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Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

When “Textbooks” Don’t Cut It

Veronica Moreno · June 21, 2019

83941 ver0 HREE CHILDREN sit tamely on the couch. The baby crawls around looking for things to taste…errr explore. But the two-year-old, she can’t sit beyond 12 seconds. Soon she’ll be on the floor with a Shopkin’ or a peg doll. During this, she’ll be “quieter”—because this is our “morning time,” the start of our homeschooling day.

To the casual observer, she is quietly playing, but looking closer, this little sponge is whispering. She’s following along with our prayers! A few minutes later, when her seven-year-old brother recites “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Dickinson, there is no doubt you will hear her little high-pitched voice whisper, “that perches in the soul.”

This routine has taken years to establish. When we decided to homeschool, there was no one to guide us. We felt absolutely alone in our choice to be Catholic homeschoolers. No family member or friend had done something so drastic as to take their child out of traditional schooling. We were both teachers, but our experience was only in the traditional systems. Of course, the internet search made things better, and soon we were ordering and receiving the “boxed curriculum.”

83940 ver0 OUR FIRST TWO, we homeschooled from the “curriculum.” In a way, buying the box was a little like buying what the traditional schools buy, doing what regular schools do. Our days looked “traditional”: adult teaches, child reads the lesson, some interaction to clarify what might confuse, and the child finishes the practice worksheet. If the twenty-five addition problems were unfinished or had many mistakes, I’d feel we’d failed for the day.

Yet as I continued to research in those first two years, a group of educational practices caught my attention. I learned to think “outside the box”. Without delving into the pedagogical details, I decided to transition into a “Charlotte Mason inspired” philosophy or curriculum. 1

Our “textbooks” weren’t cutting it. I needed to bring the most worthy texts, the most beautiful words, the most melodious songs, the brightest pictures, the most moving poems. Beauty was to be our teacher, and she is what their senses would devour. So in our third year of homeschooling, we did not buy a textbook-based, boxed curriculum, but instead we created a “feast of living books” about the subjects we needed to explore.

This is how we began to create a truly different type of homeschool, where our morning routine with Shopkin’ girl and the other four children became the anchor and launch of our day. We already had opening prayers and salutes, now we needed to add “the riches.” From now on, we would always have “a banquet.”



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   This meant many changes to the daily instructional routine, but what is most pertinent to this blog post is that it introduced me to the idea that every single text that my children consume and learn from—the literature and science and history—should be “a continual holiday to their door” or better yet, that I should only present “before them a feast, exquisitely served.”

Our focus in sharing this isn’t the pedagogy of homeschooling, but how that philosophy intersects with beauty, art, music, and the faith. There are many resources to learn about “living books” and Charlotte Mason. The quotes are from Mason’s six-volume series about education.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Moreno

Veronica Moreno is married to a teacher and homeschools five children. She has been cantor at her local Catholic parish for over a decade.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

The Council of Trent taught: “In this divine sacrifice which takes place at Mass, the same Christ is present and is immolated in an unbloody manner, Who once on the Cross offered Himself in a bloody manner. For the victim is one and the same, now offering through the ministry of priests, Who then offered Himself on the Cross; only the manner of offering is different” (Session XXII, cap. 2, Denzinger, n. 940).

— Pope Pius XII (2 November 1954)

Recent Posts

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  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • The Tallis Scholars
  • Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
  • Pope Saint Paul VI to Consilium (14 October 1968)

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