"Intellectual distinction is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for election to a Rhodes Scholarship. Selection committees are charged to seek excellence in qualities of mind and in qualities of person which, in combination, offer the promise of effective service to the world in the decades ahead. The Rhodes Scholarships, in short, are investments in individuals rather than in project proposals..."

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Shout out for new game website

Here's a website of free printable games. The feature new ones each week, so you might want to get on their email list or check back regularly.

We're doing Apologetics at the dinner table.  Lately, it has been bothering me how I seem to not be able to find the words to defend my faith.  My husband has been reading Nuts and Bolts: A Practical Guide for Explaining and Defending the Catholic Faith by Tim Staples during Eucharistic Adoration.  He wants us to help the kids to better understand our Faith and be able to counter anti-Catholic remarks both charitably and correctly.  My husband informs me that Tim Staples kids are homeschooled, so he will be looking in the book for further ideas of how to introduce Apologetics to the kids.

So how to you turn Apologetics into a game?  Remember, they don't HAVE to know the answer to the questions to play.  If you've ever played a game like Trivial Pursuit, you know that.  So, we'll be either facing off girls against the boys OR South Side of the Table -vs- North Side of the Table with Dad giving the questions from the Friendly Defenders cards.

When the kids get older, I will be working on a debate style program for my kids and others.  I took debate in high school and LOVED it.  My partner and I won several matches at the local level.  Once my kids have started Logic (2011-2012 school year), we may start.  I intend to do this like a book club, only we will be working on finding the arguments most Catholics face against the Faith and find Biblical responses to those.  We will most likely approach it by doing a Lincoln Douglas Debate Case.  I look forward to this exercise and think it will be beneficial for all of us.

Catholic Apologetics can simply be taught with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Bible.  But that can be fairly dry.  You could also use the Baltimore Catechism.  However, I recommend books like those by Tim Staples.  Dr. Ray Guarendi now has a DVD course available called "What Catholics Believe."  If it's half as good as the keynote he gave at the 2010 Minnesota Catholic Home Educators Conference, it's worth the money.   If you have a preteen or teen child that likes to read, you might want to consider having them read the book  A Philadelphia Catholic in King James' Court.  It was a fun read!

So, what do you do for your kids?  Are they learning Apologetics via the Catechism or are you doing something else?  I'd love ideas, if you are willing to share.

1 comment:

liz said...

Tim Staples IS awesome. He's one of the guys whose info played a big role in my recent conversion. I'm waiting for an order to arrive from catholic.com-- I got the 1st set of flashcards called Friendly Defenders for my 3rd grader. Sometimes I'm sneaky and listen to podcasts of Catholic Answers call in shows while my elementary student is busy doing artwork or other quiet activity nearby- what she does pick up on has sparked some great conversations with questions she thinks up while listening. (when any sensitive topics come up on the podcast i'm always prepared to forward, but that is rare) I try to use driving time to bring up topics too- asking questions on topics our protestant friends/family are bound to bring up... such as asking "dd do we worship that statue of mary at church?" or "dd why can't you just tell God all your sins why would you bother with confessing to a priest when God can hear you and Jesus already died on the cross for your sins once for all?" also Re-presentation of the sacrifice at mass vs the misconception of re-sacrificing. Can't wait to see any other ideas folks have!