Education

Teaching the Sacraments & Gushing about Women

January 14, 2012 By Sarah Reinhard Leave a Comment

This week, I used an object lesson to introduce my fifth-grade class to the sacraments during our parish’s evening religious education classes. I wrote about it over at Amazing Catechists, and there are already some great ideas in the comments. Hope you find it useful, and please do share your ideas or suggestions if you have them!

image credit

Over at Catholicmom.com, I wrote a review of a book that I dub a must-read for all Catholics, Women, Sex, and the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching, edited by Erika Bachiochi.

Take a moment and check out that new photo at the top of my blog (copied below so that those of you in feed readers and on email can just stay comfortably there).

It comes courtesy of my four-year-old, who loves lining up her horses. And her brother’s cars. And her sister’s markers. It may be my favorite blog-topper EVER.

Filed Under: Books, Education, Faith, Reviews, writing Tagged With: Amazing Catechists, blogging, Books, catechesis, CatholicMom.com, Education, Erika Bachiochi, Faith, Reviews, sacraments, writing

Forget the Cool Kids, I’m in with the AMAZING Crowd!

November 19, 2011 By Sarah Reinhard 2 Comments

So it’s a day when I basically give you links and send you away from my little corner of the interwebs, I guess.

But even so, I’m excited to share the latest sandbox where I’ll be playing: Amazing Catechists.

My first column, “Jumping Back into the Teaching Saddle,” shares my thoughts on being back in the front of a group of kids after a number of years of not teaching. In a word: I’m loving it. And I hope it encourages others, too. Being a catechist is more about allowing the Holy Spirit to work through you than, really, just about anything else.

And hey, the Amazing Catechists website just went through a complete and total overhaul, thanks to Dorian Speed of Convolare. (You might also recognize Dorian as the blogger from Scrutinies.) Be sure to stop over and check it out!

Filed Under: Education, writing Tagged With: Amazing Catechists, Education, writing

The Unthemed Takes

October 7, 2011 By Sarah Reinhard 14 Comments

— 1 —

It makes me happy to have a theme for my Quick Takes posts. I know that’s not the point of them. All the same, I like a theme. It helps me write them.

— 2 —

But this week, no theme. Not even something related to Mary. (But hey! Today’s the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary!)

— 3 —

I just finished an amazing book, by the mom of a high school friend. How cool is that?

The book, which I’ll be reviewing in depth at CatholicMom.com sometime soon, was Strategies for the Tech-Savvy Classroom, by Diane Witt.

It’s a book I’m glad I discovered, however accidentally. I have a tendency to geek out about education and technology, and to be able to combine them: bliss! Diane writes from experience as an educator and as a mom, and she speaks to some concerns I think we all have when we face the onslaught of technology and the need to educate.

I came away with some great ideas for myself–and for my kids! I plan to apply some of her ideas and concepts to my religious education classroom and to my home.

— 4 —

Last Friday night, I was not at the CNMC. I was, however, a panelist on Catholic Weekend. (They let anyone on, I tell ya.)

I mentioned that I had just started Sinner, by Lino Rulli.

And now that I’ve finished it, I gotta tell ya: one of the best Catholic books I’ve read.

Yeah, I know. Everyone is saying that. (Or not. I really don’t know.)

Lino keeps it real, but he does it in a way that had me laughing and snorting and nodding the whole book through.

I find myself inspired by how Lino is so honest, and I want to share this book with everyone I know, especially those people who may struggle with how perfect they’re not. Because, after reading this book, I’m struck by the fact that hey, it’s not just me.

Highly recommended. And maybe I’ll even get my husband to read it.

— 5 —

As I type, the baby is crawling around and pulling himself up underneath the table.

He’s also growling.

I find myself continually struck by how, well, growly he is. Oh, and grunty. He’s grunty too.

In a way that my girls just weren’t.

Anyone else have this experience?

— 6 —

Next week, I start teaching a fifth grade religious education class in our parish (aka PSR). I had these grand plans to build a website and everything, but…yeah. So far, I haven’t.

I’m a little nervous, to be honest. The last time I taught PSR, it was called CCD. I was single and a brand-new Catholic.

Now, eight years and three kids later, I’m just hoping that the “call” I thought I heard this summer, the one I thought I said yes to, wasn’t actually for something far different. You know?

— 7 —

I’m slowly getting back into blog-reading (and I hope this lasts a while, but we’ll see). In my email the other day, I had a link to Catholic Sistas.

I went and poked around and liked what I saw.

I especially liked this:

It’s a Catholic pro-life symbol! Go read about it, and especially about Erika’s journey with a breast cancer diagnosis during her pregnancy.

They make my feed reader, and I salute their fine work! Check em out!

Visit Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Filed Under: Books, Quick Takes Tagged With: Baby #3, blogs, Books, Catholic Weekend, Diane Witt, Education, life with boys, Lino Rulli, podcasts, pro-life, Quick Takes, reading, Reviews, SQPN

Ask a Catechist (and I’m the Catechist) [UPDATED]

February 9, 2011 By Sarah Reinhard Leave a Comment

UPDATE: I scheduled this, but didn’t confirm the links. OOPS! (And Dorian says she is trying to break the internet!) They’re fixed now. Thanks for your patience!

Dorian Speed of Scrutinies has a wonderful new weekly feature, Ask a Catechist. Last week was the first edition, and Dorian’s guest blogger, Amy Giglio, explored the question of approaching the topic of marriage when many of the students come from divorced families. It was a great answer.

This week, I’m the catechist. Our question is:

How do you encourage kids to keep coming to Mass after they’ve received the Sacrament?

Head on over to see what I have to say, and be sure to chime in with your thoughts. See you there!

Filed Under: Education, Faith Tagged With: Ask a Catechist, catechesis, Catholic, Education, Faith, writing

Wordless Wednesday: First Day (from Monday)

September 1, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 2 Comments

Filed Under: Family News Tagged With: back to school, Education, family, pictures

Mary at the Milestones

August 30, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard Leave a Comment

A Mary Moment Monday post

Today is a milestone day in my life as a mother. In a few hours, a big yellow bus will pull up to my driveway and my oldest daughter will board it.

I’d like to be brave and not have tears coursing down my face when that moment occurs after lunch, but I’m not sure. Perhaps the distraction of laundry piles and writing projects and a two-year-old who wants to go too will keep me grounded and laughing. Maybe my friends on Twitter will be posting things that keep me chuckling and non-nostalgic. Maybe a dog will create some havoc (hey, it happens around here all the time) and I’ll forget all about her being gone.

It’s not like I’m an overly sentimental person. (Don’t let all my tears fool you.) But I do know this is a day of pictures and memories and opportunities.

I can’t help but think of Mary. Today’s the day of the Milestone Mysteries of the rosary, in a way: Jesus is announced, Jesus is recognized in utero, Jesus is born, Jesus is presented, Jesus is lost…and found. We don’t hear much about Jesus’ milestones, outside of these. Oh, there is His public life and ministry, but I’m thinking, today, of the moments His mother would have held dear to her heart, the ones that perhaps only she witnessed: His first steps, His first large building project, His success in some area of early life.

He didn’t get on the bus, but He surely took a series of steps away from her as He grew, just as all children must.

So, today, when I’m tempted to wish away the last few years and make my five-year-old an infant again (which, truthfully, I DO NOT want!), I’m going to turn to Mary. I’m going to say a Hail Mary for those women who long for children, offer a Hail Mary for those who suffer the loss of their children, give a moment of prayer for those who are not fortunate enough to have schooling available to them. Will you join me?

image source

Filed Under: family, Inspired by the Virgin Mary, Mary Moment Mondays Tagged With: back to school, Education, Mary Moment Monday, milestones, Motherhood, Virgin Mary

Little o’ this, little o’ that

August 27, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 3 Comments

~1~

You know what I love about Mary? There’s a title for every season, every mood, every color scheme, and, as it turns out, there’s even one for New Media. Yep, that’s right, and you can read all about it at my latest column at Faith & Family Live: “Star of the New Evangelization.”

~2~

Speaking of Mary, the question of Mary and her girlfriends had girlfriends has been rattling around in my brain for about five years. I was inspired, by both meeting Maria in person and reading her first take on the Catholic New Media Celebration, to put together my own thoughts. You can listen to them in this week’s Mary in the Kitchen segment, which can be found exclusively on the Catholic Foodie show.

(If you aren’t already listening to Catholic Foodie, prepare yourself. Not only does Jeff put together a top-notch show, it’s even entertaining if you’re, ahem, slightly, cough, kitchen-challenged. Not that I know anyone like that. AHEM.)

~3~

So, since we’ve segued into food talk, I thought I’d share my new favorite recipe. It’s been difficult to pull off some nights, but I’ve gotten quite expert at it.

I call it the “Sarah doesn’t cook” recipe.

Yeah, you can pretty much figure out that it involves equal amounts of PB&J, being at someone else’s house, and pure luck and compassion on my husband’s part. But…the weather seems to have broken around here, and we are even considering wearing socks again, so I’m going to be back in business very, very soon. And then I’ll be scouring the new cookbook I bought over the summer (to help me with my sad lack of summer cooking). I haven’t used my oven since, um, I forget — maybe late June. My kitchen’s on the west side of my non-air conditioned house and it’s foolhardy to even think about turning it off. The grill is also on that side of the house. (Yeah, I know, I could have troubleshot this before August 27, but…let’s move forward, shall we?).

Here’s the link to my favorite recipes (and one of the easiest meals I know how to make): notsanga. We’ll probably start having variations of it weekly again next week. It serves well for Lent and for large company dinners and is my favorite recipe to share for a new baby or surgery dinner.

What’s YOUR favorite recipe?

~4~

This week has been the grand Gearing Up for Kindergarten Week in the Reinhard House. Our five-year-old is excited, and after finding out that she would not have to ride for more than 15 minutes, I’ve agreed to let her ride the bus to school. (We live minutes from the school. It seems silly to have them pick her up and drop her off if the ride’s going to be very long.)

We have gone shoe shopping. (To everyone who ever endured that with me in the past, I hereby call you even with me. Forever.) We have purchased school supplies. (No hardship with that kind of shopping!) We have attending the reading assessment and the parent orientation.

And on Monday, we will enter the world of having a child in the public school system. I’m so glad I took the time this summer to read Going Public: Your Child Can Thrive in Public School, by David & Kelly Pritchard. I plan to review it in-depth soon. It gave voice to a lot of the things my husband and I have discussed and discerned.

But really, for me, it comes back to the realization that each year, it’s a new decision. And it’s not life or death. Ever.

~5~

This week’s quotable, via Twitter:

You probably thought I was done talking about wasps, huh? Well. Maybe I am. And maybe…shudder…I’m NOT!

~6~

October’s coming! October’s coming! In my world, that means I’m thinking of rosary reflections to share, ways to honor Mary, and about pumpkins, football, and apple butter. The leaves will be changing soon and the rhythm of the seasons will point me, once again, to cuddling under blankets and a new way of life.

Oh, and there’s a baby coming before too long!

~7~

You still have time left in August. For what? To enter the Dog Days of Summer Catholic Fiction Giveaway at CatholicMom.com. Go on! There’s lots to win, but time’s a-wastin…

(Just wait til you see what we have in store for September!)

The place for Quick Takes is Conversion Diary. Go there, whether you care about Quick Takes or not. Jen, our lovely and gracious hostess, is working on a new site and could use some love in the dust trail she has while things get up and running.