Catholic schools or home schooling?

William Fahey, President Thomas More College of Liberal Arts had praise and advice for homeschooling mothers at a recent homeschooling conference in Massachusetts, and caused some controversy. "'Home schooling puts an almost unmanageable strain on mothers, he said.
Home-schooling mothers are expected to be several things at once: mothers, homemakers, teachers, disciplinarians, wives and, for some, wage earners, too.
If home schooling seems like too much, he said, it’s because it is. We are political creatures, in the Socratic sense, and students learn best with other students. Schools are the best alternative for teaching children,' he said."
The editors of the Register covered both sides of this often contentious issue in the article below. Having lived on both sides of the fence, I find myself in a unique position to comment on the debate.

I homeschooled my two oldest daughters for ten years. I was asked to do so by my husband right after our honeymoon, and I thought he was asking a lot. I am a certified teacher (K-12 English as a Second Language, and I knew how much work was involved) Mr Fahey agrees that asking a mom to homeschool her children is a herculean task, especially when coupled with her other responsibilities. In my case, this meant helping to support my family.
I swung between years of structure (Seton), semi-structure (Catholic Heritage Curriculum) and do it yourself curriculum when the budget was low, and I used books donated by friends. I enjoyed the company of my three girls, and the extraordinarily close relationship they forged. I enjoyed the various homeschool groups which we joined and the close friendships we forged. I saw my girls grow in their reading and writing skills, math facts, knowledge of nature and history, and most importantly their Catholic faith. It was a wonderful experience in many ways, and I miss it. Having my girls home for the summer is as close as we get now to that family togetherness we once shared.

But it was not perfect. Having to work part time and having my youngest child, Christina with Down syndrome, meant we missed many opportunities to socialize with other homeschoolers, due to work and therapy commitments. Sometimes this left us feeling out of the loop, an misunderstood by more affluent homeschoolers who had more free time. Homeschooling is not possible for those without the luxury of a full time stay at home mother. Not that these families were swimming in luxury; most of these mothers make heroic sacrifices to be able to stay home, they drive old vans, wear hand me down clothing, live in overcrowded, outdated homes and prepare their own simple meals, rarely going out to eat or on vacation, still, with all these sacrifices, if a mom must contribute to the family income as I do, homeshooling may not be an option.

Another problem was that many Catholic homeschool groups at least on Long Island, where we lived at the time, were temporary. We belonged to nine groups which lasted from one to three years. While me met a variety of people, it was discouraging to see groups disband so often. Homeschoolers by nature are an independent bunch; and often these groups split over ideological or personality differences, some of which were painful and divisive, forcing bystanders to take sides or lose friends.

Another problem was that very few of these groups (four) had leadership from a priest, and this led to women taking overly strong leadership roles in these groups by default. This is not natural in the Catholic Church, where women's roles as nurturer and teacher are treasured, and the priest's role in ministry is central. Our children had little time to become involved in actual church activities. Some of this was not our fault, we homeschoolers were looking for a more traditional take on our faith, and it can be hard to find. We often travelled far and wide to attend more traditional Masses. What we did find were some young priests who shared our love for the Latin Mass, and homeschoolers formed the basis for many of these fledgling Masses; as attendees, altar boys, and schola singers. We enjoy being the leaders of the return to tradition in many areas; living the liturgical year, reading classic literature, learning Latin and Gregorian Chant. This is something I continue to enjoy whenever my visits home give me an opportunity to attend the Latin Mass near my old home. I am very proud of the support the homeschooling community has given to this movement of the Holy Spirit within the Church.

Another issue is discipline. I taught English at some homeschool co-ops and enjoyed working with children other than my own. I taught a literature-based writing class in which four girls won diocesan awards for their creative writing on pro-life themes. There were times, however, when a mother's over protectiveness meant that certain students, mostly adolescent boys, were disruptive and rude, making it nearly impossible to teach. Homeschooling can easily become too much of a shelter, keeping mothers from seeing the truth about some of their children's faults. I was not immune to this with my own children, and often asked for feedback from moms who taught them in cooperative learning situations about their behavior when in groups. Children who have mom's undivided attention at home, can easily become adverse to taking turns, and allowing others to be the center of attention in a homeschool, making transition to the classroom painful for both student and teacher. For this reason, homeschoolers are often viewed as odd by even devout Catholic school teachers.

As a homeschooling mother who made the decision to enroll her children in traditional Catholic schools, I am sometimes viewed as something of a traitor. Many homeschooling mothers see their second (or is it third?) vocation as a lifelong commitment, even extending into college. I saw it as a temporary option, rich in opportunity, to be re-evaluated each year as my children's needs changed. When my high school freshman expressed a desire to see her friends more, and an interest in nursing, I understood that a good Catholic convent school with a strong science program would better meet her needs. Gabbi found the transition taxing in terms of pure hours of her day; after six hours of schooling, she had 3-4 hours of homework. When she played sports, she was often up till midnight finishing her homework. Exams were times of great stress for her. There were many benefits, however, she enjoyed seeing her new friends on a daily basis, and taking part in school events; softball games, plays, concerts, field trips, and conferences. She made friends with international students, saw herself as part of a larger group, and got to know religious sisters. Gabbi made the honor roll two out of three semesters, taking honors classes, and was the star prosecutor in the moot court in her civics class. She heard her mother's values repeated by adults she respected, and gained the affection and respect of her instructors. We look forward to her college career with greater confidence because of her smooth transition to Catholic school.
My sixth grader, Isabella, was growing defiant to being taught at home, and expressed the greatest enthusiasm for our family move to Connecticut where we found truly Catholic schools where sisters in full habit taught catechism from the beautiful "Faith and Life" series from Ignatius Press. Bella's teachers were deeply devoted to their students and knowledgeable about their subjects, and Isabella has blossomed into a self-motivated, enthusiastic student who works on extra credit projects on her own, and chatters happily throughout the evening about events at school. Both girls have found wonderful Catholic girls for friends, some of whom have been homeschooled themselves.
I find some gaps in the Catholic character of the education in Catholic schools, where secular textbooks, especially those used for history and literature, could be replaced with some of the wonderful texts emerging from the Catholic presses. For example, I showed my pastor the textbooks from Ignatius Press for middle school history, "All Ye Lands" and he heartily agreed that they were far superior to the existing textbooks and moved to change them at once. The lay teacher who got the new books was thrilled that she no longer had to correct anti-Catholic elements of the textbook. As a substitute teacher in the school, I was able to introduce the children to some of the rich traditions we had time to celebrate as homeschoolers; the Jesse Tree, the O Antiphons, etc. I enjoyed attending First Friday Mass and Benediction with the class, as well as field day and the end of year concert and art show.
As I stay home most days and pursue my writing career, I thank God for the opportunity to home school my daughters when they were younger, feeling pride in our accomplishments academically, socially and in the faith. We have integrated our family into the larger Church as we support good Catholic schools and share the riches we gained in our Domestic Church.
Fr Josephy Fessio once told a group of EWTN supporters that homeschooling would be the salvation of the Church, and I agree; the richness of tradition which has been enjoying a revival in the Catholic homeschool has a lot to offer the Catholic educational community, if we are willing to learn from one another.
"Alongside the home-schooling movement are signs of renewal in Catholic schools. Parish schools are often the best in academics and discipline. Now, many dioceses are shoring up the faith content of their schools as well, using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a standard for religious instruction texts.
Maybe the new interest in home schooling is part of a larger trend toward better schooling in general.
Maybe the rise in home schooling will cause schools to improve in order to compete. That would make home schooling a sign of hope for the future of education."
Read the entire article in the Register.

Half of Catholic Colleges promote gay lifestyle!

This is a disgrace, no wonder church attendance is waning! Parents; do you know what your hard earned tuition dollars are doing to your children?
Read the following from TFP student action.

Research finds pro-homosexual clubs at 96 Catholic colleges
Sign TFP petition: "Save Our Catholic Identity"
That's 45% of the Catholic universities. Here's the full report.
You see, many of these clubs sponsor events that promote the homosexual movement's radical agenda, while gagging 2,000 years of Catholic moral teaching.
Catholic students who thirst for the truth are confronted with visible, active and well-funded clubs that openly contradict natural law and unchangeable Church teaching.
For example:
According to reports, a "Trans-gender Awareness Week" was held at Jesuit-run Seattle University during Lent. The event promoted a "Trans-gender Bible" study and encouraged students to dress in "gender bending outfits."
What can we do about these grave scandals?
TFP Student Action is rushing to collect 100,000 petitions, urging the presidents and authorities of Catholic universities to reclaim true Catholic education by disbanding these clubs and activities.
But I am counting on your help to launch the petition.
Please...
Join the "Save Our Catholic Identity" petition. Sign it now.
Spread the word. Make this campaign snowball successfully by inviting your friends to participate.
Pray and offer sacrifices for the restoration of Catholic higher education.
Do petitions really work? The answer is: YES.
Thanks to prayerful petitions like this one, the annual "Queer Film Festival" at the University of Notre Dame did not take place this year.

Other Catholic campuses also banned performances of the lewd "V-Monologues."

Obama to be commencement speaker at Notre Dame

We are working on a list of potential colleges for Gabriela to consider visiting this summer. Last night, we visited Providence College, which has a lovely campus on a hill overlooking the small college-centered city. It seems to have a strong Catholic presence, and if it had a nursing program, it would be on her list.
However, Notre Dame will never be. The most pro-death president of all time will be giving this year's commencement address.
My daughter would never attend Notre Dame after this disgraceful decision!
HT Whispers in the Loggia

What happens to failed Catholic schools

They become charter schools, with the same staff, the same philosophy, and the same books. Different uniforms, and no prayers. but really very much the same as before. This is good for the children who would be thrown to the wolved in dangerous inner city schools.
How sad that Catholic schools are closing when they are needed most to stem the tide of secularism.

"The seven Catholic-turned-charter schools in Washington are at the cusp of what is becoming a popular exit strategy for urban parochial schools nationwide facing plummeting enrollment and untenable operating costs. In New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled a plan last month to transform four Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens into charters, which are publicly financed but independently operated. In San Antonio, a major charter school operator is lobbying the archdiocese to consider charters if it is forced to close schools."
Read the entire story in the New York Times.

Obama's children have choice, these children beg for it

Christendom College to cancel classes for March for Life

Founded over 30 years ago Christendom College has attended the March for Life as a community every year. Its students are active in pro-life work year round, leading prayerful protests at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Washington once a week, as well as taking part in sidewalk counseling and other pro-life activities. For more information visit www.christendom.edu.
Now, that's what I call a Catholic college!
We'll be looking for a college like this in three years...one which is entirely committed to the Culture of Life.
Read the entire story on Catholic Online.

Heroic Catholic families

The late Fr. John Hardon said, "only heroic Catholic families will survive in this world".
Dr Jeff Mirus of Trinity Communications describes the heroic Catholic family at the dawn of the Third Millenium. Here's my favorite paragraph:
"In early third millennium America, heroic Catholic families generally don’t send their kids to public schools if they have any conceivable alternative. Nor do they take advantage of parochial or diocesan schools if their staffs are still riddled with cafeteria Catholics (or worse). If a sound Catholic school is not available, heroic Catholic families pull up roots and move, or they found independent schools, or they home school. Even if outstanding schools are available, they may still home school. I use the word “generally” in the first sentence, because there are exceptions to every parenting rule, and it isn’t anybody’s job but yours to make the best decision for your own children. "
Faced with only Cafeteria Catholic schools in our area, we have home-schooled, tried to start an independent school many times (and failed) and now we are discerning whether to pull up roots and move for outstandingly Catholic schools. And we are catching flack from a few quarters. But, we are heroic. Thanks, Dr. Mirus, I needed some affirmation!
HT Catholic Culture.org

No school choice for DC's poor children

from the Family Research Council
Forbidding the Poor from Choosing Good Schools
Congressional Democrats, in a foretaste of their likely education agenda for 2009, have signaled to poor families in the District of Columbia that their school choice vouchers aren't going to be renewed this fall. The news comes as a bitter blow to nearly 2,000 such families in the District, where Congress instituted a pilot school voucher program using federal funds in 2004.
District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who supports axing the program, says she met with families receiving the choice funds and "they look completely befuddled." It's no wonder why. The average yearly income for the families that participate in the program is just $22,736. Children enrolled in the program can use their vouchers, or scholarships, to attend a private school, a religious school, or one of the city's charter schools, as an alternative to the public system.
One affected mother, Patricia Williams, credited the program with changing her son Fransoir's life. At the District's Sacred Heart Catholic School, she said, Fransoir has "been developed in so many ways, intellectually, emotionally and in his values. I couldn't ask for anything better." Soon, thanks to Congressional Democrats and their singular devotion to just one form of education, Mrs. Williams and others in the District will lose their choice to ask.

Where is Barack Obama? Jesse Jackson? Al Sharpton?
These poor children are being denied a private education to escape DC's failing public school system. Or has the NEA and the UFT (United Federation of Teachers) bought their silence on this issue?
McCain should step into the gap and champion this cause, it's a true solution to poverty.

Chastity speaker Dawn Eden attacked in Ontario

That so called Catholic school students should act so rudely unfortunately doesn't shock me. I'm still surprised that those in charge of this school would have Dawn come to speak(Ontario Right to Life had help bring it about, God bless them, it must have been an uphill battle!). They've obviously been so lax in upholding any type of moral standards, perhaps they thought her talk would make up for that. Too little too late, unfortunatley for Ms. Eden, who has seen tough crowds, but was still shocked by the attitude of the students in these schools.
She rose to the occasion, however. You go girl!
Read the article here.
"Eden noted the general absence of a Catholic religious nature at some of the Ontario Catholic high schools she visited. She learned that in the Catholic schools, being state funded, as many as 25 per cent of the student body are non-Catholics. She was also told that of the Catholic students, "only a minority" attend Mass. "As a vice principal told me, they have a (well deserved) reputation for wearing the shortest skirts."
She also said, however, that despite the well-documented movement in Ontario's public Catholic schools away from the traditional Catholic devotional practices once normal in Catholic schools, some of the students themselves "had a strong devotional sense that was deeply touching," and that "surprised" even the school's staff. Eden's small supply of wooden cross necklaces and prayer cards were snapped up by the students.
She wrote, "The kids hear about sex all day from their peers who are putting forth the idea that everybody's doing it-a message that their schools' staff do not always attempt to dispel." She described as "exhilarating" that the work of "getting the students to see that not everybody was in fact doing it".
HT Lifesite News

How to save children from inner-city schools

If loving the poor means you want them to escape the cycle of poverty, and a good solid Catholic education means that poor children will be able to do so, why aren't liberals in support of school vouchers:
answer: because they are double-talking hypocrites who pander to the poor while offering programs which merely perpetuate the cycle of poverty. IF they wanted to end poverty in this nation, THIS is the solution. I taught in some of the most benighted schools on Long Island, and if those children could be taught by conservative nuns like the Dominicans of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, or the Sisters of Charity of Mary, Mother of the Church, they would learn character traits and knowlege which would save them from their terrible neighborhoods.

Kudos to President Bush for supporting this, I'm afraid, like Ronald Reagan, he will not be appreciate until he's out of office. He is a true friend of the poor.


Bush urges vouchers for Catholic schools
By LEDYARD KING • Gannett News Service • April 25, 2008

WASHINGTON — President Bush sees two major problems with inner-city education: Children trapped in low-performing public schools can't afford to go anywhere else, and religious schools are closing because they lack students.



Bush wants to address both problems by offering low-income parents federal aid to send their children to religious and other private schools he says provide academic hope.

At a White House Summit on Thursday called Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools, he renewed his call for spending $300 million on "Pell Grants for Kids," a voucher program fashioned after the popular federal Pell subsidies available to college students.

"In neighborhoods where some people say children simply can't learn, the faith-based schools are proving the naysayers wrong," Bush told a friendly audience of religious leaders and school choice advocates. "One way to make sure you don't lose schools is you have people that are able to afford the education sustain the cash flow of these valuable American assets."

Bush proposed vouchers when Republicans controlled Congress, but the idea went nowhere. With Democrats now in charge, prospects are dimmer.

But the summit, combined with the recent U.S. visit by Pope Benedict XVI, is drawing new attention to the plight of Catholic schools. Enrollment nationwide has declined for decades, largely because rising tuition has made the schools less affordable.

Large cities in the Midwest and Northeast have seen the steepest drops, with enrollment at Catholic schools in places such as Detroit, Newark and Rochester, N.Y., falling more than 30 percent over the past decade, according to the National Catholic Educational Association.

In New Jersey, the resulting school closings have come quickly over the last couple of years.

The bishop of Trenton merged four elementary schools in 2006 and created a new regional school in Willingboro.

In 2007, the Camden Diocese closed schools in Woodbury and West Deptford and consolidated them with a school in Deptford.

And this past winter, the diocese announced that it was losing nine elementary schools -- closing one and merging eight into institutions at other parishes. The consolidations affect long-established schools in Bellmawr, Blackwood, Cherry Hill, Glassboro, Lindenwold and Westmont.

Conversely, enrollment has risen in the South and West of the country, with dioceses in Atlanta, Nashville, Tenn., and Phoenix among the leading gainers.

Association President Karen Ristau, who attended the summit, applauded the proposal.

"Every parent should have a choice as to where they want to send their children," she said.

Vouchers provoke strong reactions.

Teachers' unions and many civil rights groups oppose them, saying taxpayers' money should be used to improve already underfunded public schools. Choice advocates and some parent groups say vouchers give poor children the same economic footing as middle-class families in choosing a better school.

Cities such as Milwaukee, Wis., Cleveland and Washington, D.C., have used vouchers, but researchers don't agree on the success of those programs, and they continue to be the subject of fierce argument.

Reach Ledyard King at lking@gns.gannett.com

Send a letter to the editor

Single sex schools are on the rise worldwide

Andrew Mullins of MercatorNet explains why here.
"Lastly, there are strong moral arguments for single-sex schooling. Perhaps there was a pre-industrial, pre-urban time in the village when mixed schooling was natural and socially appropriate. But we live in a different age. A large coeducational school in the modern city can be positively damaging for some children because parents lose all management of the incipient social life of their children. Parents are the primary educators and nobody else has the right to set the moral agenda in children’s upbringing, neither a peer group nor their teachers."

Archdiocese of NY to close Catholic schools

This is the legacy of the misinterpretation of Vatican II, the corruption of the Democratic party, and the greediness of teachers unions. School closings in New York.
I have worked in many poor school districts and they NEED solidly academic, orthodox Catholic schools. The public schools are infested with gangs, drugs and moral degenerates, yes, I'm talking about the teachers. Catholic schools should be a beacon of hope to the poor, and if the Democrats really cared about the poor in New York State, they'd allow the subsidy of these schools which make a difference in the lives of poor children. Instead they bow to the teacher's unions who are afraid of the least bit of competition.
There's even a tuition tax credit bill in New York State called the Educational Tax Incentive Act (S3627/A6432) which would funnel funds to both private AND public school when a family decides to enroll their child in private school. According to Rick Hinshaw the editor of the Long Island Catholic:
"The bill allows parents to deduct tuition at nonpublic schools from their state taxable income. Those with incomes too low to pay taxes and who qualify for the state earned income credit could receive a tax credit of as much as $500. That would result in a rebate being paid to them.The amount of the tax deduction will vary according to income level and will increase over the next four years. For example, a family who earns less than $115,000 a year would receive a $2,500 deduction for 2007, which would increase to $5,000 in 2008, $7,500 in 2009, and $10,000 in 2010.Those with higher incomes would receive smaller deductions. For 2010, those earning $115,000 to $120,000 would receive an $8,750 deduction. The deduction would continue to drop $1,250 for every additional $5,000 of income up to those earning between $145,000 and $150,000, who would receive a $1,250 deduction."
But the Democratic controlled State Assembly most likely won't allow the bill to see the light of day, it's so beholden to the AFT(American Federation of Teachers).
I have spoken to a politically active teacher in New York City Schools, he campaigned tirelessly against liberal Bella Abzug because she once failed to support a teachers' strike. NEVER cross the teacher's union here in NYS! That's why a blue state like New York had Republican Alfonse D'Amato as US Senator. Until he criticized Hillary, that is. . .
And as for the Catholic schools, well no school in this expensive area can run without the cost effectiveness of teaching sisters. And there are very few sisters left. They left the convents in droves after the reforms of Vatican II, and the few that remained want apartments and important jobs. They don't want to be humble teachers for the children of the poor, they want to be principals and school administrators. Those that remained in the schools here on Long Island are involved in Reiki, the enneagram and labyrinths, all linked to the occult. What ever happened to the rosary, Eucharistic devotion and the saints? What are Catholic parents to do in this state?
THAT is why my girls and I will be leaving Long Island for these wonderful Catholic schools in Connecticut(see photo). My husband will have to commute work both in CT and LI, to help us live there, but for the proper education of our girls, any sacrifice is worth it.
We are losing the children of the poor to the corruption of the streets. The sisters of the Catholic Church used to be their champions. What a shame!
HT Fox News

The Lost Generation

Catholics who go to Mass more frequently have more children and more stable marriages. This comes as no surprise to anyone remotely acquainted with Catholicism in the USA. What may be a suprise is this: Interestingly, however, the study found that agreement with Catholic teaching is highest amongst older (born before 1943) and the much younger (born after 1981) Catholics, with the least agreement with Church teachings found in the middle generation.
These are the casualties of the post-Vatican II madness, where the pendulum swung so quickly to the left, that baby boomers were left to decide for themselves what Catholicism meant. They are still doing it, and unfortunately, they are running many dioceses at this moment. Another generation must pass away until the faithful younger generation takes control and restores the Faith to Catholic institutions, schools, hospitals, universities, CCD programs, etc. Will they be left standing then? The hard work of the 19th century building these fine institutions has been swiftly rendered mute as the liberals destroyed their Catholic character. Think only of the promiment Catholic Univesities putting on that pornographic lesbian play.
The family is no less of an institution of society, and it too is being destroyed, by indifference to Humanae Vitae, to marital fidelity and failure to raise up their children in the Faith. Who can blame them? No one spoke to them from the pulpit about the importance of such things, and they were too busy making mobiles and collages in CCD classes in the 1970's.
Read entire article on Life Site.

Looking for a good Catholic college?

The entire student body of Christendom College will be Marching for Life next Tuesday January 22, as Roe v Wade has a tragic 35th anniversary. What a wonderful example they are!

I have participated in the March for Life for approximately half of it's 34 years. One thing that has struck me in recent years is the number of enthusiastic, articulate pro-lifers under 30. For years, in the 1970's the sweet middle aged ladies on the bus to DC said, "how nice it is to see a young person on the bus!"

I stopped going during my self-centered phase in the 1980's and by the time I brought my daughters in the mid nineties, a tremendous change had taken place. I, in my thirties, was one of the older marchers. Thousands of college and high school kids were marching, and spending the entire night before the March in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception before the Blessed Sacrament, in prayer.

The pro-life movement isn't going away, it's growning. Most young people are more pro-life than their parents, because, as Fr. Pavone reminds us, it could have been them. They realize that Roe v Wade is personal, that they are survivors.

Here is there slogan on a t-shirt.

Gay Conference at De Paul University

DePaul University is planning a pro-homosexual conference called “Out There: The Second National Conference of Scholars and Student Affairs Personnel Involved in LGBTQ Issues on Catholic Campuses.”
It’s a broadside against Catholic education. An attack against 2,000 years of Catholic moral teaching and natural law.
Won’t you help students defend the truth?
Register your e-protest now!
For your information, some of the lecture titles are shocking:
“The Ins and Outs of Teaching LGBTQ” (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer)
“Queer Teens Between the Sheets”
“Queering Theology: Contradictions and Accommodations”
“Queering Services and Benefits at Catholic Institutions”
To read more, click here.
After you sign your protest, make sure you call the office of the president. Respectfully urge him to cancel the pro-homosexual “Out There” conference on Oct. 19-20.
Call: Fr. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M.Phone: 312-362-8890 -- DePaul University
You might be wondering if these protests are ever successful.
Yes! They are. In fact, after TFP Student Action protested the showing of Brokeback Mountain at Seton Hall University, the president of this Catholic university called to say that he canceled it.
So please spread the word. There is strength in numbers. And Catholic education is a cause much too noble for us to remain silent or indifferent.
Thank you very, very much and may God bless you!

Down syndrome students are doing well in Catholic schools

Ben Severian is the first student with Down syndrome to attend Xavierian Catholic High School. "Xaverian Brother James Kelly, president of the school, said it's "a testament to the caliber of our students" that Ben has been warmly embraced. No one has ever picked on Ben. Students have instead gone out of their way to help him, he said.
"I think he inspires them," said Brother James, noting that Mount St. Joseph is the first Xaverian school in the country to accept a child with Down syndrome.
"They see him working hard and struggling to learn while some of the others can be lazy at times," he said. "He's a great blessing to our community."
Brian Abbo, a 15-year-old classmate and Ben's best friend, said students feel close to Ben because he is a genuine and caring person.
"With Ben, you can't get mad," said Brian. "He never does anything to hurt you. He's not going to judge you. He considers everyone his friend."
The biggest challenge to enrolling students like Ben is the financial cost, according to Brother James. The inclusion program launched with Ben's enrollment is being funded this year by a grant from the Catholic Coalition for Special Education. The St. Giles program, named after the patron saint of people with disabilities, is currently operating on a year-to-year basis depending on the availability of funding, but Brother James would like to add another student with special needs next year. "
HTCatholic Online
Many more options are being offered to children with Down syndrome than ever before.
School districts are beginning to be open to providing therapies to children who do not necessarily attend their schools, but may attend private schools or homeschool.

My daughter Christina will not be attending Kindergarten in the public school, I plan to send her to part time Montessori pre-school where she can learn at her own pace.She loves the hands-on activities which she selects, and is able to use until she has learned what she needs to learn. Christina will, however, attend 10 hours of therapy provided for the district, three hours in the school, and seven hours at home.

Morning Star Camp Slideshow

Looking for a truly Catholic camp for your children? St. Benedict Center in Still River, Massachusetts has Morning Star Camp for girls and Monfort Camp for boys.

Here I am picking up the girls after their week at camp July 7th. After the Traditional Mass, held in the outdoor chapel beneath the pines, the priest announced, "The Holy Father has just given wider permission for all Catholics to celebrate Mass they way we just have, and we are grateful". It's a moment I won't ever forget!

Click here for this year's camp slideshows. My daughters Isabella and Gabriela are in them.

An up and coming Catholic hero, Nick Hahn III

The following article, written by Tom Roeser, is reprinted (with permission) from the May 24, 2007 issue of The Wanderer.
It Can Be Done...DePaul Student Mounts Successful Orthodox Counterattack\
By THOMAS F. ROESER
CHICAGO — Last August 6, I wrote about a 19-year-old freshman student at DePaul University who came to this largest "Catholic" university in the country from out-of-town, looking forward to getting a Catholic education. Nicholas Hahn III — a ramrod-straight Ronald Reagan devotee — found just the opposite — no crucifixes on the wall, coed dorms with widespread sexual fraternization, heavy drinking, and no formal chapel for daily Mass. Then there was the "Coming Out" ball sponsored by DePaul featuring emerging gay men and lesbians giving each other high fives to celebrate their homosexuality. Forthcoming was to be Ward Churchill, the radical Colorado professor, who celebrated the terrorists who piloted planes into the Twin Towers, saying America deserved the carnage.To say he was stunned, shocked, and anguished is an understatement. Here his Mom and Dad had made him proud to be the fourth generation of his family to be educated there in the true verities of the Church. His father, uncles, grandfather, and grandmother had gone there; his great-grandfather graduated from DePaul law school. His grandfather played for the legendary Blue Demons basketball team which was coached by the man who trained George Mikan, Ray Meyer.Overwhelmed, Hahn fell to his knees when he was alone and prayed hard trying to discover what he should do. But the scenario began to brighten from its darkest point.
The bacchanalian decadence stirred the tall (6 feet 2 inches), slender (150 lbs.) Hahn to launch a counterrevolution. He waged it with such unremitting brilliance, taking on the university's left at every strategic point and winning, that he has come near to being a campus hero.For let this old former university lecturer (older than Nick Hahn's proud grandmother, a Wanderer reader, who greeted me last week) tell you that kids of all types love a counterrevolution like Nick's. It brings excitement, stirs the blood, and reaffirms intensity of conviction.Right now Nicholas Hahn is one of the best-known students on campus as a dynamic, fighting conservative. And the leftists, rubbing their scabs, know it better than anyone else does. They simply don't have anybody to rival him.
Last week as a number of us old DePaul alums sat in an auditorium proudly (with Nick's parents and grandma), Hahn's counterrevolution hit a phenomenal high at the culmination of a series of lectures by authentic Catholic scholars during a special Hahn-induced "Catholic Week." The young student raised $11,000 to bring orthodox speakers for that week on campus. DePaul's president was there. Fr. Dennis H. Holtschneider, CM, a man who was not known for standing up to the left, was my table-mate and promised to give me an interview for The Wanderer to delineate his plan to return DePaul to the Catholicity it once boasted when I went to grad school there.
How did this quiet, rangy kid — unfamiliar not just with DePaul as a freshman but with Chicago (he hails from Ohio) — begin to turn things around?It started with the Ward Churchill invitation. Immediately Hahn got busy and joined with the sparsely numbered DePaul College Republicans to try to get the university to cancel Churchill's appearance. They lost. Undaunted they designed posters advertising Churchill's most outrageous claims, such as the one that said those who died in 9/11 deserved what they got because they were part of a huge, corrupt U.S. empire of fascism. The posters went up refuting Churchill — but the DePaul administration defeated them again by citing a university "rule."The "rule" said...get this...that the posters were disseminating "propaganda and we don't approve of propaganda." Nicholas Hahn got legal advice and discovered that the "rule" was written after the posters went up ex post facto. Another battle lost. But Hahn recruited buddies who joined with him to form what they called "The DePaul Conservative Alliance." The first thing the alliance did was to plan an "Affirmative Action Bake Sale" to ridicule the precept dear to the hearts of the left that the U.S. has managed an economy so discriminatory that its citizens should pay recompense.Becoming PopularSo Hahn and the conservatives put the principle to dramatic use. They and their conservative girlfriends baked brownies and sweet cakes and charged the students varying prices depending on race and gender. White males had to pay a higher price for their brownies as a penance for "years of discrimination" waged against females and minorities. Women students paid less to make up for "years of male oppression." At first it looked like the Bake Sale got the conservatives into trouble because it spurred a university-wide probe by the Office of Student Affairs for "harassment and racial discrimination."But the ridiculousness of the issue backfired and the good sense of that student office returned. As the first shot in a victorious battle, the conservatives' case was spread campus-wide to all 15,000 students who had never heard of the conservatives before. The upshot: The charge of "harassment and discrimination" was dismissed but the conservatives were censured and put under sanction. That was a victory. Why?Because there's nothing sweeter to a conservative and authenticist Catholic counterrevolution than being comrades at war with the leftist establishment. Quickly, Hahn and his group began to capitalize on their notoriety...and the notoriety quickly turned to popularity. Hahn and his movement acted to take advantage of their popularity through political action. He was elected a student senator. Each senator is supposed to represent a certain campus department, university school, or class. Hahn represents a once all-but-dead group — now speedily revived — called "University Mission and Values." By sticking to his convictions and adroitly using the left's tendency toward overkill, Hahn rose to a leadership role in the university. He shrewdly merchandised his victory on Chicago talk radio where he gained attention blasting Ward Churchill and vowing the fight against radicalism had just started.
At the same time, the president of the now fast-growing DePaul Republicans went on the national Fox News talk show Hannity & Colmes. The left discovered it was in for a battle with colleagues who knew how to frame issues.While the university left was reeling, Hahn coolly telephoned the office of the DePaul president as a newly elected student senator and arranged a meeting. That's where Hahn's sagacious political negotiating side took over. In a series of meeting with the president, Hahn got an agreement for a series of formal university seminars featuring outstanding Catholic spokesmen and scholars. The university's agreement...that Catholicism would officially be featured at once-Catholic now secular DePaul — was the first battle won by the conservatives. Quickly Hahn scored others.He got named to a "Free Speech Task Force" at the university where a new code was drafted to permit conservative dissent over the objections of the once-dominant left.
At the same time, as a senator he pitched headlong into a controversy involving the left concerning the university's contract with Coca-Cola, which was trying to win renewal of its contract as the "official" soft drink vendor on campus.Coke was fighting a controversy on the campuses of 19 universities with left-wing student radicals after the company denied allegations of "human rights violations" in Colombia and India by running a "sweat-shop" and causing "pollution."The left wanted to keep Coke out and abrogate a contract with any competitor because it opposes the free market, declaring all corporations are fascist. As a member of the negotiating group, Hahn reached out to competitor Pepsi, which gave the university a better deal in supporting DePaul athletic programs than Coke. While the left spent its time railing at Coke, Hahn veered, executed a brilliant turn-about stratagem and pitched Pepsi to outpoint Coke. Pepsi got the contract, which won for Hahn. He not only espoused the free market but made it triumph to outmaneuver both Coke and the left to win fresh, even better-financed support for the popular athletics program.
Counterrevolutionary Speakers
Back wearing his "Catholic hat," Hahn was told the university would accept a Catholic format of seminars, but he would have to raise the money to pay outside speakers himself. So he launched a campaign to raise the needed funds to pay nationally known scholars to come. He reached out to the grassroots organization Catholic Citizens of Illinois where Mary Anne Hackett, its president, secured a significant contribution from the organization. (Disclosure: I serve as chairman). CCI leaders such as Kelly Ames Smith, Karl Maurer, and Susan Jordan pitched in. The requisite money was raised and Hahn scheduled his seminars.The list of speakers at the university-wide seminars included Michael Novak, a well-known author who spoke on "War and the Church: Asymmetrical Warfare and the Just War," which launched a robust debate with DePaul professors; Dr. Thomas E. Woods, "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization," the title of his best-selling book; Dr. Paul Kangor, "How Reagan and Catholics Won the Cold War"; and a final address by George Weigel on the historic value of the Catholic Church to Western civilization.
As a prelude to the series, the 19-year-old arranged for Francis Cardinal George to send a message of greeting to the forthcoming Catholic seminars — a wise and prudent move that impressed the university administration.To publicize the seminars, Hahn appeared on Relevant Radio, the national Catholic radio network. He was then invited to appear on EWTN's program Life on the Rock, which he will do in the future.Never stopping to catch his breath, Hahn, while compiling sky-high grades at DePaul, spoke about his counterrevolution at the prestigious Young America's Foundation conference held in Minneapolis, receiving a standing ovation and winning its top award. This in addition to his undertaking an internship at a prestigious Chicago law firm off-hours and Saturdays. In his spare time, he signed up as a member of the Illinois Steering Committee of Sen. Sam Brownback for president.
The question on DePaul's campus now is: When does he sleep?The Young America's Foundation, composed of nationally known conservative leaders, has purchased the Reagan ranch in Santa Barbara which it operates as a historical museum. Hahn won a free trip to the Reagan Rancho del Cielo. Then he won the prestigious Phillips Foundation Ronald Reagan Scholarship of $5,000, which will pay for his being an intern at a top office in Congress next summer.The battle to return DePaul to orthodox Catholicity has just begun, but Nicholas Hahn III — one beanpole-sized kid with spiky hair and an aw-shucks Reaganesque demeanor — has shown all of us how to brilliantly orchestrate a counterattack on one of the most secular university campuses in the nation.
As we sat listening to George Weigel last week, I paid particular attention to the young DePaul president, Fr. Holtschneider. His eyes were shining and his applause for the event seemed to evoke an indication that things are on the upswing for Catholicism at DePaul. Presiding over the event that culminated what by all odds was the most authentic display of Catholic faith at a university long regarded as beyond redemption even of missionary activity, Nicholas Hahn III was smooth, cordial, generous, and eloquent. His entire family, mother, father, and grandmother — all DePaul alums — sat entranced. As was I. Fr. Holtschneider sees there is a conservative and authentic Catholic constituency, necessary if he is to provide necessary reforms.The next time you think a) our modern generation is flaccid, and b) our once Catholic university system cannot be reactivated, think of Nicholas Hahn III who has yet to observe his 20th birthday. Nor does he come off as brash, cocky, or full of boilerplate answers. He's reflective, modest, thoughtful, and could be misinterpreted as introverted — until he starts wooing backers on a project.
Never Sell Out
As we had lunch last week celebrating the first leg of his stunning victory at DePaul, I asked him what he learned from his experience. He said, "The way to be a proud conservative on campus these days is not to change minds but to have the unique ability to spark university-wide debate on issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. We are carrying the tide toward a true marketplace of ideas to make Catholicism vitally present and operative."While influential lay leaders of the Church see a full-time role for Hahn as a layman devoted 100% to Catholicism, he is noncommittal about his future. He wants a career in law. When we had lunch last week, I asked this quietly modest young fellow who's younger than my oldest grandson if a rumor I heard was true — that he was contemplating a career in politics."Well," he said, "it's occurred to me. So much of my work getting things done at DePaul has involved the art of politics. I think it would be fun."Speaking as a crotchety old surrogate grandfather to him, I said: Promise me, Nicholas...promise me you won't until and unless you do one thing first. Put off running as a candidate for a good long while.His eyes widened. "Coming from you?" he said. "You spent more than 50 years either covering politics or being a part of it yourself. You're discouraging me from getting involved in politics?"I said: No, but I want you to promise me you won't until you do one thing first.He said: "Okay. What is it?"I replied: Follow the advice of a very successful politician I knew many years ago — one who never caved in to people who tried to sway him with big contributions. One who did what he thought was right and was so independent that he couldn't be bought or rented. Who went on to become a great legislator and a great governor of his state. He never sold out.He said: "That's what I want to do, never sell out. Shouldn't be hard to do, should it?"I commented: Very hard. Problems will arise in politics that will make you go to the money well — and there'll be people who will be glad to help you, for a price. That's where you get into trouble.He frowned. "How did your friend solve that dilemma?"I said: He got into business, became an entrepreneur, and made about $50 million first. Then he was sufficiently independent so he could remain true to his ideals. He financed much of his own campaigns. He ran for the legislature, got in, made a great record and took contributions only from those who shared his ideals and who wanted nothing whatsoever from him. He became governor and after his term returned to make millions more. At his death, he was regarded not only as incorruptible but true to himself and his ideals. Promise me that you will make your financial stake first.Nicholas looked at me for a long time and then said: "Well, if you say so. Fifty million, you say?"I have no doubt this kid will make it no matter what he wants to do.(To read more articles by Thomas F. Roeser, log on to http://www.tomroeser.com/.)Related links:http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/may/07052806.htmlhttp://www.tfp.org/student_action/activities/protests/depaul_out_there_conference.htm

Why I Homeschool

(see the link above for Phylis Schafly's article on how public schools shape American Culture)
I was born in 1962, and in 1967, when I attended Kindergarten, my Catholic parents purposely sent me to public rather than Catholic schools because of some negative experiences our cousins had there.
When I was attending Jr high, Values Clarification hit the public schools. My father used to get involved in heated discussions with my teachers on open school night, on the topic, "exactly whose values are we clarifying?" The next morning, he'd warn me which of my teachers would be trying to find out 'whose father was that lawyer who argued with me last night?'
A sex ed program that included discussion (positive of course) of abortion and homosexuality was to be implemented in the high school. Dad and Mom unsuccessfully tried to get our pastor in the battle, and found themselves working with valiant Baptists instead. Most of our Catholic friends assumed that our moral values would be taught, and refused to get involved. With the support of a handful of parents, my parents managed to get an alternative sex ed program, one that required a parental signature.This program did not contain objectionable content, but the teachers mocked the students who wanted to sign up for this program. I was prepared by my parents for a fight, so when signing up for 'sex ed B' as it was called, the teacher at the table said, "what's the matter, honey, your parents don't want you to learn about sex?""No," I replied, "they just want to teach me their way!"
I tired of defending my faith against anti-Catholic bigotry in high school, whose teachers' ideas of European history was a study in how Catholics oppressed the people via the Inquisition, etc, until the Reformation and Enlightenment freed mankind from religious fanaticism. The course ended, naturally, with the fable of how Pope Pius and the Jesuits were in league with the Nazis. I learned a lot, having to do independent research to defend the Church against these lies, but I had no friends.When I was pummeled mercilessly in a senior boys indoor soccer class, as a sophomore (was this retaliation for Title IX?) I quit public school for good.
I chose to go to the Catholic all girls high school my mother attended to get as far away from the public school world as possible, and in many ways I did.
I was taught how to write, something I still enjoy immensely, I found like- minded friends and was rewarded with good grades and appreciation for academic achievement. I regained my self-esteem, and even learned to be a public speaker, something discouraged by the public school's hostile environment.
The Kinsey Report, however, had slithered into the minds of the nuns, and I was taught essentially the same sex-ed in Catholic High School that my parents fought against in public school. Only this time it was more insidious, as it had the stamp of moral authority, "sister says go out and get a diaphragm, don't listen to that old man in Rome, he ignored his advisors when he wrote "Humanae Vitae", and he doesn't understand women anyway.""Oh, and don't show your mothers your notebook they wouldn't understand"sister concluded.
I should have known better, but I swallowed it hook, line, and sinker! It led me to years of suffering until God in His infinite mercy, gave me a wonderful Hispanic Catholic husband who was raised in a nation with some traditional values in the schools, to set me straight. I became a teacher, and now teach part-time at a local Community College which is even worse that either of my high schools.
In the Literary Magazine, a young woman proudly wrote an essay about her abortion, and a young man wrote a 'comical' essay about killing some of his siblings to get more money from his grandparents! These are the best and the brightest students this school has to offer?! I shudder for the future of this nation!
Is it any wonder that I homeschool my three beloved daughters!!