Raising Virtuous Children: Four Things You Must Absolutely Do

Published on by Mary Cooney2 Comments

In the last post, I talked about ways to develop the four cardinal virtues: justice, temperance, prudence, and fortitude. These are the core virtues your children need in order to become spiritual athletes. The more a person practices these virtues, the greater his capacity for freedom, and thus the greater his capacity to fully love.  In this post, I’ll share with you my favorite part of this talk: Four things you absolutely must do to raise virtuous children:

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Raising Virtuous Children: The Core Virtues of Spiritual Athletes

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In my last post, I talked about the importance of virtues and how they enable us to love fully and freely. The foundational virtue, the one that sets the stage for the development of all others, is obedience.

In addition to obedience, we want our children to develop the four cardinal virtues: justice, temperance, prudence, and fortitude. These are called the cardinal virtues because cardo means “hinge” in Latin and all other virtues hinge from these four. For example, honesty and responsibility stem from justice. Chastity stems from temperance. Patience comes from fortitude. 

Virtues are like the muscles in our body. When you exercise one muscle, you also exercise the others around it.  The cardinal virtues are like the core muscles of our body. Athletes need strong core muscles. Spiritual athletes are those who are striving for holiness and the ability to love fully and freely. And they need the cardinal virtues.

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Raising Virtuous Children

Published on by Mary Cooney3 Comments

Last month, I had the privilege of speaking at a family conference near State College, PA. My topic was Raising Virtuous Children – a topic so broad one could write a whole book about it. I think I over-loaded the audience with too much info, so I promised one mom that I would post the talk on this blog. I’ll post it as a three-part series. Here is Part I of the talk on Raising Virtuous Children:

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24 Great Books for Boys in Middle School

Published on by Mary Cooney1 Comment

Earlier this spring, twelve-year-old Feisty was perusing our book shelves, looking for something to read. “I’ve read that, and that, and that,” he noted. “I’ve read everything on these bookshelves!”

“That can’t be,” exclaimed my oldest daughter. She scanned the bookshelves and picked out Investing for Dummies. “You haven’t read this one.”

“Fine. I’ll read it.”

A few days later, Feisty told us he wanted to invest in stocks — which is a great thing for a kid to start doing. But I also knew it was time to find him some new books. So I turned to my trusty sources and compiled a list of books for his summer reading. The two great things about this list: 1) The books are clean and wholesome 2) Most of these are available at the public library. Already he’s read most of these books and approved of them. Here it is for your boys to enjoy:

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Who is Raising Your Kids? You? or the Culture?

Published on by Mary Cooney2 Comments

It takes a village to raise a child — so goes the African proverb. But what if that village, including schools, peers, media, and the culture at large, goes strongly and blatantly against your principles? What’s a parent to do? 

In her newly released book, Don’t Let the Culture Raise your Kids, journalist Marcia Segelstein gives parents a highly researched and in-depth look at today’s culture. She describes how it undermines parental influence and challenges traditional family values. More importantly, she offers excellent solutions, tips, and tools for parents who are fighting to protect their children from gender ideology, social media and gaming addiction, sex-ed in schools, pornography, and consumerism.  In this interview for Mercatornet, Marcia Segelstein shares some of her research findings and advice.

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12 Classic Novels Girls Should Read before Turning 12

Published on by Mary Cooney4 Comments

Give your daughters some classic novels to read this summer — books so beautifully written that the characters become like childhood friends. I have read many of these over and over again as a girl, and I can honestly say they have been very formative. A poignant, well-crafted novel can help shape the heart and form the mind. Here are 12 classic novels which do just that.

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Our Favorite Homeschool Curricula This Year (2018 – 2019)

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It’s spring! Time to start planning for the coming school year. In years past, I used to spend hours browsing home school curricula. This year, with our second teen heading to highschool in the fall, there isn’t that much browsing to do. We’re pretty much sticking to the stuff that we know has worked for us in the past. For those of you who are deciding on curricula, here is a list of our favorite books from this year:

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How to be a Happier Parent

Published on by Mary Cooney1 Comment

Here’s a special treat for you! I recently read a newly-released book, Be a Happier Parent or Laugh Trying. The author,  Betsy Kerekes, happens to be a homeschooling mom who has learned, (and I quote her) “If you don’t laugh, you cry, but laughing is more fun.” Isn’t that the truth! Here’s the  interview I had with her for Mercatornet. I’m sure you’ll appreciate her stories, humor, and her great perspective on dealing with parenting calamities.

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