This week, we are blessed to have a special relic of Saint Pio coming to our area just in time for Saint Padre Pio's feast day on September 23. Thus, the children and I have been adding some Padre Pio resources to our Together Time Bag and S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E. + studies. Nothing too major or time-consuming
-- just simple little bits of learning inspired by the life of Saint
Padre Pio, which I hope will make our upcoming short pilgrimage to
celebrate Mass and venerate the heart relic of St. Padre Pio more
meaningful for my children.
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Prayers and Books in Our Together Time Bag
For our Together Time Bag (a.k.a "Morning Basket"), I put a handful
of Saint Padre Pio books on hold through our local library system, but
they have yet to come in. Thus, we have been reading and praying with
portions of the My Saint Pio Prayer Book that I had in our faith studies stash. We have also read the Padre Pio: Saint Pio of Pietrelcina story in Stories of the Saints (which sells used for under $2 and is a lovely collection of 12 saint stories) and Blessed Padre Pio in our Loyola Kids Book of Saints (a book we read often that sells used for under $1.00).
S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E. + with a Copywork FREEBIE
We've also been weaving Saint Padre Pio-inspired activities into our regular S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E.+ sessions. In fact, this week, we're bringing a bit of Saint Padre Pio to each of our S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E. + areas.
S - Spell and Write Words
The children are all at different levels with their spelling, yet, sometimes we like to enjoy spelling challenges together. So, we will use the words "Saint Pio of Pietrelcina" for a favorite together time spelling activity, by writing the words on small white boards and, then, challenging ourselves to create twice as many words as we are years old from the letters on our boards. We'll also see who can come up with the most original and longest words.
K - Keep Reading to Yourself
I was unable to find Padre Pio books at each of my children's reading levels, so, instead, I collected some books on the heart and blood, since we will be venerating Saint Pio's heart relic and have been discussing his stigmata.
Some of these books the children are reading to themselves (or having me read to them, depending on their reading levels) are:
My First Human Body Book (which sells for as little as a penny.)
Uncover the Human Body (which sells used for less than 50 cents.)
The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body (which sells used for a penny!)
I - Illustrate and Write
Some of these books the children are reading to themselves (or having me read to them, depending on their reading levels) are:
Squirt!: The Most Interesting Book You’ll Ever Read about Blood (Mysterious You) (which sells used for just a penny!)
My First Human Body Book (which sells for as little as a penny.)
Uncover the Human Body (which sells used for less than 50 cents.)
The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body (which sells used for a penny!)
I - Illustrate and Write
Although I found some free Padre Pio copywork online at Catholic Inspired, I could not find any with the Saint Pio quotes that I thought would speak most loudly to my children, so I created Padre Pio printing and cursive copywork sheets of my own, which I am sharing with you here. Just click on the image to access them.
When you do, you may notice that there are no lines between words on the sample quotes. This is because one of my children has trouble remembering to put spaces between words. The clear vusal breaks help her meet with greater success during copywork time.
L - Listen to Reading
I have already mentioned some of the Padre Pio, heart, and blood-related books that I have in our basket this week. In addition, later in the week, after my children narrate what they already have already learned about Saint Padre Pio, I will have them watch this video clip from Catholic Online, which offers images to go along with a read script about Padre Pio's life:
I also hope the copy of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina: Rich in Love that I ordered from interlibrary loan comes in as I am so looking forward to reading it as our bedtime story soon!
L -Learn and Play with One Another Using Language Arts
My youngest is beginning First Reconciliation preparation, and as a part of that, we have just finished reading Jesus and I, which has a strong segment of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Since my youngest is still learning about confession, and since Padre Pio spent long portions of his day hearing confessions, we will likely role play some confessions this week.
Since my youngest is still learning about confession, and since Padre Pio spent long portions of his day hearing confessions, we will likely role play some confessions this week.
T - Think, Read and Write About Math
When reading about Padre Pio in My Saint Pio Prayer Book and Stories of the Saints, we've done some simple mental and whiteboard math, such as:
- If Francesco Forgione (Padre Pio) was born in May 1887 and began experiencing visions of Jesus, Mary, the angels, and devils at five years old, what year did his visions begin?
- Francesco Forgione was ordained a priest in 1910. How old was he then. (He was born in 1887.)
- Padre Pio began feeling severe pain in his hands and feet around 1910 and had visible stigmata from 1918. About how many years was it between when he felt the pain and when his wounds became visible?
- Padre Pio died in 1968. How old was he? (Remember, he was born in 1887.)
- Padre Pio was declared a saint in 2002. How many years passed between his death and his canonization?
- How many years ago was he canonized?
I - Investigate and Problem Solve with Math
We have not gotten there yet this week, but I hope to tie some math investigations in with science ones about the heart, blood, and circulatory system.
M - Master Math Skills Together
Since Padre Pio suffered stigmata, we've been playing with the number five - tossing balls and counting by fives, plus using fives as addends, sums, minuends, subtrahends, differences, factors, etc. in oral math and written challenges.
E - Exercise Math Skills on My Own
Although all my children know basic addition and subtraction, and some of them know basic multiplication and division, I realized the other day that they do not know what "fact families" are, so I've had them drawing little houses on whiteboards and writing out fact families, such as the most basic 1 + 4 = 5, 4 + 1 = 5, 5 - 1 = 4, and 5 - 4 = 1 inside the houses.
When the children show me their fact families, I pepper our chat about their work with "math-speak" using words like "sum", "addends", "inverse", and "commutative".
+ Extra Learning and Exploration
- Miracles: My children have a friend who has a special devotion to Saint Padre Pio after a seeming miracle occurred during the friend's heart surgery. They also have a general curiosity about miracles lately, so we may read about the miracles that were a part of Padre Pio's cause for sainthood as well some of Padre Pio's other miracles.
- History, Drama, Cinematography, and More: I ordered Padre Pio: Miracle Man and Padre Pio: Between Heaven and Earth from interlibrary loan. I am hoping at least one of them comes in this week. If not, we'll watch them another week. Since we'll be starting drama classes again, soon, I will likely chat with the children about the acting choices in the films as well as the stories of Padre Pio they depict. Since my son is currently taking a basic filmmakers class online, we will also chat cinematography, I bet. Plus, of course, we'll compare and contrast information we find in the movies with that we have found elsewhere, discussing veracity of sources.
- Geography: Of course, we have already located where Saint Padre Pio was from on a map.
- Science Field Trip: Earlier this week, we made a brief field trip to the Museum of Science, where, among other exhibits, we searched out ones that had to do with the heart and circulatory system.
- Arts and Crafts: We may also paint or color any one of the free Padre Pio coloring pages that I have found online at:
The Catholic KidWaltzing MatildaCatholic Kids Bulletin
- P.E./Health: In connection with the Padre Pio-inspired "heart" theme, we've been getting extra aerobic exercise for our heart muscle and also talking about heart-healthy eating choices.
And, there you have it: me, excited about the opportunity to venerate St. Padre Pio's relic and to teach my children (and myself!) more about this relatively modern saint.I so appreciate the example of saints like Padre Pio and the flexibility of our homeschool approach that allows me to focus extra time on learning to coincide with timely relic tours. Moreover, I feel blessed to be introduced to more prayers that point towards God, the source of miracles, the One worthy of praise and thanksgiving.
Saint Padre Pio directed people to recognize God in all things and to desire above all things to do the will of God. He is quotes as saying, "Pray, hope and don’t worry". These simple words are a timeless - and timely! - reminder. Indeed, may we each continue to pray and hope without worry, trusting God's will to be done.
I'd love to hear about your favorite Saint Padre Pio resources, prayers, and ideas. Links to descriptions of your devotions, studies and celebrations are most welcome.
Also, as always, I pray that the sharing I offer here blesses your life and learning.
Saint Padre Pio, pray for us.
