Holy Week Boxes

Repost from April, 2011:

I originally posted these last year, but have made a few additions to the boxes, as well as taken some better photos!  So, here is another look at my learning boxes for Holy Week.  I will mention again, that this is an involved project.  When I first had the idea several years ago, it was Lazarus Saturday and I jumped into action planning how I would create them.  My wise husband cautioned against it, saying that rather than a blessing, it would be a consuming project for Holy Week, distracting me from what I should be doing.  So, I followed his advice, and waited until after Pascha to begin making them.  I say this again to caution you - if this is an idea you want to replicate, do it slowly.  Do not attempt to pull it together quickly, you will find yourself frustrated and it will not be a joyful project.  The wonderful thing about the church rythms is that we can look to next year.

Finally, a word about the use of the boxes.  In my home, we have used them in several ways.  The first is actually taking them to church on each day of Holy Week.  If you have a young child, the items in the box offer a focus.  I usually tell my littlest ones to listen through the service, especially at the readings, and see if they can hear mention of each item in the box.  The joy on the face of my 4 year old when she heard the parable of the grape vine as she sat holding those plastic grapes was priceless. Some pieces are more interactive.  One year I watched as several children in our church sat and carefully lined the palm branches and fabric in the shape of the cross.  The icon was placed at the top, and the donkey was walked along the path, over and over again.  For a young child, that is prayer.  That is meditating on the scripture.  That is learning.  The boxes may also be used at home.  You may wish to read the scripture ahead and present the items.  If you are concerned with small pieces being all over the place, take a small placemat to church and roll it out on the floor.  Explain that this is the space to work with the box, and the items are to stay on the mat until they are returned to the box.  Then watch, and be prepared to have visitors in your aisle as curious children around you are drawn to see what is going on!

Box 1

This box is for Palm Sunday, but could be used on Lazarus Saturday as well. It contains a strip of linen fabric to represent the raising of Lazarus, a donkey (from the crocodile hunter's stash), palm branches (a piece of artificial greenery I found at H*bby L*bby, just pull off the individual fronds off), palm crosses from past Palm Sundays, and icons of Mary and Martha, the Raising of Lazarus, and the Entrance into Jerusalem.  The prayer card is a small wooden plaque from the craft store painted purple.  I printed the script off my computer and attached it with mod p*dge.  A second coat of mod p*dge and some pearl 3-d paint finished it off.  

Box 2

This box is for Sunday evening Bridegroom Matins and Monday morning services. The focus of these services is humility, with Joseph as the Old Testament type of Christ, suffering in humility before saving his people. The grapes (from a craft store) and figs are references to the parables told during these services.  I purchased the figs online, but they are no longer available from that vendor.  Let me know if anyone finds another source for them, but you could model them from sc*lpey clay.

Box 3

This box pertains to Bridegroom Matins on Monday evening and Tuesday mornings gospel readings. The theme of readiness for the final judgement runs through these readings and the parables of the 10 talents and the 10 virgins are told. The sheep and goats (from the crocodile hunter's stash) are a reference to the scripture in which the people will be divided at judgement. The coin recalls the story of the Pharisees' attempt to trick Christ - render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. The lamps and oil are from this site, but are rather expensive.  They are made from sc*lpey clay and would be easy to replicate with a bit of time.  Icons include the Prophet Moses and the icon of the Last Judgement.

Box 4

This box covers Tuesday evening through Wednesday evening, with an emphasis on healing. The scriptures read during these days recalls the parable of the good Samaritan, and references to Christ healing the sick. The pitcher, basin (doll house items) and vial of oil remind us of the harlot washing Christ's feet, and also His rebuke to the disciples that He came to save those who are sinful. The bag contains 30 pieces of silver, as Wednesday is also the day Judas is paid for his betrayal of Christ. Finally, the oil also calls to mind the Service of Holy Unction which is commonly held on Wednesday of Holy Week.  Please note, the coins are not a good item to take to church!  They make far too much noise, so I only use them at home, and for church place 3 coins in the bag to represent the 30 pieces.

Box 5

This box is for the Mystical Supper, and contains a chalice, bread, an icon of the last supper and figures of Christ and disciples.  

Box 6

This box covers the services of Thursday and Friday, from the Passion Gospel service to Royal Hours on Friday. It contains a small plastic sword which Peter drew to defend Christ in the garden, a rooster as a reminder of Peter's betrayal hours later, a crown of thorns (miniature wreath from H*bby L*bby), a vial of vinegar as offered to Christ on the cross, a strip of leather to remind of the beating he received, a die as they cast lots for his clothing, and a small wooden skewer to represent the spear that pierced His side

Box 7

The final box is for Saturday, and contains a strip of linen to represent Christ's burial, vials of frankincense and myrrh which the women took to the tomb to prepare his body, a stone, icons of the resurrection and the risen Christ figure.  The prayer card was made in the same way as described above.  Another nice item to include in this box would be flower petals gathered from the Lamentations service the evening before.

A great addition to the boxes are the Great Lent and Holy Week Coloring books from Potamitis Publishing, and for older children, the Holy Week and Pascha book is wonderful.

Download list of items for each box

NOTE:
Some of the items in the boxes are not appropriate for younger children, and I am sure there are many other items that could be included, and ways to personalize this project.  Use your own judgement to determine what is safe and best for your children.

Formation

After a year in the discernment process, I received my letter of recognition as a formation leader for Level I of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd last December!  I have been anxiously awaiting my copy of the formation leaders handbook which was under revision.  It is finally in my hands  :)  I am excited to continue this journey of spiritual formation now with the new opportunity to help show other adults the joys of working with children in the Catechesis.

St. Brigid's Day

Here is a look at our festal display. The little princess made a St. Brigid from wax, I raided the Nativity Set for sheep, the flowers were the ones we purchased to toss at the arrival of the Kursk root icon and couldn't use because the venue moved to a hotel (hotels don't let you throw rose petals :) Of course, our favorite book on St. Brigid, and the vial contains water from St. Brigid's well, which my in-laws brought back from Ireland last year.

To celebrate St. Brigid's feast day, we invited a friend over for a proper tea party.

I tried my hand at Irish Soda Bread - still need to work on it :) It was okay, and the kids enjoyed it, but not great!
We made our own butter in a jar, and enjoyed lemon curd with homemade whipping cream, fruit salad, spice cake muffins and green tea.

Later we sat by the fire and made St. Brigid Crosses - pipe cleaners are the way to go if you are trying to teach kids!

A lovely feast day all around!

Pp is for Planning

When beginning the work of designing a complete curriculum for the early years, Mary, Matushka Emily and I began by taking into consideration the context of family life, the loving atmosphere in which the child will be learning. The balancing act of juggling multiple curriculums can be daunting. Unless a curriculum is designed for the reality of the home environment, in relation to time and focused attention from the parent, the task can prove itself to be frustrating at best and at its worst, impossible.
For this reason we have laid out one cohesive curriculum, purposed to span multiple ages, from a precocious three-year old to a nine-year old in need of additional phonics instruction. Each aspect of Letters of Grace includes three distinct skill levels of learning concentrated on similarly themed subject matter. From simple letter recognition to advanced phonogram study and introductory grammar, the three-tiered approach accommodates a family with many young children as well as the entire early education of one child. Each time a child begins a new year of Letters of Grace, a unique learning experience will be encountered.

We begin each week with a clearly laid out plan. A color-coded, all-in-one page view will be available for download and printing for each week of the plans. No matter the number of children using the curriculum and regardless of the span of their ages, all of the plans for the week are neatly laid out on one sheet.
A page of lesson notes, offering more detailed explanations of the week's lessons, insights and helpful tips will accompany the lesson planning chart. The weekly pages will be completed with a weekly book list organized by suggested reading level and alphabetized by author, along with a weekly supply list. We hope these lists help the teaching parent to gather books and supplies ahead of time, alleviating the need for last minute list-making and frantic scrambling for resources.

All of the planning resources for Letters of Grace will be offered as PDFs. Since we cannot control the availability or longevity of outside web sources, the curriculum does not depend in any way on internet links. For this reason, Letters of Grace is unique. Countless hours have been spent attentively customizing the resources for each week of plans. Every activity, recipe and project has been carefully worded, mother-to-mother, and beautifully presented to be used within the context of a family's daily life.
Step-by-step instructions will be offered for setting up the parent's planning notebook as well as the child's learning notebook. A clearly labeled cover page with original artwork and a table of contents will be available for download and printing. The only thing necessary to purchase will be a 3-ring binder with a clear pocket cover and a set of alphabetical index dividers at your local office supply store. All planning pages and resources will be conveniently filed behind the alphabetical tabs. Once the notebooks are set up with the printed resources, there will be no pressing need to return to the computer to use the plans. With your notebook and library card, you're ready to go.
The next post in this series will begin a guided tour of the planning chart previewed here. We will begin with Ss is for Saint. In the meantime, please feel free to leave any questions in the comment box or send them via email. We plan to collect the questions and answer them in a single post after the tour of Letters of Grace is complete.

Letters of Grace

Introducing a Complete Orthodox Curriculum for the Early Years

Long ago there lived a young boy, about the age of seven, who struggled in learning to read and write. Despite the greatest of efforts, the work of learning letters bore him no fruit. Discouraged by the ridicule of his peers and the disappointment of his parents, with great pain of heart, the young boy retreated into the forest.
As he walked along a heavily wooded path, the sight of an elder praying beneath the massive oaks startled him. As he quietly approached the holy man, the elder turned to the young boy and immediately recognized that he was greatly troubled. Pouring out his pain over his lack of learning, the elder responded by offering him a gift of blessed bread, a sign of God's help, which he carefully pulled from a small pouch.
Take and eat it. This is given to you as a sign of God's grace and for understanding of the Scriptures.
By God's grace, he immediately learned to read and write with ease. All the days of his life, he used his ability to acquire knowledge as a means to acquire the grace of God. This young boy, Bartholomew, grew to be St. Sergius of Radonezh, the 14th century founder of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra in Russia and the patron of our curriculum.

+++

Over the next several days we will be sharing a series of posts on our new curriculum, Letters of Grace, a complete curriculum for young children between the ages of three and nine. These plans will constitute the material that will launch our new Learning Through the Year of Grace website, due to make its debut sometime in late spring to early summer. Please don't hesitate to ask questions.
The end of this project is in sight. It has been a labor of love. Beginning in January, our three families (Mary's, Emily's, and ours) will be giving it a trial run, testing the details of the plans with the tool of real life. Our goal is to offer a fully tested curriculum, intuitively organized and easily understood by the teaching parent and thoroughly enjoyable for the child and family. We hope you enjoy this tour of the work of our hands and ask that you pray for us as we work to contribute more towards Orthodox curriculum. And of course, all of the plans and printable resources will be available online free of charge.