In this section of our site, we would like to share some of the various ideas that have worked very well for the children. Some of these ideas were the teachers', some were the students' and some were started without a definite plan. Please take a look and use whatever you can in your situation. The red links will take you to a page dedicated to each idea.

 

Try a Poetry Tea as a wonderful way of exposing children to poetry in a very enjoyable, low pressure setting.  This section also includes links to some of our favorite poems.

Learning the Scriptures is an important part of a Christian child's education. Each morning, as part of our prayers, we spend time learning a psalm. When we can recite it by heart, we go on to another one. Here is what we do - Psalms.

We celebrate the St. Brigid’s Day, each year on February 1, by making Irish Soda Bread and butter. Sometimes we also make other crafts, but we always make the bread and butter, tell the story of her life and sing the troparion in her honor. We often have tea with our bread and butter.

We also make extra to give away, to emphasize caring for others and hospitality, as the saint did.

Here is a Life of St. Brigid, and here is a recipe for the Irish Soda Bread. We hope you enjoy reading her life and making Irish Soda Bread and butter. It is a delightful custom.

There are several sites with more information about this saint, and a lovely icon at http://comeandseeicons.com/b/cap11.htm

When St. Patrick arrived in Ireland to preach the gospel, he encountered much opposition from the Druid leaders. One of the greatest opponents was a king named Loegaire, son of Niall. King Loegaire and his servants had failed in their contests with St. Patrick so they devised a plan to kill him. The king invited him to his residence in Tara, saying that there he would submit himself before St. Patrick officially. The plan was to ambush St. Patrick and his disciples as they journeyed.

St. Patrick, knowing the king’s deceit, sang a hymn as a prayer while he traveled to Tara. The title, The Deer’s Cry, comes from the fact that the king’s men never saw St. Patrick and his disciples, but only a herd of deer passing by.

We usually recite The Deer's Cry, which is also called The Lorica, each morning for several weeks in the spring. The children naturally "act out" the prayer with various movements.

Here are two files of The Deer’s Cry, one designed for 8.5 x 14 paper, landscape, and one for 8.5 x 11 portrait. The translation is from Celtic Christianity, Ecology and Holiness, an anthology by Christopher Bamford and William Parker Marsh

 
Did you ever see the beautiful Patterns in the Simple Times Tables? There are patterns within patterns. Can you find them?

The Latin word "ludus" means both game and school. We have found some great wisdom in this double meaning. Children love to play games and they learn quite a bit from them. Here are three math games we have found to be very instructive.

In preparation for fractions, and later for algebra, children need to learn the times tables forward, backward and inside out.  It is not enough is know them only forward, that is, 9 x 4 = 36. They must be flexible enough to see that many numbers can be reached by multiplication in more than one way. How else can 36 be reached on the times tables?

Here are three games we have found to be very enjoyable (game) and instructive (school).

1) We use specially dyed manipulatives and a game called "Up the Hill" to help the children learn their times tables "forward". We have the manipulatives, with instructions, available in The School Store.

2) The Product to Factor (PTF) Game emphasizes the "backward" part of learning the times tables.  In this game, the children are given the product and they need to determine the various ways of getting to that product.  It is like being given the answer and from that determining the question.  Click PTF Game for the game board and pieces.   It is designed to be printed on 8.5 x 14 paper, a size which most printers can handle.   The board is in two pieces which can be laminated and taped together for play.  The answer pieces can be laminated and cut out.

Click Instructions to learn how to play the Product to Factor Game.

2) The "inside out" part learning the times tables is being very fluid in recognizing common factors. Here is a game, called "Factor Match", which gives children an enjoyable way to practice recognizing common factors.

This simple game has been very helpful to the students in learning the correct use and spelling of homophones.  The game is related to "Fish" or "Rummy" and the rules require that the players ask for cards by spelling or meaning. 

We have prepared four different sets of words, containing 24 pairs each.  Each set is in Adobe 9 format and contains four pages of words and a fifth page which can be printed on the back of each of the word pages.  The alignment works best if the top of the color back page is printed on the top of the word pages.

To see the words contained in each set, click here. 

For the games rules, click here.

Simply click on the set number you would like to download.

Set 1                      Set 2                   Set 3                  Set 4