Catholic Home Schooling in Oxford

Home schooling is not big business in England, but there are quite a number of Catholic homeschoolers, nearly all of them attached to the Traditional Mass, in the Oxford area and in Reading.

They have created some collaborative initiatives, including homeschooling groups in Oxford and Reading, and a home schoolers' Newsletter, edited from Reading.

The other day I saw the Oxford homeschooling group in action, in the Oxford Oratory. They use the meeting rooms attached to the church, and say the rosary, and have Benediction in the Church; sometimes one of the Fathers of the Oratory gives the children catechism. The group is described in this way by Amanda Lewin, the principle organiser.

The Oxford Catholic home schooling group meets on the last Friday of every month at the Oxford Oratory. There are a group of around eight mothers and many children who are all traditionally minded. It is a chance for the children to see their friends and the mothers to chat and share ideas about home schooling. The morning begins with tea and coffee and home made cakes, then a decade of the rosary is prayed in the Church. One of the Priests from the Oratory takes the older children for a lesson on an appropriate feast day, and there are lessons and crafts for the younger children arranged by the Mothers. After lunch and a play outside the day ends with Benediction in the Church with as many of the boys serving as possible! For more information, please contact Mrs Amanda Lewin, 01869 600638

The newsletter, Faith in the Home, has just gained toe-hold in cyberspace, the Faith in the Home blog. It tells us that the magazine derives from

a Catholic home-educating family who produce a modest, bi-monthly newsletter to support other Catholic home-educating families. We attend the Tridentine rite of the Holy Mass (sometimes now referred to as the Extraordinary Form of the Mass), so expect our magazine to run along traditional lines. We have a mailing list of about 100 readers, and we are adding new members each month. If you would like more information, please feel free to email me at the address shown: michael.hennessy4@btinternet.com

Home schooling can be a daunting prospect, but it is not one that anyone need face in isolation.