Welcome to Mercy for Marthas!
Why Mercy for Marthas? Like St. Martha, we are women of service. We show our love through our faithfulness to the sometimes hum drum, nitty gritty work of keeping a home and educating our children. But sometimes we feel overwhelmed.
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her. – Luke 10:38-42
These words really relate to us, don’t they? As we serve Our Lord by caring for our family, we, too, can be distracted by many things when what we really need to do is sit at Our Lord’s feet and listen to what He is saying. How much we are in need of God’s grace and mercy!
In this blog, we hope to share with you some of our experiences and insights as Catholic homeschooling mothers. We hope to inspire you to a life of prayer and to offer support and encouragement. Since, like St. Martha, we are practical women, we will also post lessons plans and resources that we have created over the years. We hope you will find them useful and that they will simplify your life… maybe even a little.
I just want you to know this blog is full of free homeschool resources that I’ve made for my kids (and yours!) over my many years of homeschooling. There are literature guides made by my dear friend Sue Clement, lesson plans, book lists, favorite curriculum lists, resources for teaching history, and so much more.
I started this blog several years ago because I believe the education and formation of our children is paramount to their future happiness and salvation. What we do now as parents really matters. I also believe that homeschooling plays a vital role in fostering vocations and building a culture of life and love. Kuddos to you for taking this generous, sacrifical path!!! God cannot be outdone in generosity, and He will bless you abundantly for the sacrifices you are making for your children.
To begin with, here are some posts that may interest you:
For the New Homeschooling Mom:
Screwtape Letter for a Homeschool Mom
Roll-Over Lesson Plans: How to Use Them in Your Homeschool and Why They’re So Effective
Beginning a New Homeschool Year: The Two Best Things You Can Do for Your Homeschool
Do You Love Homeschooling, or Do You Homeschool Because You Have To?
For the Tired Homeschooling Mom:
What St. Ignatius Would Say to a Homeschooling Mom Who Wants to Quit
For the Nerdy Homeschooling Mom (a.k.a. Mom in curriculum shopping mode):
Check out the tab on Lesson Plans from the home page. I have free lesson plans for math, history, science, and writing.
Also visit the tab on Our Favorite Books, which lists all our favorite curricula from Preschool to 8th grade.
Looking for wholesome summer reading for your kids? My daughter Carolyn has written several novels – mostly historical fiction. One friend recently texted me and said her daughter read one of Carolyn’s books SIX times… she enjoyed it that much! You can find her book list and several other lists of worthy novels in our Booklists tab.
For the Extra-Special Mom:
God has blessed our family with an incredible little boy with an extra special chromosome. So I’ve been reading up on how best to educate children with Down Syndrome, and I’ve been making lots of resources for him. Junior is only six, so homeschooling him is a new adventure. If you have any littles with Down Syndrome or learning delays, check out these posts:
Speech Therapy Resources for Toddlers with Down Syndrome
Homeschool Activities for Preschoolers With or Without Down Syndrome
Springtime Printables for Preschoolers With or Without Down Syndrome
Teaching Preschoolers with Down Syndrome to Read with See and Learn
In the coming months, I’ll be posting several of the printables and reading materials I’ve been making for Junior, so stay tuned!
As for who we are:
Mary Cooney:
Happy wife. Mother of six. Curriculum junkie. Once a pianist. Tame, lame tiger mom. Martha in need of God’s mercy. Author of Evangelizing Our Children with Joy.
Mary’s lovable minions (ranging from 20 to 6): Big Sis, All-Star, Feisty, Sparky, Princess, and Junior.
Sue Clement: Devoted to my vocation as a wife first and a mom second. Mother of 4. Curriculum semi-junkie, but oh how I love to buy books! Once an engineer. Foodie!!! Not so tame tiger mom. Martha in need of God’s mercy.
Sue’s super crew (ranging from 20 to 0): The Musician, The Capitalist, The Laid Back One, Miniature Me.
Finally, I invite you to Follow this Blog to get the latest resources, inspiration, and advice. I don’t require your email in exchange for my homeschool resources. My work is mostly freely given and shared. But I do appreciate (nice) comments, and I try to answers questions when I can.
Mercy for Marthas 
Thank you, Ladies, for this blog! I just found it in my search for singapore math LP, which you have provided beautifully. I have a question concerning religious studies for 5th grade(i believe you begin 4th) in regards to Christian Studies from MP. These are Christian, not Catholic books, so I was wondering if they were in line with Catholic teachings. I looked at them, but haven’t purchased due that doubt.
Thank you for your help.
Sonia
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Hi Sonia, Welcome to our blog! I am not a moral theologian, so I cannot guarantee that the Christian Studies books from MP are 100% in line with Catholic teaching. So far we have used the first 2 books and I have not found any problems. I chose these because I think the Golden Children’s Bible is one of the most well written and illustrated children’s bibles available. However, if you want to be totally sure that there is nothing contrary to the Catholic faith, you might consider A Child’s Bible History from Tan, or some of Seton’s bible history books. Hope this helps! – Mary
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Mary,
I like MP, so might try those. I appreciate the your review on the MP books.
Thank you,
Sonia
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Mary
I read parts of ‘Evangelising Your Children with Joy’ while on retreat at the week-end. I love it! Especially the chapter on ‘Being Kind’. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. Joanna O’Riordan, Dublin, Ireland
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Thank you so much for your kind words and welcome to the blog!
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Your blog became an answer to my prayers. For years I’ve pieced together curriculum while others buy whole packages and rave about it. With six kids, this particular “whole curriculum” is just not in the budget, and I was feeling like a failure after 10 years of homeschooling. But. .. I prayed…and prayed…and after a few searches your blog popped up. It so closely resembles what I’ve been doing all these years. God’s hand was guiding me here. Thanks for creating this blog! Blessings to you and your family:)
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Thank you so much for sharing this! I am so happy that this blog is an answer to your prayers! May God bless your family!
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Mary
My friend and I both read your book while on retreat. We both loved it and I passed on another book to my friend. I am a homeschooling mum and i love the look of the confession book as I too have a child preparing for Holy Communion in Spring.
Thank you for the time taken to blog. It’s really encouraging.
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Thank you for dropping by and writing such a kind comment! I’m glad you like the Confession booklet 🙂
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I love your booklists for Story of Civilization. Will you have one for Volume 3 any time soon? Thank you so much!
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We won’t be doing Vol. 3 this year… we’re moving on to American History with Sea to Shining Sea instead. But you can easily make your own book list using “For the Love of Literature”, which has lists of literature organized by historical time period. It’s a wonderful resource.
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Your lesson plans for IEW’s Elegant Essays are a blessing! I am looking for lesson plans for IEW’s Writing Research papers – I believe it may now be out of print. Can anyone help …
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Mary, I am so happy to have found your blog a few years ago. I have used the lesson plans and resources many times- thank you! We met several years ago at your home for CHRCH Lego club. Hope you all are doing well.
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Hi Emily! It’s so good to hear from you! I remember you and your adorable boys from Lego Club. Where did the time go? I’m so glad these resources have been useful. We are all doing well, thank you! Thanks for dropping a line, and love to your family!
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Wow! You saved me with your Scarlet Pimpernel study guide! I am running a high school homeschool day at my house once a week this fall, and wanted to do this book with my kids and the other students. All I wanted was a list of study questions for this book without having to make one up myself. Busy momma with five still at home. THANK YOU!
I have written a list of questions with answers for C.S. Lewis’ “The Last Battle.” Happy to share with you for free on your website, if you like – a kind of payment, in thanks.
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