For Cora – Lesson Plans

Last Sunday, sweet little Cora passed away due to Neuroblastoma (a form of cancer). Her parents are planning to construct a playground in honor of her life and memory. Many Etsy shop are working together to raise money for Cora’s Playground. Love, September is one of the participating shops.

And what better to commemorate a little girl’s life than a tutu?!? Not just any tutu but a tutu in the most vibrant, adorable color EVER-fuchsia!!This tutu looks fabulous in photos (as you can see….speaking of adorable!) and can be made in sizes newborn to 5T. If you’re so inclined, for a little more, I can make it in adult sizes as well. And all of the proceeds will go to Cora.

If you have ever contemplated purchasing a tutu, right now is the absolute best time to splurge because 100% of the proceeds are going to be donated to Cora’s Playground fund. Doing good and getting something fantastic!! Here’s a link directly to the Fuchsia Tutu for Cora Paige.

Even if you aren’t going to purchase a tutu (I won’t be offended), please add this button to your sidebar that links to all of the Etsy shops that are donating to the Playground fund. It’s a wonderful cause and won’t take more that a couple minutes of your time to help out. The HTML code for the button is below. Just copy and paste the code and add it as an HTML gadget to your own. Then click on it to see what other Etsy goodies you can purchase for Cora!! Happy shopping!

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Butterfly Learning Activities and Crafts

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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