletters for several years and looked forward to it every month. Basically they are such a unique company, with unique items not found anywhere else. If I would've known in advance though how many duplicate items I already had at home from inside the book, I know I likely would not have made this purchase.
However,I personally feel, if the goal of most Catholic publishers is to "get these goods in the hands of families for use in building their Domestic churches",and subsequently recognizing many Catholic homeschooling families are one income earners, affordability is the key to supply and demand, at least I know my married children would find this item off their wish list just from the price alone. The family price from CHC then seems over the top to me especially when compared to other fine books available from Catholic homeschooling families these days. If lowered, more would purchase it and use it, or at the very least it can be budgeted for more easily. It's not exactly a necessity, it's more of a frill compared to other books on most people's booklist. This is only my humble thought. I buy my married children delightful things to use with their families because they can't, but not everyone has a mommy like me. :-)
Perhaps on the bright side, there is something to say about the value of such a book though, perhaps it is priceless to have everything all compiled into one handy place, nicely bound and pretty to say the least. I still love the book and find it will be a "keeper" here, gracing our library at best for me to pass along someday to the grandbabies for their use.
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: April 18 2008 at 9:29am | IP Logged
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I used it a lot about 2 years ago, when my oldest was about 5. Then, not so much...maybe b/c of the blogs out there. I've pulled it out more in the past 6 months or so for ideas and the artwork. Fun little stuff to do. I think it's worth the $$$. Now that I have 2 that are sort of reading, they pull it out too, to find something to work on/look at.
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Jenn Sal
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I've had it for a year now and have not used it as much as I would like to. I often forget about it!  I don't think of it as "girly". I think of it as "crafty". So, if you have a crafty girl or boy, I think it gives great ideas.
We used the caarving pumpkin ideas for All Saints Day. The kids loved it! Something I did was copies the calender graphics, had them laminated and use them on our wall calender. For example, the confession graphic we use to keep track of our monthly confession time.
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SeaStar
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I looked at it two years ago and did not think it would work well for my family. Now my dc are two years older, and I just bought a used copy from CathSwap. It has many fun ideas that they are now able to do.
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LeeAnn
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I found the Fournier series more practical for our family. The CHC book has a lot in it, but a lot of it needed to be photocopied and put together. The Fournier book is more about things to do and make and pray...and while there are fewer feast days discussed it goes through them with more depth, in my opinion.
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JennGM
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LeeAnn wrote:
| I found the Fournier series more practical for our family. The CHC book has a lot in it, but a lot of it needed to be photocopied and put together. The Fournier book is more about things to do and make and pray...and while there are fewer feast days discussed it goes through them with more depth, in my opinion. |
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I agree, LeeAnn. I think Year with God tries to have an original idea for everything. I like that Fournier's have both tried and true, traditional approaches, and some unique. It's a good balance, and for any family trying to live the liturgical year, I think this is more practical, especially at the beginning.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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SeaStar
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I am trying to find a link for the Fournier book. Is it OOP?
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LeeAnn
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There are three volumes by Peter & Catherine Fournier.
Marian Devotions in the Domestic Church
Advent and Christmas in the Domestic Church
Lent and Easter in the Domestic Church
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JodieLyn
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Here's Catherine Fournier's website.. lovely site.. and it also has "stores" with the links to books.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: A Year With God?
