Catholic, Homeschooling, and Dyslexic: Religion Class

I've googled those three words a lot over the past year, and there's not much out there for this minority.

Many Catholics homeschool and many dyslexics homeschool, but this weird combination of Catholic, homeschooling, and dyslexic seems pretty rare.

I've decided to help fill this gap with a series of posts about what we've found that works for us here at St. Jude's School for Kids Who Want To Read Good and Do Other Things Good Too.

Here's what we have found success with for religion/theology.

Online Catholic Learning or My Catholic Faith Delivered is a great website for religion courses.  For $25 a year, you can enroll in the Ignatius Press Faith and Life course.

This year we are using Following Christ, Book 6 (Faith and Life Series). I buy the Faith and Life texts and workbooks in addition to the online course.

Monday:  I read the chapter of the week aloud to Edmund.  He reads the blue box (questions and answers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church) at the end of each chapter aloud to me and we discuss.  The chapters are short, three to four pages max.  He does the first of the four corresponding workbook pages.  I aid him in highlighting relevant texts.

Tuesday through Thursday:  He does another workbook page each day for a total of four pages.

Friday:  He does the online lesson which includes a pre-test, a review game perhaps, listening to an audio version of the same chapter again, and the chapter test.

Every three or four chapters, there is a Unit Test, so every three or four weeks, he takes that test on a Friday as well.

My involvement in this subject is pretty minimal.  I spend some time reading on Mondays.  Tuesdays through Thursday I review his workbook pages and we discuss additions or corrections.  Once last week, I had to clear up a little heresy.  No big deal.

I've had a few hiccups with the online courses, but the service at Online Catholic Learning is superb. The folks there have been very kind (and patient) and helpful.  We completed the fifth grade course over the summer are off and running with the sixth grade one.

We are also going to supplement these courses from time to time to do some saint studies (We like the audio biographies from Glory Stories.) and lapbooks.  Edmund is getting confirmed next year, so I hope to add some Confirmation studies in the spring.

Following Christ, Book 6 (Faith and Life Series) has a special lesson for Christmas that I've managed to incorporate into our lesson plan.  Go me!  Normally, I would not have discovered it until too late. Holy Spirit for the win!

For another look at How We Homeschool, check out this interview I did with Micaela at California to Korea.

Children's Books for the Upcoming Canonizations

Recently, the good folks at Ignatius Press sent me two of their newest titles to review in preparation for the upcoming canonizations of John Paul the II and John XXIII.

John Paul II: The Journey of a Saint, written by Guy Lehideux and Louis-Bernard Koch and illustrated by Dominique Bar, is a non-fiction graphic novel (sounds like an oxymoron, I know).

The graphic novel format means that it is comic-book style.  Some people love it, some people hate it.  The graphic novel format has gained respect in the literary world and is used to lure reluctant readers, especially boys.

John Paul II: The Journey of a Saint is different from a regular comic, not just in its content, but also it's size and binding.  This book is large, making it easy to read, and the hardcover binding guarantees that it will last a long time.

The story of John Paul II: The Journey of a Saint is compelling and thoughtfully told.  I found the Polish names hard to read and remember (who's who), but the pictures are a great aid in this.  Beginning before his birth, we follow Karol Wojtyla through his youth, the loss of his family members, his foray into the theater, his abrupt decision to enter the priesthood, his role in post-WWII Poland, and his papacy.

After John Paul II is elected pope, the storyline dwindles into a list of dates of prominent writings, journeys (World Youth Days are noted), and canonizations.  The book ends shortly after the canonization of St. Josemaria Escriva.

I felt that this left out an important part of the saintliness of John Paul II, namely his suffering and death.  His decline of health was a public witness to the power of suffering, which modernity would have us eschew.

Despite the omission of his end days, John Paul II: The Journey of a Saint is an excellent and attractive book for children of all ages.

Do not judge a book by its cover.

Do judge this book by it's entire title:  Our Holy Father, the Pope: The Papacy from Saint Peter to the Present.

This beautifully illustrated book by Don Caffery is NOT a biography of Pope Francis, as I had first thought, but rather a very good explanation of the papacy, how Christ began it all with St. Peter, how popes are elected, what they do, and where they live.

Our Holy Father, the Pope: The Papacy from Saint Peter to the Present is written in language geared to early readers and would make an excellent First Holy Communion gift. Especially considering that a few popes are given special focus including St. Clement, St. Leo, St. Pius X (who allowed young children to receive Holy Communion and encouraged receiving the Eucharist among all Catholics) and soon-to-be St. John Paul II.

You can order these books through Ignatius Press, or through my Amazon affiliate links.  I do get a small percentage of the proceeds from Amazon.  Ignatius did not pay me for my opinions, they only provided me with the books.  You still have time to get them for Easter if you use Amazon Prime free shipping!  You have even more time if you would like them for the canonizations on April 27th.

I'm thinking about sending these books to my godson for his first communion present.  I always struggle with boy gifts for occasions like these but these books are Catholic, geared for children, and somewhat masculine.