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What
is
Keeping
It Catholic?
All About
KIC
A
Positive Reaction Called Catholic
Homeschooling
An
Interview with Marianna Bartold
Keeping
It Catholic (KIC) is an international network of
homeschooling parents, theologians, priests and laymen,
chaplains and directors of Catholic home study programs, and
many Catholic publishers.
Keeping It Catholic refers
constantly to the Church's timeless teachings on marriage
and the procreation and education of children.
There are no dues and fees
to join KIC. The services offered via the internet are
completely and totally free of charge. We offer a free
online newsletter "Keeping It Catholic in Your Heart and
Home," and we will soon be offering an extensive review work
on home education materials.
The KIC site also
supplies national updates on Catholic homeschool issues,
articles, reviews and almost 200 pages of information
pertinent to Catholic family life and homeschooling.
Marianna
Bartold,
a
wife and homeschooling mother of six children, is the
founder of Keeping
It Catholic.
She incorporated and edited the homeschool section of Sursum
Corda Magazine (now found in Latin Mass), published
The
Catholic Family's Magnificat,
served as the homeschool moderator to CRNET (now
EWTN Online), is a charter member of the Round Table of
Catholic Home School Leaders, and also founded three
Catholic homeschool organizations - the Mary Network of
Michigan, the Michigan Catholic Home Educators, and the
Catholic Homeschool Network of America (CHSNA). Her various
articles have been published in the Wanderer, Catholic
Family News, Mothers Watch, and the online magazine
Domestic-Church.com Many of the original
Magnificat
articles are archived at EWTN Online.
Mrs. Bartold's contributing
writers included Fr. John Hardon, S.J., Barbara Barthelette
(editor of Garbriel's Trumpet, Rialto, CA), Laura Berquist
(Mother of Divine Grace) Dr. Ann Carroll (historian and
director of Seton School), Dr. Mary Kay Clark (director of
Seton Home Study), Ellen Kramer (Catholic Homeschoolers of
PA), Carol Egan (Intermirifica), Phil Lehan, Vicki McCaffrey
(Towne Book Fairs), Catherine Moran (CHSNA), Virginia
Seuffert (CHSNA), Robert Spencer (Kolbe Academy),
homeschooling parents Fae Stuart, Kathy Wagner, and many
others.
Keeping
It Catholic
Is a Positive Reaction to "It."
But
What Is It?
It is
Catholic homeschooling--Protestant style. Or ecumenical
style. Or secular style. Anything but true, authentic and
pure
Catholic
education - homeschool style.
It
is the easy
acceptance of fundamentalizing the Catholic faith,
Catholic education and Catholic history.
It
has gained
the endorsement of a number of today's well-known
Catholic homeschool advocates and has hidden itself under
popular homeschool book titles. It
is comfortably entrenched in the Catholic homeschool
world, and only Keeping
It Catholic (KIC) -the Faith, Family and Home
Education Network
is
willing to address it.
It's time for parents -
homeschoolers and those who are still sticking it out in
the parochial schools - to band together and say
Enough!
The truth is many of
today's Catholic homeschooling parents pulled their
children from either parochial or public school systems
because they didn't want their kids dumbed down in both
faith and academics. The problem that has worked its way
into the Catholic homeschooling movement is
denying
that, for the most part, Catholic schools are no longer
are worthy of the name. At the same time, the phenomenon
of Catholic
homeschooling - Protestant
style
is
making fast inroads.
This is purposely said to
make Catholic parents think. It is not meant to be an
offensive statement, though we are sure - in fact, we
know - many will be offended. It hurts us to say it, but
delicate feelings don't matter when so many souls are at
stake.
Please remember that the
Church teaches what a Catholic education is, and it is
not
"catholizing" a series of Protestant or secular books, or
very weakly Catholic text.
If we are
homeschooling to keep the faith,
why are we using so many anti-Catholic Christian
books? Why are there certain prominent homeschool
advocates who encourage the use of such books? Why do
these same people also claim they are not homeschooling
as a negative reaction against anything?
Keeping
It Catholic has
the following comment to that kind of
statement:
Yes,
parents are homeschooling in reaction, and it's
a
wonderful,
courageous, positive reaction.
We are reclaiming our God given duty and right and
there is absolutely no shame in saying so. If we must
admit that our schools fail in their duties to assist
Catholic parents in transmitting the faith and in
providing an excellent
Catholic
education,
why deny that failure? What would be the purpose?
Denying such an important truth would be
wrong.
Even further, the problem
has accelerated with the promotion of supposedly
Christian resources tin the homeschool hat do not uphold
the Catholic faith.
(Continued below
with "An Interview.")
An
Interview with Marianna Bartold
"In most cases, the
abundance of homeschool resources come from anti-Catholic
but otherwise proclaimed 'Christian' publishers. These
resources are not truly Christian, and their materials
have already heavily influenced Catholic homeschooling
parents and thousands of children," states Mrs. Bartold,
founder of Keeping It Catholic.
Mrs. Bartold, a
homeschooling mother who founded The Catholic Family's
Magnificat Magazine, claims, "There's no doubt that
Catholic education via homeschooling is being watered
down, and many parents don't even realize it."
To counteract this
rising trend and to sound the alarm, Mrs. Bartold has
founded Keeping
It Catholic - the Faith, Family and Home Education
Network (KIC).
She is also in the process of writing and editing a
complete Catholic home education review book.
"KIC prays to reverse
this watering down effect by first referring to, sharing,
emphasizing - and even explaining, when the need arises -
the Church's constant teachings on marriage and
education, " says Mrs. Bartold. "It's time to once more
bring these most edifiying teachings on education to the
attention of Catholics."
.
To prove her point
that, within the homeschooling movement, the definition
ofo Catholic education is in a state of flux, Mrs.
Bartold uses the example of her first article in the
Heart at Home Online Newsletter, How To Keep Your
Homeschool Catholic.
"That first article
expounded on the definition of a Catholic school, as
taught in Christian Education of Youth. The topic
generated a discussion which soon turned into a debate.
There were insinuations from some participants that
keeping one's home life and home teaching in strict
accordance with the doctrines and dogmas of the Church
exhibits a holier-than-thou attitude," she
recalls.
"These parents were
objecting to the idea behind Keeping It Catholic because,
unwittingly, they did not understand the Ordinary
Magisterium."
Did the outcry
deter Mrs. Bartold and her members from their Keeping It
Catholic work?
"Absolutely not. Knowing
that other Catholic parents have been kept ignorant of
such an important Church teaching only proves to us how
important Keeping It Catholic really is today," she
answers. "It spurred many of us forward. It's not really
the fault of those objecting parents that they don't know
the truth."
"Besides this," she adds,
" there were many more homeschooling parents who were
thrilled to learn of the Church's teachings through our
Hearts at Home Newsletter."
Mrs. Bartold explains
that when many parents today were children themselves,
they were the victims of modernist-infilitrated school
catechesis and CCD programs. Much of that was due, she
says, to parish politics and the faulty
interpretationsand understanding of Vatican
II.
"Fortunately, many of the
popes' encyclicals and allocutions direct us to the
truth. For example, Christian Education of Youth provides
us with four hallmarks to a Catholic education. Each of
them are clear markers ensuring wholesome Catholic
training and tutelage," she continues.
"Our Holy Father,
Pope John Paul II, has also written Letters to
Families and Charter of the Rights of the
Families. From the ancient writings of the Church to
the early years of this century and to this very decade,
these encyclicals and allocutions of the popes prove that
the Church has always known, taught and upheld the
rights, duties and obligations of parents."
A
good number of homeschoolers wonder if, by authentic
Catholic curriculum, Mrs. Bartold is advocating the sole
use of Catholic home study programs.
"If parents were to
choose any of the numerous programs available, I would
first recommend the long-established
full service Catholic home study programs
like
Seton
Home Study School
and
Our
Lady of the Rosary,
" Mrs. Bartold says. "There are newer ones in recent
years, and in all cases, Catholic home study programs
must follow the teaching of the Ordinary Magisterium
which declares, 'Religion
must permeate all subjects.'
"
"Should parents feel that
choosing one of these programs is not an option, for
whatever reason, then the next step is to build one's own
Catholic
curriculum. I've
done this for years, and one of my intentions in founding
the network and in writing the book is to share how to do
just that," she reveals.
What
is the cause of the educational controversy in Catholic
homeschool circles?
"False ecumenism,"
Mrs. Bartold quickly answers. "That's the heart of the
problem. There's the prevailing nonsense about unity in
diversity and an ongoing "dialogue" process. Catholics
are encouraged to embrace all this in a misguided effort
to be charitable. For homeschoolers, that means Catholics
are using Protestant materials because those materials
bear the name Christian."
"Many Catholic
homeschoolers don't know yet that most Protestant
homeschool publishers refuse to even recognize Catholics
as Christians," she further reveals. "Those allegedly
Christian resources deny the true Faith, deny Tradition,
twist historical facts and glorify the Reformation.
That's unacceptable for any Catholic because denying the
truth has nothing to do with ecumenism."
"The true and lofty aim
of ecumenism is the evangelization and conversion to the
Catholic Faith, not Catholic tolerance of false doctrine
or respect for false religions. When it comes to parents
teaching their own children at home, these parents have a
solemn obligation to know the difference. Using
Protestant educational materials in Catholic
homeschooling is the first step to losing the fruits of a
real Catholic education," emphasizes Mrs.
Bartold.
In addition to education,
the Keeping It Catholic Family and Home Education Network
reports on any events which are either in or out of
accord with the Church's teachings on marriage, parental
primacy, sacramental preparation for children and teens
(especially homeschoolers), and other issues that affect
the rights of the family within the
Church.
"This kind of
network is long over-due," affirms Mrs. Bartold.
"KIC welcomes the opportunity to work with other
Catholic organizations that are not only willing to admit
they are members of the Church militant but who will act
as brave soldiers of Christ."
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