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The Catholic Homeschool -- January 2002
Preschool For Your Little Saints
by Laurie Gill
Probably one of the most common questions I am asked about Catholic homeschooling curricula concerns preschool. I never knew of anything worth recommending, in part because we did not emphasize preschool in my home. However, one summer I began to feel that my little ones were not getting as much attention as they needed, so I purchased a Little Saints Preschool curriculum at a conference. I used it last year with my three and five-year old sons and this year I am repeating it with my sons ages two and four.
Little Saints Preschool is arranged into 40 weeks of lessons, roughly correlated to the natural and liturgical calendar. Each week has a theme and three days’ worth of lessons including music, poetry, story books, a Scripture verse, circle games and rhymes, learning games, and art projects. Patterns are included for the games and projects.
The biggest drawback of the program is that preparing takes lots and lots of time. I spent months in the summer of 1999 making the learning games and preparing the art projects. And even with all that work done, there is still a lot of gathering up to be done for each week’s work. I started by putting everything that would be needed all year in a huge Rubbermaid tub. Every weekend, I fish through the tub to find the materials for the coming week, which I store in a smaller container.
The children have loved it, and they are so proud to show their father what they have done. I highly recommend this program.
Little Saints Preschool by Cynthia Blum, P.O. Box 19356, Asheville, NC 28805.
Laurie Gill is a writer and homeschooling mother of six.
A King Cake for Twelfth Night
by Evann Duplantier
The Feast of the Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night, is celebrated on January 6 marking the arrival of the Three Kings at the birthplace of Our Savior. The king cake, baked in honor of the Magi, is traced back to several different cultures.
In Latin America a figure representing the Christ Child is placed inside the cake. Other cultures bake a coin, pea, or bean into the cake. In medieval France the finder of the coin was to make a donation to a worthy cause. In other parts of Europe, finding the pea or bean meant you were king or queen for a day.
In New Orleans, where bakeries sell an average of four to five thousand cakes each day during the Carnival season, the person who finds the “baby” has to host the next king cake party.
The cake itself is like a sweet bread, or brioche, decorated with bands of purple, green, and gold colored sugar. Today’s cakes range from the simple iced versions to the extravagant fruit or cream cheese filled varieties. Traditionally served on Epiphany to family and friends, today the cake is served throughout the “Epiphany season,” or until Mardi Gras.
Evann Duplantier is a homeschooling mother of six, editor of The Catholic Homeschool, and a native New Orleanian.
KING CAKE RECIPE:
1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water
6 tablespoons milk, scalded & cooled
4 cups sifted flour
melted butter
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs (reduce if eggs are x-large)
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk & enough flour, about 1/2 cup, to make a soft dough. In another bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt & eggs with electric mixer. Remove from mixer & add soft ball of yeast dough. Mix thoroughly. Gradually add 2 1/2 cups flour to make medium dough that is neither too soft nor too stiff. Place in a greased bowl & brush top of dough with butter. Cover with a damp cloth & set aside till doubled in bulk, about 3 hours. Use remaining 1 cup flour to knead dough into oval ring shape. The center should be about 7 x 12 inches. Connect ends of dough by dampening with water. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. A bean or one-inch plastic baby may be placed in the cake at this time.
Bake in 325 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until lightly browned. Drizzle top of cake with white glaze icing (melted tub icing works fine) and alternate bands of purple, green and gold color sugar. (Color sugar by adding a few drops of food coloring & shake in tightly covered container until desired color is achieved.)
Skip the baking – order a king cake from www.haydelbakery.com or www.gambinos.com.
Blessing for the Christmas Tree
Just before Christmas, when the tree lights are turned on for the first time, sprinkle the tree with holy water and recite the following prayer:
Holy Lord, we come with joy to celebrate the birth of your Son, who rescued us from the darkness of sin by making the cross a tree of life and light. May this tree, arrayed in splendor, remind us of the life-giving cross of Christ, that we may always rejoice in the new life that shines in our hearts. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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