Saturday of Lazarus Lesson

Posted on Apr 26, 2013 | Comments Off

I tend to model my teaching style after the Divine Liturgy.  By this, I mean, I try to include the use of all five of our senses when I develop a lesson or unit.  This approach reaches all the different learning styles and at the same time doesn’t require any reinventing of the learning wheel.

An Orthodox Community Garden

Posted on Apr 21, 2013 | 1 comment

I have several notebooks containing ideas I’ve written down over the years pertaining to Orthodox lessons I would like to (or have) created.  Far too many of them sit undeveloped and waiting on the pages of my notebooks but I’ve been trying to be more proactive about making them a reality rather than simply an idea on paper.

…because I never back down from a challenge

Posted on Apr 18, 2013 | 6 comments

Determination.  That’s what this is all about.  I’ve seen the photos of beautiful, red Pascha eggs dyed using onion skins and I wanted to learn how to do it myself.  The first two times were my fault.    The third time, I have no idea where I went wrong since I followed the directions precisely.  The fourth time…much better.

Dyeing with Onion Skins for Pascha Gets a Third Chance

Posted on Apr 14, 2013 | 9 comments

I had at least six people tell me I could get a darker red using onion skins for my Pascha eggs than the results I got in my first two attempts.  Two lovely ladies (thank you Maria & Erica!) were kind enough to share their recipes with me and I used both!  I also figured out the trick we missed!  You have to steep the onion skins BEFORE you dye the eggs. Crucial step.   I also do not normally hard boil my eggs for more than 11 minutes and both of their recipes called for the eggs to sit in the hot dye for longer than that.

Different Dyes, Different Shades of Red for Pascha Eggs

Posted on Apr 12, 2013 | 12 comments

There’s a tradition, especially among the Greeks, of having red eggs for Pascha.  It’s a tradition that has been passed down from one generation to the next as we break the fast together on Pascha.  Where the Slavic traditions will bring a basket of food with them to be blessed by their priest, the Greek tradition is to receive a blessed, red egg from their priest after the Resurrection service.  Both traditions share the commonality of breaking the fast together as a community.

Lenten Staples: Meals on the Go – the Sequel

Posted on Apr 9, 2013 | 1 comment

Here’s one more set of Lenten meals on the go during this season.  After this post, I’m going to focus on some of the traditional foods for Pascha – egg dyeing, bread, etc.

These are simple meals I made for my family to eat on the way to or from church during last week.  Trust me, at 6 months pregnant, I did not spend a lot of time putting these together. These are quick and easy meals to prevent us from stopping at fast food on the way home from church.  I put the containers in a big bag with a fork, napkin, and juice box for each person – and there you have a Lenten meal in the car when everyone is hungry.

Lesson: Evening Services During Lent

Posted on Apr 1, 2013 | 2 comments

This is a lesson I did with my nine and ten year-old today to talk about the evening services we attend during Lent.  I made this lesson with my boys and our parish’s services in mind.  The lesson assumes that your parish holds Great Compline on Monday nights, Pre-Sanctified Liturgy on Wednesday nights, and Akathist to the Mother of God on Friday nights.  If not, you can tweak the lesson to fit your family or class’ needs.  This lesson also goes along with our Pascha Passports.

Lenten Staples: Meals on the Go

Posted on Mar 29, 2013 | 4 comments

These fasting meals were inspired by the school lunch, the grown-up work lunch, and the meals eaten in the car going to or from weeknight Lenten services.  They are meant as inspiration or to copy for all those needing a Lenten meal on the go.

Lenten Staples: Legumes & Grains

Posted on Mar 29, 2013 | 1 comment

These are eight examples of meals I’ve made using the legume and grain staples in my pantry.  I decided to label this selection of food legumes and grains to provide the widest definition for these staples.  Wikipedia defines legumes as – “Well-known legumes include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, soybeans, and peanuts.”   This is a huge group of staples to choose from so select your family’s favorites and see how many combinations you can come up with during Lent.

Appealing to Multiple Learning Styles: Our Patron Saints Unit

Posted on Mar 25, 2013 | 1 comment

The Our Patron Saints Unit below is a much smaller spin off from the unit I put together on “Special Agents for Christ” by Annalisa Boyd for my presentation during the previous webinar.  I had originally created this mini unit for my boys as part of our homeschool curriculum but it is easily adaptable for classroom use as well.