Educating the Heart and Mind in the Catholic Home

The July issue has been mailed!

A few notes about the first issue:
1.) You can download more information about Suchi Myjak's astronomy unit HERE.
2.) You can download a resource list that accompanies Mary Gildersleeve's handcrafts article HERE.
3.) There is an error on the last page . . . it's blank! You can download the last page of the magazine (the continuation of Nancy Carpentier's Brown's article) HERE. We apologize for the error and any inconvenience it causes you. We also apologize to Maricoli Beads whose AD also appears on that page. (At the Family-Centered Conference in Lancaster, PA last weekend I saw a rosary made by this company and it was beautiful !!!)

We hope you enjoy the first issue!!

Margot
Editor, mater et magistra

Welcome! This is the home of the new mater et magistra magazine, formerly Heart & Mind magazine. We are still in the process of creating an interactive website that we hope will have many interesting and informative features in the future. So we hope you will visit often!

Please be assured that if you had a subscription with Heart and Mind, that subscription will continue with the new magazine. All the favorite features will continue, such as the free pull-out unit study, book and resource reviews, and insights and support from homeschoolers across the country. But we will have a new design and hope to involve the readers more.

So why the name change? Well, it’s a long story . . . but the best reason is that we want to show that we are a new creation, a restructuring of something that is good and beautiful. At my son’s Confirmation recently the bishop talked about the taking of Confirmation names and he gave this explanation: As we know, when something really big happens in the Bible, there is a name change. For example Abram becomes Abraham, Jacob becomes Israel, Saul becomes Paul. A name change represents the spiritual change, and helps us remember that a change has taken place; a new person is created, so to speak. So, if there is big spiritual event for us, we change our name, or add a new one. Well, taking over this magazine is a pretty big event for us, and we want to mark it with a name that represents our thoughts about the future of the magazine.

Our new name is taken from the papal encyclical Mater et Magistra, which explains the Church’s role as our mother and teacher.  In our homes—our domestic churches—we, too, are “mother and teacher” to the children in our care, a special blending of the God-given duty to educate our children.

We have made our title in lower case letters in deference to the “big” Mater et Magistra, the Church, and we take as our model the most beautiful mother and teacher ever created, Mary, the Mother of God.

We will continue to strive to be an independent voice for Catholic homeschooling, that is, the magazine does not espouse one particular style or philosophy of education or support one particular program. It provides a forum for sharing information about all the styles, philosophies, and programs and seeks to support and nurture the hearts and minds not only of our children, but of ourselves, as mothers and teachers.

Please give us your feedback about the magazine so that we can learn how best to serve you. You may contact us at editor@materetmagistramagazine.org. Also, we have need of reader input in several of our departments. Please follow the link in the sidebar marked “input from readers” to learn what topics we’d like to feature in upcoming issues. Perhaps you have a great idea that you can share with all the readers.

A huge debt of gratitude must be paid to the original founders and editors of this magazine. They have graciously passed on the monumental amount of work that was done to build up and sustain the magazine. Please pray for them as they move on to another phase of life.

Blessings to you and your families!
Margot Davidson, editor

Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children (2223)... parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own conviction. This right is fundamental. (2229).
                                                                                             —Catechism of the Catholic Church