The Marks of Catholic Education
One
Studies should
be unified (made One) with curriculum connections - subjects connected to one another with Catholic elements pulled in and
emphasized. For example, while reading through the Old and New Testament you can study the History of Egypt, and
Greece, and Rome and pull in studies on Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Catholic Art and Music. Timelines are are great tool for
curriculum connections.
In most traditional school settings, various subjects are taught as unrelated pieces. It was only when I started
teaching my children through homeschooling that I began to realize that each subject has a connection to another. Being able
to place persons and events on a timeline made those connections so much more evident. There is no right or wrong way to start
the connections. I learned that Bible History is related to the foreign languages of Hebrew and Greek, which is related to
Ancient History, which related to Astronomy, which is related to Mythology and Literature, which is related to Philosophy,
which is related to Government, which is related to the beginnings of our Catholic Church, and you can just go on and on.
But when you really think about it, God did create this universe, so why shouldn’t there be connections across the educational
disciplines: after all everything comes from the Universal Body of Truth and Knowledge, from Our Creator.
Holy
A curriculum is made Holy by incorporating the lives of the Saints and other important Catholics,
past and present.
In the
Catholic Keys section of the Marks of Catholic Education, I have complied a list of patron saints according to school subject
areas. Other simple
connections include teaching appropriate prayers with related subjects, for example when teaching prepositions have the child
learn the Breastplate of St. Patrick.
Catholic
The definition of Catholic is "universal." The Catholic Church has a wealth
of sources for foundations in Truth: included are the Catechism of the Catholic Church and various other approved documents
of the Church.
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church is the best source of universal truth. In the Catholic Keys section of the Marks of Catholic Education I have compiled a listing
of references to the Catholic Catechism according to school subject areas. Use the index in the Catechism to see what the
Catholic Church has to say about Health, Art, etc. In addition, the Church has a number of approved documents that can be
used to supplement various subjects, for example the Pope has a beautiful letter to artists.
Apostolic
Apostolic means "from the Apostles." A curriculum is made Apostolic by representing
the often neglected but true history from the Catholic perspective. In your studies, include the Catholics who influenced
science, art, literature, education, and more.
(1926 A.D.) “One of the finest human documents ever penned was
the Constitution of the United States; yet within only one century and a half we have corrected it (nineteen) times. Not so
with the Apostle’s Creed; after two thousand years it is still the same, unchanged even as the Apostles wrote it, believed
it, and published it. That is because it is in origin divine, and has been inspired and written to last until the end of time.
That is because it contains the rule of faith, yours and mine, and the truths which we must believe, - all and entire –
if we wish to be saved.” (from Letters of a Bishop to His Flock by Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago)
Truth does not
change. It may be further defined, but it does not change. Just as the Truth of the Apostles Creed has been misrepresented
and ignored throughout the ages, much of the Truth of history has been distorted or totally eliminated from the typical textbooks.
One has to be very diligent, to discern and present the Truth from a Catholic perspective. For example, it was fascinating
for me to realize that for the first 1000 years of our history, if Christianity is mentioned it is of the Catholic Church.
Those knights in shining armor who pledged their allegiance to the Church had to be Catholic because there was no Protestant
church at that time. Did you know that the first settlement in America was not Plymouth Rock, but St. Augustine, Florida?
Did you know that Christopher Columbus received a letter from the Catholic King and Queen?
Furthermore, it adds a whole
new element to a study when one realizes what the Catholics in history have contributed to fields such as science:
Braille invented the Braille system for the blind; Cassadorius, a priest, invented
the watch; Coulomb established the laws of static electricity; De Chauliac, a papal physician, was the father of modern surgery
and hospitals; Eustachius, for whom the Eustachian tube was named was one of the founders of modern anatomy; Fallopius, for
whom the fallopian tubes were named was an eminent physiologist; Guttenberg invented printing, Laennec invented the stethoscope,
Mendel, a monk, established the laws of heredity, which gave the final blow the the theory of natural selection. (from My Catholic Faith ©1949/1959)
Note:
Ignatius Press is publishing an excellent series of Catholic history text books.
