Peaceful Catholic Homeschooling / Charlotte Mason, Homeschool, SAHM, Liturgy, Curriculum
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Peaceful Catholic Homeschooling is the podcast for Catholic moms who are building a Christ centered homeschool using Charlotte Mason principles, the liturgical year, and the grace that comes from a home rooted in faith. Each week I sit with you at the table and talk honestly about what this actually looks like in a real home with real children on a real Monday morning.
I am The Catholic Grandma, a 34 year veteran educator and lifelong Catholic who has been watching Catholic homeschool moms carry too much for too long. This podcast is my answer to that.
Topics include Catholic living books, Charlotte Mason philosophy, liturgical year curriculum, domestic church rhythms, narration, nature study, habit formation, and building a peaceful faithful homeschool from the inside out.
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Peaceful Catholic Homeschooling / Charlotte Mason, Homeschool, SAHM, Liturgy, Curriculum
17 | 5 Reasons You Should Stop Ignoring the Liturgical Calendar as a Catholic Homeschool Mom
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It was the Saturday before Easter Sunday at our little church at the beach and my two grandchildren had no idea they were about to have an encounter that would stop all of us in our tracks.
Nobody planned a lesson. Nobody prepared a worksheet. The liturgical year simply created the moment and what happened next is exactly why I can't stop talking about it.
If you've heard about the liturgical calendar but it still feels like one more thing to add to an already full plate, this episode is for you. Because it's not one more thing. It's actually the thing that holds everything else together.
What You'll Learn:
- Why faith isn't a subject you add to your schedule and how the liturgical year is already the ancient rhythm your family is meant to live
- How the liturgical calendar becomes the perfect spine for every subject in your Catholic Charlotte Mason homeschool
- Why walking your children through the life of Christ annually is formation you cannot buy in a box
- How small feast day gestures; a candle, a story, a special meal, turn your home into a genuine domestic church
- Why the built in rhythm of penitential and festive seasons gives your homeschool both flexibility and holy focus
I pray this encourages your heart today.
Go be the peace God created you to be.
— Dana
Resources Mentioned:
Walking With Our Lady Through the Year (free guide)
Charlotte Mason for Catholic Moms Homeschooling (free community)
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Related Episodes:
A Beach Church Holy Moment
SPEAKER_00It was the Saturday before Easter Sunday. We were at our little church at the beach. Myself, my daughter, my two grandchildren, and the deacon had asked if they wanted to help carry the chrism oils out to prepare the altar. My grandchildren are five and three, and what happened next stopped both of us in our tracks.
Welcome To Peaceful Catholic Homeschooling
SPEAKER_00Are you a Catholic mom trying to build a homeschool that feels peaceful, faith-filled, and actually doable, but you're exhausted from piecing it all together? Then you're in the right place. Welcome to Peaceful Catholic Homeschooling. I'm a Catholic grandmother, nay nang in my world. Lifelong educated and the mother of a homeschool mom. Scripture tells us to stop conforming to the world's life and let God transform it from the inside out. But when it comes to homeschooling, the world's play is often the only map for me. I've watched my daughter turn that way. Let's be alone with no margin. So it turned a nightfaster. I decided to draw it differently. The other we discovered that each place, living food and simple women, are just a different code. There's a library working. This show is for the mom who already knows that in the room and just needs someone to want this item. So grab whatever's left of your morning coffee and co-hide in the bathroom if you have to. And let's do this hard and holy work together.
Why The Calendar Holds It Together
SPEAKER_00In episode 16, we talked about the liturgical calendar. Maybe you have a liturgical felt board or a printed calendar somewhere in your home, but it still feels like it's one more thing to add to your already full plate of homeschool plans. Today I want to show you it's not one more thing, it's actually the thing that holds everything else together. And the five reasons to stop ignoring it and start letting it lead you.
Chrism Oils And Mystery In Action
SPEAKER_00So every weekend my husband and I attend this sweet, small little church at the beach where he serves as an accolade. The Saturday before Easter, my daughter and I went to help prepare the church for Easter Mass. And when we arrived, the deacon, who was so kind and patient, invited my grandchildren to help carry the chrism oils up to the altar and place them in their special spot. Once there he knelt down and explained what each oil represents and why they're sacred. And remember, the children are ages three and five, and we are watching from the back of the church as they stood on the altar, ever so still, eyes wide open, taking in every word. The oldest asked, What does father do with these oils? I turned to my daughter to look at her face, and there she stood in disbelief as to what she was watching. Here they were helping to prepare for mass, carrying chrism oil, not in a religion class, learning from a worksheet, nobody drilling them with facts. They were encountering a great mystery, and it was doing its own work, and I only suspect it will continue to do
Stations Of The Cross Questions
SPEAKER_00so. Now the week before we were at the same little church with the same sweet deacon. We were there to attend the stations of the cross, and it was so lovely because you were able to be in a small setting, up close and personal, nothing between us and the beautiful mystery we were participating in. My oldest grandchild was with us once again, and as we went to each station, the deacon would pause, and this only invited questions once again for my grandchild to ask his mom at every stop. It was such a beautiful encounter to watch, and of course the liturgical year was creating the container, the vessel, and the encounter, the stations of the cross was filling that container, that
Five Reasons To Follow The Year
SPEAKER_00vessel. So now let's talk about the five reasons you should stop ignoring the liturgical calendar as a Catholic homeschool mom. Reason one is to create a natural rhythm of faith because faith isn't a subject you add to your schedule.
Rhythm Of Faith Through Seasons
SPEAKER_00It's the liturgical year, which is already a rhythm, which includes Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and ordinary time. Because you're not creating something new, you're stepping into something very ancient and beautiful. Your children learn to lean into their faith the way they learn into the seasons, just like my grandchild did preparing for Easter Mass and attending the Station of the Cross.
The Curriculum Spine For Every Subject
SPEAKER_00Reason two is it's the perfect spine for every subject, and this is my favorite because you are walking through salvation history every single year, which is the history spine. And then there's literature. There are so many beautiful living books tied to the liturgical seasons and stories about saints, and there's also beautiful feast day books. And of course, the church has given you for centuries beautiful art and holy music. So you don't need a separate Catholic curriculum when the liturgical year is your curriculum. Some of my favorite homeschool days include reading the story for the saint of the day or learning and living a feast day together. My own children have wonderful memories of this as well. They especially love to tell stories about Saint Francis' feast day, which is in October, and all the unusual pets that would show up to be blessed. Reason
Walking With Christ Each Year
SPEAKER_00three is it walks your children through the life of Christ annually, which is so beautiful because every year is the same journey Advent waiting, Christmas joy, Linton sacrifice, and Easter glory. And each year as your children get older, they will only go deeper into each of these beautiful seasons during their journey. And by the time they're adults, they've walked with Christ dozens of times. And that's formation you cannot buy in a box. It is so joyous to watch and walk alongside my children as they journey through the life of Christ each year with their own children. Reason four is it turns your home into a domestic church.
Turning Your Home Into Church
SPEAKER_00Because the church building does the same on feast days and fasting days as your home can do. So light a candle, read a saint story, fast from dessert, or make a special meal. These small gestures say this day is different because the season matters and God is here. Now growing up in a very close knit family and spending time at the convent each summer where my great aunt was Mother Superior, and then to my great grandmother's home in New Orleans, which was oh so the domestic church, and I've always carried that with me, and now realize that's how my own domestic church was formed. Now I get to watch my own children forming their own domestic churches, which is such a tremendous blessing to be part of.
Flexibility By Penitence And Feast
SPEAKER_00Reason five is it gives flexibility and focus. Now the penitential seasons, which are Advent and Lent, will invite you to slow down, to simplify, to go inward, while the festive seasons, which are Christmas and Easter, invite you to celebrate intensely, to feast and to rejoice. So you're not making up the rhythm because the church is giving it to you. And that rhythm trains your children to order their lives around God's time, not the world's time. And these rhythms are such a gift that the church has given us. And to be able to live our lives in this way is such a gift too.
Live It Simply And Let God Work
SPEAKER_00I want to take a moment and go back to our little beach church, where our three and five year old were carrying chrismoils and asking questions about the stations of the cross. Where nobody had planned a lesson that day. It was just us living liturgically, because the liturgical year is created in moments just like these. And the Holy Spirit does the rest. That is what you're building when you stop ignoring the calendar and start living it. Just like my daughter did and watched her children have a holy encounter which she didn't orchestrate because the church year did it
A Small Feast Day Challenge
SPEAKER_00for her. One thing I would love for you to do this week is to look for the next feast day or saint day coming up on the liturgical calendar. Pick one small way to mark it. It can be a story, a prayer, or maybe a special meal. Don't add five things, just one will do, and let the calendar lead you and see what holy encounter presents itself for you and your family.
Free Guide And Listener Question
SPEAKER_00Also, I would love for you to check out our free guide called Walking with Our Lady Through the Year. It's in our show notes. It was built to celebrate Marian Feast and Liturgical Seasons simply and peacefully for your family. And I want to hear what is one thing about your Catholic homeschooling you wish someone would sit down and walk you through. Send me an email at hello at CatholicSharlotMason dot com or answer in our Facebook group, which you can find the link to join in our show notes, and I promise you I read every single response and I will respond too. Until next time, I pray this episode encouraged your heart today.