Catholic History in the Making

Thanks to my good buddy, MaryM, we were able to resurrect an old tradition in the homeschooling community here in the Rockies -- the Catholic History Fair. Families come together -- some with projects and some without -- to share and learn about Catholic history. Today was our day!





MaryM, who covers all bases, got Augustine Institute President, Dr. Jonathan Reyes to give us a talk about history. He has a PhD in History but he said that the two most important aspects of history to remember: God is in charge and our jobs (whether old or young) is to know, love and serve God and to bring others to the faith. That's it. He also talked about the need to teach history through stories -- not dry dates, names or places -- something that the kids can really enjoy, embrace and own.

While the big ones and parents were listening to Dr. Reyes, the little ones played (sometimes not so quietly) with building things and coloring sheets. Many played outside in the sunny day (after a threatened snowstorm the day before).



Individual kids and parents created different projects with a similar theme -- Catholic History. Here are some of the 2 dozen or so projects on display:



Saints and Shrines of England:








Nurses and Nursing and Their Catholic Roots:
















Here's Lego-Maniac's "Taking of Jerusalem" in 1099 and his friend's display about Our Lady of Guadalupe.



And here's String Bean's project -- one which she thought of all on her own. Saint Faustina in her convent. String Bean sewed the Faustina doll (altho I helped her with cutting out the habit) and she did all the decorating of the Convent of St. Joseph, Cracow, Poland. StringBean has really taken a great liking to Saint Faustina and we've been praying to this great Polish Saint for String Bean's First Communion (which she and LegoManiac will receive on Sunday, April 29th).


So, the resurrected Catholic History Fair was full of great projects, excellent learning opportunities and a chance for some fabulous home-learning families to get together and share their learning. Definitely a wonderful day here in the Front Range!