With so many ways to celebrate our faith...how will you chose? Pin this link and celebrate all year long with activities for Catholic families! There are a ton of ways to celebrate; some projects are

Well it looks like some of us are going to be home with our kids a little more than expected for the near future, so I wanted to round up some fun printable materials for

Brace yourself for the most comprehensive resource ever released by Catholic Icing! For almost a decade, you have been asking for Catholic Icing The Book, and y'all... this. is. it!!! I have been envisioning this

Print this minimalist colouring page greeting card to pray the rosary with your kids and give it to a loved one as an act of...

We are going to have an All Saints Day Party! Learn about All Saints Days Costume Ideas, Peg Doll Party, Saint Videos, and More

If you're making a meditation garden for the Virgin Mary, what flowers you will plant to decorate it? Here are 10 flower varieties that symbolize Mary..

Looking for a fun and engaging way to teach your children about the Catholic faith? This Catholic Playdough Mat Digital Download is perfect for you! This digital download includes seven different playdough mat designs that you can print out and play with at home. The mats feature illustrations of different Catholic themes. This digital download also includes a recipe for homemade playdough, so you can make it together with your children and enjoy some quality time while learning about the faith. These mats are a great resource for religious education, homeschooling, and family fun time. They're perfect for kids of all ages and can be used to teach them about the Catholic faith in a fun and interactive way. Our Catholic Playdough Mat Digital Download is available for instant download after the purchase, so you can start using it right away. Simply print out the mats and recipe, and you're ready to go. Features: Seven different playdough mat designs Recipe for homemade playdough included Perfect for religious education, homeschooling, and family fun time Instant download after purchase You can laminate the mats after printing, or you can use a pocket sleeve similar to this: shorturl.at/xIPR6 SIZING: 24inX18in for extra-large playdough fun, or regular letter-sized 8.5X11 paper.

Being surrounded by things that remind us of our faith is important to me. I have always loved the idea of a space that I can display our liturgical items and somewhere we can see

You can learn your basic Catholic prayers while coloring with these 7 fun and detailed coloring pages. Use them for your kids or for a relaxing coloring...

Catholic mini book bundle is the perfect printable activity for kids to teach them about the Catholic faith, the Bible, Jesus and more!

Catholic gift ideas homemade by nuns and monks... perfect for hostess gifts, birthdays, Christmas, in general to support our Catholic brothers and sisters

Catholic ... E V E R Y W H E R E . In all circumstances , devoted to Our Lord & Lady . They swim with scapulars . People on...

Welcome! I've rounded up all of my First Holy Communion resources on this easy-to-navigate page. There are tons of supplements here for First Communion preparation! You will find First Communion Crafts, First Communion Printables, First

Catholic Mass Lesson Ideas: Five activities about lessons, games, and activities that can be used to teach students and kids about the Catholic Mass.

This mini-series is chock-full of practical prayer tips, inspiration, and research-backed reasons why keeping a Mass journal can help you grow closer to Christ - all from a Catholic perspective!

This beautiful, modern, minimalist one line drawing of the Last Supper is a modern interpretation of the famous work of Leonardo da Vinci. Because of its minimal look it is a prefect addition to any dining room. It can also be a great gift for a catholic family. INSTANT DOWNLOAD This listing is for a DIGITAL FILE of this artwork. No physical item will be sent. You can print the file at home, at a local print shop or using an online service. If you want a PRINTED VERSION of this artwork you can order it here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1001113096 INCLUDED FILES 1. High-resolution JPG file in 2:3 ratio for printing the following sizes: - 4”x6” - 10x15cm - 8”x12” - 20x30cm - 12”x18” - 30x45cm - 16”x24” - 40x60cm - 20”x30” - 50x76cm - 24”x36” - 60x90cm 2. High-resolution JPG file in 3:4 ratio for printing the following sizes: - 6”x8” - 15x20cm - 9”x12” - 23x30cm - 12”x16” - 30x40cm - 15”x20” - 38x50cm - 18”x24” - 45x60cm 3. High-resolution JPG file in 4:5 ratio for printing the following sizes: - 4”x5” - 10x12cm - 8”x10” - 20x25cm - 11”x14” - 28x35cm - 12”x15” - 30x38cm - 16”x20” - 40x50cm 4. High-resolution JPG file in ISO (International Standard Size) format for printing the following sizes: - A1 - A2 - A3 - A4 - A5 Each JPG is high-resolution (300 dpi), which will get you very clean, clear prints. If you want this drawing in another size or format, just contact me! All prints are for personal use only and cannot be resold or used commercially in any way. All Rights Reserved. Please, feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. INSTANT DOWNLOAD: 1. Purchase the listing. 2. Once payment is confirmed, you will be taken to the download page. Also, an email will be sent to you with your download link. Click “Download” to save the files on your computer. 3. Print the files at home, at a local print shop, or using an online service. For help with digital downloads, please see https://www.etsy.com/au/help/article/3949

Ready to take your prayer life to the next level? Grab our free prayer journal to help you grow in your faith.

Catholic Mass Lesson Ideas: Five activities about lessons, games, and activities that can be used to teach students and kids about the Catholic Mass.

Students fill in the blanks to learn and review 4 Catholic Prayers: - Our Father - Hail Mary - Glory Be - Guardian Angel Prayer These are a great first four prayers for Catholic Students to learn. The pages assemble into a layered flipbook. Please see the preview for more detail.

In this post I will be sharing the Divine Mercy Chaplet and how to pray it as a family with kids. Be sure to grab your free printable Guide to the Divine Mercy for kids.

Halloween is quickly approaching, and it's no secret that there are some very dark and demonic elements involved in the way our culture currently practices Halloween. So, as Catholics, should we participate in Halloween?

I have been aware of the minimalist lifestyle for a couple of years now. I've read blogs and printed out checklists specific to minimizing stuff but I've never read any actual books on the subject, like The

Summer is a great time to read fiction and escape to another world. Here's a lineup of awesome Catholic novels that will engage and enrich your life.

Teach your kids these simple Catholic prayers to help grow their relationship with God and build a life-long foundation with Christ!

Fun and frugal way to Teach the Sign of the Cross. Easy craft for kids to learn proper way to do this special prayer. Great way to practice!

Although this page is going to focus on using a Catholic Journaling Bible, the posts are for everyone who practices or wants to learn more about the spiritual discipline of Bible Journaling.

A Catholic Saints Coloring Book is an EASY way for kids to learn about the lives of the Saints.

1/2. Sam at Cultivating Catholics Okay, I’m a little biased here. But that’s why I only gave myself the number “1/2” :). I’ve dabbled in creating free printables (most are exclusive to my subscriber list, so make sure you sign up!) Some of my very first printables I ever created were Sacred and Immaculate Heart […]

In this Planning for a Holy Halloween and All Saints Day blog post, I will discuss how we can prepare for Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day

Looking for unique ways to incorporate your Faith into your daily life? Here are ways to "Catholicize" your day, no matter what you're doing!

How to create a liturgical binder in your catholic home. Plus, I’m sharing my favorite resources for planning out a feast days and devotions

I love sharing what I've learned (and am still learning) about homeschooling, especially homeschooling a special needs child. I am a huge advocate for homeschooling children with special needs. I truly believe that a parent's love for their child will guide them to find the best possible curriculum to meet their child's needs. I'll do anything to help Joe succeed. Research reading programs - ✔ Find musical DVDs to help him learn math facts, states, etc. - ✔ Sit with him for endless hours in the bathroom while working on potty training. - ✔ Teach him how to butter his own bread. - ✔ You'd do these for any of your kids right? The difference when dealing with a special needs child is that often times the first thing tried doesn't work. Or the second. Or the third. Usually around the 4th or 5th try is when I finally find something that works. I hope my trial and error process provides you with more insight to help you know where to start. For any homeschooling parent, especially if you are starting from the beginning, teaching your child to read is the skill that requires the most of your time. Over the years I've used many different reading programs. I've purchased ready to go curriculum. I've printed and printed and printed phonics worksheets and mini books. I've spent my Dollar Tree budget on workbooks worth exactly what I paid. I've bought my share of early readers. Oh, how I despise most early readers. Some have worked, others not so much. I'll share two of my favorite series later in this post. Here's what I'm using to teach Joseph (with Down syndrome) to read today. I say today, because I do change things up a bit through the school year depending on what's working and whether I find something new I'd like to try. However, I have no plans on changing because the following two reading tactics are working quite well for us. #1 All About Reading Level 1 This is the phonics component to Joe's reading program. It's really the spine, the meat, the backbone to how I'm teaching Joe to read. Phonics play an important part in reading, even for kiddos with special needs. I've read in numerous places how kids with Down syndrome can only learn to read through sight reading. That's false and short sighted because really, are you going to make flashcards for every word in the dictionary? Because that's what sight reading means - memorizing and learning to recognize words immediately. Phonics is a tool for readers. A tool to help them sound out a word using very specific rules relating to letter combinations. And I love All About Reading! It takes you through step by step using a sequence that makes sense. Each step is scripted, which at first (if you haven't used a scripted curriculum) feels fake and slow. But once you pick up on the flow and script style, it's really easy to be natural and still follow the script. Now that I'm very comfortable with All About Reading Level 1, I put my own spin on it. Here's how: Letter sounds come easy to Joe, but the blending of letters together to read a word is a slow process. He definitely gets the process. It's just his lips don't always want to move into the letter sound shapes quickly. Say the word fun. Look at yourself in the mirror as you say it slowly. Your lips have to make 3 different shapes. Then in order to say the word fast you have to be able to move your lips and tongue quickly. That's where people with Down syndrome often struggle. The brain power is there! The necessary facial control is sometimes difficult. All About Reading lessons include a section called Fluency Practice. It's usually 1-3 pages of words, phrases, and sentences for your child to read to increase their reading speed. Speed is important for reading comprehension. As we've progressed through the lessons the Fluency pages are our least favorite part because they take a long, loooong, looooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnng time to get through. Like Lesson 10 took over a month. Looking at a whole page of sentences was overwhelming even if I covered up everything except what he was reading. He just knew it was never ending. So I grabbed a yellow legal pad, turned it sideways and started writing out the sentences word by word for Joe to read, and we haven't turned back. It's working just as I had hoped. The key to this style of fluency practice is to write one word at a time. The 2nd key is to adjust the sentences so there's lots of repetition. See my samples below. In the first example the sentences are the same length; I just changed up a word or two in each sentence. Reading the same words over and over again helps with instant recognition. Lesson 10 Sentences Lesson 12 Sentences - definitely harder than lesson 10. Once the full sentence is written I let Joe read it again pointing on his own. Then a smiley face and I start writing the next sentence having him read each word as I write it. Once the page is full, we're done for the day. ----------------------------------Edited 4-13-18------------------------------------ Since this blog post I started a YouTube channel. For a look at All About Reading Level 1 and how I customize it to make it work best for Joseph check out the video. #2 Like I said earlier, I've bought my fair share of early readers. We've stuffed our library bag, too. I'm hard to please when it comes to those early readers. Some readers have advanced words. We checked out one Level Pre-Primer from the library with the words tornado and lightning. Clearly, those are not pre-primer words. Some are simply stupid. Thankfully, I ran across Margaret Hillert's "Beginning to Read" books. Most of the books are familiar stories, simplified to only include words off the Dolch word list. The Dolch word list includes 220 of the most often used words in books, textbooks, newspapers, etc. Hillert's books are repetitive throughout and list the words used in the back of the book. Her simplest books use just over 30 different words. Original copyright hardcovers New updated versions. These include excellent additional literacy activities. The rhyming activity is really helping Joe with his rhyming. Books we've read according to number of words 34 - The Three Little Pigs 36 - The Three Goats 43 - The Yellow Boat 44 - Cinderella at the Ball 45 - The Three Bears 49 - A House For Little Red 58 - The Purple Pussycat 61 - Four Good Friends 61 - Dear Dragon Goes to the Library 67 - It's St. Patrick's Day, Dear Dragon 69 - Little Red Riding Hood 72 - Pinocchio This is just a handful of her books. Amazon has many, many more, but they are pricey. Buying used is probably a good option. Here's another option for purchasing used copies. Here's how we use the Beginning to Read books. Day 1. I read aloud the story a couple of times during Morning Time or whenever time permits. Day 2. I read the title, then have Joe read the title from the title page. I read the first few pages, then have him read a sentence or two. I read a few more pages, then have him read a sentence or two. This continues till the end. Day 3. I point, he reads. If he gets stuck on a non-phonetic word (true sight word) I simply tell him the word and he keeps reading. If he gets stuck on a phonetic word, I have him sound it out and go on. Day 4. Repeat of Day 3. Day 5. I quiz him on the words using homemade flashcards. I write each word on a card, then set out 12 in front of him. I say a word, he finds it and holds it. Each time he finds a word, I replace it with another card so there are always 12 cards in front of him. Once all cards have been picked up he gets a reward, usually a hug, high 5 or animal cracker. Day 6. Same as Day 5, except I put out 16-20 cards at a time. Day 7. Joe holds the pile, reads a card, then hands it to me. Once I have all the cards (which I've done nothing to earn them) he congratulates me. He's so funny. Writing out the flashcards doesn't take much time because the words are used in multiple stories so I just reuse them over and over. He also reads the book to himself during afternoon quiet time. At this time, I don't correct him if I hear a wrong word. I let him read it any way he chooses as long as he's reading quietly. I want him to simply enjoy books. Thanks for reading; that was a lot of information. Do you have other questions about teaching reading to beginners? I'd love to help. Please leave a comment here at the blog or at the Camp Homeschool Facebook page. Linking up with

A guide to all of the best Catholic homeschool curriculums and resources.

From easy to easiest, choose your level of difficulty for this simple-prep Eucharistic craft with free printables!

What are the ten things you MUST do in your homeschooled Catholic Preschool? A great list of things that must NEVER be left out!