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Christkindl Cards & More

by Filed Under: Advent, Christkindl, Prints Leave a Comment

Below is a link for Christkindl Cards that my children use to track their prayers & acts of service for their “Christ Child” throughout Advent to Epiphany (or your preferred end-date).

This creates a wonderful atmosphere of joyful suspense, kindness, and thoughtfulness. Perhaps you will find that somebody has made your bed or shined your shoes or has informed you, in a disguised handwriting on a holy card, that “a rosary has been said for you today” or a number of sacrifices have been offered up. This new relationship is called “Christkindl” (Christ Child) in the old country, where children believe that the Christmas tree and the gifts under it are brought down by the Christ Child himself.

Maria Von Trapp

The card can be used in the home for your own version of the Christkindl. It’s merely a tool to help us keep on track – offering a daily gift for Christ among those who are before us.

The boxes represent a day in Advent to Christmas or Epiphany Day. This year, Advent starts on Nov. 29, 2020.  I made it blank so it can be reused each year, assigning the dates as needed.

Download Christkindl Cards

Here is an easy overview of the Advent Season. You can post it in your home or just use it for your planning.

Click here for the 2020 Advent PDF
Download Advent 2020

“O come O come Emmanuel” was taken from the Liturgy, from the antiphons. It includes the seven names that are given to Our Lord. We the Divine Office with our older children. For my littles, singing or just reading O Come Emmanuel each night after our family rosary connects them with the Divine Office.

O Emmanuel Lyrics in Latin & English – JOYfilledfamily

O Emmanuel with coordinating O Antiphons – Family in Feast and Feria

Maran Athan–Veni Domine—Come O Lord Jesus!

Homeschool Daily Checklist

by Filed Under: Homeschooling, Organization, Prints Leave a Comment

freedom from vice and freedom for virtue

We are list people. I love them and my children love them. We have used various systems over the 20+ years of homeschooling and lists are always at the center.

I use lists with the goal of having my children become independent managers of their time and school work by the time they’re 13 years old.

These last two years of homeschooling have been different for us as we have made some shifts in homeschooling that we never anticipated. We continue to do more as the Good Lord prompts us.

There have been good fruits but the changes have also stretched us all in many ways. Recently, I was sharing my woes with a dear friend, Jessica who is also a veteran homeschooling mom of many. She offered encouragement and reshared the checklist that she uses for her children.

I decided to bring back the checklist for one of my children as it was clear the increased workload was too much for this child to organize on their own with a standard planner. I was also having challenges keeping up with what was due as the assignments are shared weekly vs. what we’ve been used to.

The new checklist that we’re incorporating provides a streamlined way for us to record what is due, breakdown workload, and help keep on task. It can be used for a traditional homeschooler or child in a classroom to everything in between.

You may use the checklist for your own use.

This checklist is based on what Shower of Roses shared.
I use abbreviations for all books. My children know how to read the checklist and fill it in on their own. We review throughout the day and update it as assignments are given & completed.

Homeschool Daily Checklist

To use this checklist:

  • click link/open file
  • save a copy of the file to your Google Drive
  • personalize for your child (copy and paste checkboxes if needed)
  • print as needed
  • make additional copies for each child and repeat the above steps

I’d love to hear how you help your children manage their lessons and become independent planners.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, ora pro nobis

Schoolroom Calendar

by Filed Under: Home Education, Homeschooling, Liturgical Calendar, Prints 7 Comments

We’ve been using a lovely Liturgical Wall Calendar with a pocket chart for years in our homeschool. But it was on its last leg and I no longer had access to the original file. I figured that we would go without it this school year and find an alternative over time. My boys weren’t having it, they love traditions and routines.

I opted to create something in our eleventh hour before we begin the new school year to ensure that we continue to help our children live the liturgical year.

The traditional Catholic Liturgical Year is filled with great reverence, symbolism, and beauty just like the Latin Tridentine Mass.  Each month and each day of the week is named for a special devotion.  We can join in the richness of our Catholic faith by following the days, weeks, seasons and feastdays of the traditional calendar in a natural rhythm that brings us ever closer to God and our Holy Mother Church. 

This Wall Calendar printable follows the Traditional Calendar
12-Month Catholic School Wall Calendar

You may download this wall calendar kit for your personal use at your set price/offering. The details are shared in the link.

We desire that all families have access to the faith resources that we share.

Catholic Feastdays are days set aside to remember important people and events through the course of the Faith from the time of Mary’s birth all the way through today honoring the saints. This calendar follows traditional form of the Roman Rite, before many of the concillar changes.

Please share pictures of how you use this calendar in your home!

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