Elena 
In my 20s, with my associate degree in hand, I boldly went out into the world of work and then got fired. Twice. It was not a good year.
I look back on it now and smile. I also realize that being an honor student is a different skill set than being an employee. Anyway, as my kids venture forth and face the job market (especially this job market) I thought these rejection letters to famous people were kind of inspiring and funny!
This is why I love Julie Bogart’s Bravewriter program and her blog. Most of the homeschool moms I have known of my vintage have been MARRIED to their curriculum. And I think it’s safe to say that most Catholic homeschool curriculums (ahmem… seton) are pretty unforgiving when it comes to schedules and time tables – which is probably why I could never stick with them. Yea, and I know some families swear by the solid textbook approach, but I’ve had too much life happening in the last 10 years to really be able to stick with it. Anyway, Julie wrote:
Stop! Drudgery, dullness, tedium—these are the enemy of home education and learning. When a practice becomes so rote that everyone moans, switch to the next thing. Take a break.
Routine is wonderful, comforting, predictably pleasing (even if not exciting like a brand new shiny toy).
– See more at: http://blog.bravewriter.com/2014/03/12/once-is-better-than-never/#sthash.2xsdgdxT.hB5anVzX.dpuf
Most Catholic kids grow up hearing the phrase “offer it up.” Here’s the theology and scripture behind it! Along those same lines, What is the Point of Suffering?
A very cute kid’s craft from Catholic Icing – assuming we ever get to play outside in the warmth again!
My niece, the schoolteacher posted this!
Which I love because after all, I wrote this.
Our fifth-graders have learned so much this year. Most of them can write a seven-paragraph essay in one sitting. They have read novel after novel after novel. They know what plot events are, credible sources, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, and how an author arranged a non-fiction piece of writing. They’ve studied Rosa Parks, Robert Frost, Lucretia Mott, Abraham Lincoln, Garrett Morgan, Emily Dickinson, Nelson Mandela, Helen Keller, MLK, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, etc… (over 30 biographies in all). We’ve “been to” England, Mexico, Ireland, Denmark, and Japan during our school studies. It has been an exciting, fun, whirlwind year and I love these kids. This has been one of my favorite groups of students ever.
We could do SO MUCH with this foundation now. More of them could become published (I just dropped off some of their editorials to the newspaper today). More of them could participate in creative contests (one student was just chosen to go to a table decorating contest based on the “healthy sandwich” she designed). We could invite community leaders in for a luncheon and help develop their activist spirit. We could do a cultural fair and invite the younger students in our building to come and learn from us. We could get OUT of the building and visit local businesses so our students could see firsthand why their education matters. (You know, the things I USED to do in education, even once taking my students on a flying field trip.)
But what do we have to do now? Test Prep.
And why do we have to do it? Because no matter how fluent my students are, no matter how amazing their writing, no matter how much they know about so many topics, they MUST be able to sit for two and a half hours straight and read 6-7 reading selections and write approximately 12 essay questions giving the scorers EXACTLY what they’re looking for or they won’t get their points and they won’t get their scores. And since they’re going off to middle school next year, I want them to start with the highest “label” they can get (because with these tests, students DO get labeled and the state is the biggest “label lover” of them all)
Why women should reconsider mammograms. Never had one, and don’t plan to.
30% of the desktops are running Windows XP. Here are some tips to keep them safe after April 8.
The Christian alternative to Obamacare – looking pretty attractive.
This is such a great idea!!
Hat tip Raising Little Saints!