Saints in the Making General Information

The Programs

Holy Family Home Educators Saints in the Making Program offers spiritual formation in the Catholic faith and a fun social environment for children from 4-15 years old. The programs are geared to each age group: PreK-K class for 4-5 year olds, Little Flowers for girls 6-9 years old, Blue Knights for boys 6-9 years old, and Pilgrims of the Holy Family for girls and boys 10-15 years old.

Saints in the Making offers additional enrichment opportunities that support and deepen the learning that is being done in the classroom. The children will be led in bi-monthly Liturgical Celebrations that are designed to enliven the faith of our children and increase their love of Christ. These celebrations include the Triumph of the Holy Cross, Christ the King, the Annunciation, Pentecost, and a tour of St. John’s Catholic Church with explanations of the articles, Sacramentals, and the parts of a Catholic Church.

Pilgrims of the Holy Family

Pilgrims of the Holy Family is a Catholic alternative to 4-H and Scouts for boys and girls ages 10-15. This family activity program is designed to teach proficiency in a variety of life skills for the purpose of developing well-rounded young men and women. The Pilgrims program takes the basic concept of Merit Badges, and translates it into a practical program for Catholic homeschooling families. Even some of the “achievement” (activity) titles are similar to those in Boy Scouts, although here they are each tied to an exemplary saint.

Activities are divided into five broad areas called “paths”: humanities, religion, science, technology, and woodmanship. The student chooses between 9 and 16 specific topics (each about equivalent to a Merit Badge) within each path. A student must complete 2/3 of the activities within a path to claim completion. (Keep in mind that all topics will not appeal to all students, thus the 2/3 requirement rather than 100%.)

Examples of topics within each path: Humanities: art, Catholic social thought, law, leadership; Religion: church history, literature, missions, virtues; Science: astronomy, chemistry, geology, medicine, nature; Technology: husbandry, architecture, auto mechanics, cooking, first aid, home care, landscaping, pet care; Woodsmanship: archery, boating, fire safety, gardening, swimming, wilderness survival.

When children complete each path, they are granted “pilgrim” status relating to five major pilgrimage sites. This concept along with biographical sketches of saints who are role models for each activity, prayers, and numerous activities relating to the Catholic faith give this program a purposeful depth not found in the Merit Badge program. Even better, both boys and girls can participate.

The “path” that will be studied this year is Religion. The Pilgrims of the Holy Family program provides our HFHE middle-schoolers a spiritual program that will keep them engaged in their spiritual growth, while at the same time, give them the opportunity to form friendships that they can carry on through high school.

Little Flower Girs' Club

Little Flowers Girls' Club® is a Catholic program for girls ages 6-9 based on learning Catholic virtues through the lives of Catholic saints, Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Developed by a Catholic mom of nine, Rachel Watkins, and based on Fr. Lasance's Catholic Girls' Guide, the Club strives to bring the Catholic faith alive and inspire the girls to become authentic Catholic women.

Nine virtues are included in each of three different wreaths or years of study. Badges for the virtues are earned by studying the saint associated with the virtue, memorizing relevant scripture verses and studying the Catechism. We are studying Wreath II this year.

Little Flowers will continue to have parent leaders lead the monthly meetings on a rotating basis. The Leader's Guide for each wreath offers suggestions for running meetings, planning crafts and activities, talks on virtues and other relevant information. The Member's Guide includes the activities, saints' biographies, pictures of the saints, and prayers for each girl. Each of the girls in the Club should purchase their own Member's Guide. Leaders should have fun with the program and use the flexibility to choose the items that are right for your group's needs.

This year we are adding the opportunity for the Little Flowers to earn badges. To correspond with the earning of badges, we will use the check off lists in the lesson books to structure our lessons. The parent leaders will cover 3-4 of the suggestions in the book and then do a craft and/or game that reinforces the lesson. At the end of the meeting the parent leader will check off and sign each child’s book. Upon receiving the parent leader’s signature in their book, the child will have rightfully earned a badge for that month.

In addition, the Little Flowers will have an optional service project/field trip on a bi-monthly basis to reinforce the virtues that are being taught. The time and place of the service projects/field trips will change each month according to the activity being done.

The Blue Knights Boys' Club

The Blue Knights Catholic Club is a boys' club aimed at teaching the truths of the Catholic faith to boys through Scripture, saints' biographies, games, crafts and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Based on the popular Little Flowers Girls' Club, this program developed by Major Dan McGuire maps out nine virtues for boys ages 6 -9 in the first year, and then follows up with three years covering nine catechetical lessons each. The club guides include lessons in the Faith, activities, saints' biographies, suggested talks, craft ideas and game suggestions.

Blue Knights will continue to have parent leaders lead the monthly meetings on a rotating basis. And like the Little Flowers, the Blue Knights will have the opportunity to earn badges this year. To correspond with the earning of badges, we will use the check off lists in the lesson books to structure our lessons. The parent leaders will cover 3-4 of the suggestions in the book and then do a craft and/or game that reinforces the lesson. At the end of the meeting the parent leader will check off and sign each child’s book. Upon receiving the parent leader’s signature in their book, the child will have rightfully earned a badge for that month.

Pre-K Program

The Image of God series is a Catholic religion curriculum for children 3 years old through kindergarten that presents the faith in a lively, colorful manner. The program focuses on two unifying key truths: God and creation. It stresses the dignity of each child made in God's image, and it presents the faith in terms and activities children understand. Each lesson includes Bible stories, songs, games and crafts.