Required Permission from Parents:
Due to some of the segments being of a sensitive nature, Homeschool Connections recommends that parents of those taking the course to sign a document, giving permission to their student to hear this important information so as to prepare them for the onslaught of wrong ideas in college.
Parents might want to email Miss Ashour to ask questions about this course: mashour@tobet.org since parts of it are adult subject matter, but very necessary given this culture which produces things like “Fifty Shades of Grey” and the inculcation of Gender Ideology for all age groups. Parents: PLEASE email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com for the enrollment key.
How to get the most out of TOB and Going off to College: Keeping your Faith with Miss Ashour, MTS; M Hum:
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First, read the course materials below before the first class meeting.
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Then have a notebook ready and available for class notes each live session.
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Read assignments before class meetings
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Watch that week’s recording if you need to revisit information from our live session.
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Do the assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.
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Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.
Total classes: 12
Duration: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Prerequisite: None.
Suggested grade level: Graduating Senior (or mature Junior)
High school credit: 1-semester credit in theology
Instructor: Miss Ashour, MTS; M Hum
Instructor Email: mashour@tobet.org
Course Description:
This 12-week course will follow Monica Ashour’s power points and two books, Theology of the Body Marriage Preparation and Catholicism for EveryBODY by covering an overview of God’s plan for marriage and its relationship to salvation history. Although this former book was written for young adults who are contemplating marriage and the latter book for 8th graders, both will illuminate the truth of the human person for the mature high school student. He or she will thus be prepared not only to be shored up against secularist messages but equipped to work toward the goal of marriage or celibacy for the Kingdom, while remaining a solid Catholic.
In following the guidelines of The Pontifical Council for the Family’s document, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, this course addresses difficult issues that students will encounter in college which distort the proper understanding of sexuality and chastity. Thus, students will be equipped with the beautiful vision of vocations so they can remain true to Catholicism’s mosaic of truth and love, giving them a solid foundation for later taking vows. Miss Ashour is basing much of this material on the experiences that her own homeschooled nieces and nephews have encountered (and are encountering now) in their college career.
The creative, unique diagrams serve as exemplary, “incarnational” visuals to solidify in the students’ imaginations the Church’s teachings on the truth of love, marriage, and celibacy.
Textbooks:
1. Theology of the Body Marriage Preparation: A Christ-Centered Guide to Happy Marriages by Monica Ashour
Monica Ashour’s Book Endorsements by Dr. Peter Kreeft and Dr. Janet Smith:
“What a delight your book is! If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then your 100 or so pictures are worth 100,000 words, and they are much more memorable….This is a great marriage preparation book… or an intro to TOB. Great common sense.”
-Dr. Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy at Boston College
“This book is a real contribution to the need for truly useful marriage preparation materials based on the Theology of the Body. The graphics are excellent….”
-Dr. Janet E. Smith, Professor of Theology at Ave Maria Seminary
Monica Ashour’s Book Endorsements by Pope Emeritus Benedict and George Weigel:
2. Catholicism for EveryBODY, Level 8, Book 2 by Monica Ashour
(From The Body Matters Program)
Pope Emeritus Benedict through Archbishop Georg Gänswein sent Monica Ashour a letter thanking her and all of TOBET for “your evangelizing work in promoting the Theology of the Body, offering thus a convincing answer to the challenge of the Gender Ideology.” Vatican City, June 13, 2019.
TOBET’s books were lauded by George Weigel in First Things Magazine Online on April 17, 2019, as evidence of “The Easter Effect.”
To purchase these books: www.tobet.org $19.99 each
Course Work:
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Weekly Online Computer-graded Quizzes (Be finished before the start of the next class) (65%)
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Final Exam (10%) (Be finished by 7 days after you finish watching Segment 12.)
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Major Project (Grading Rubric will be posted) (15%) (MP4 sent to Miss Ashour the 9th week; mashour@tobet.org)
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Assigned Reading (The student will be expected to read both books on their own after the week it was discussed.) (10%)
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Extra Credit—Parent must write an email saying, “My son/daughter (FULL NAME) has read and discussed with me Dr. Edward Sri’s Men and Women and the Mystery of Love.” (+3 points added to the final grade)
Time Commitment to Study: A minimum of 1 hour a week for reading, study, doing quizzes, and working on and completing the final project.
Course Reading: The reading assignments give students an understanding of their identity, the vocation of marriage, the truth and meaning of sex and of the sexes, and a TOB of Catholicism. For the first day’s class: please read the required reading from the Bible.
Required Reading:
1. The Bible—Genesis 1-3; Ephesians 5
2. The Theology of the Body Marriage Preparation, author: Monica Ashour, MTS; M Hum
3. Catholicism for EveryBODY, Level 8, Book 2 of The Body Matters series, author: Monica Ashour, MTS; M Hum
Optional Reading for those who want to earn extra credit:
1. Dr. Edward Sri’s book, Men and Women and the Mystery of Love.
Advanced Optional Reading for a very difficult but very worthy challenge:
1. Pope John Paul’s Love and Responsibility
2. Pope John Paul’s Male and Female: He Created Them: A Theology of the Body. (This is the actual name of the Theology of the Body).
Course Units:
Week 1: What Is TOB and Why Should I Care?
Week 2: TOB’s 3 Basics: The Body Matters as a Firm Foundation
Week 3: Sensitive Topics—Addressed through a TOB Perspective
Week 4: TOB in Everyday Life: Love-Suffering vs. Sentimentality
Week 5: TOB & Sacraments: Bodily Encounter with Christ vs. Mechanistic View
Week 6: Becoming my “I”: Vocations and the Theology of the Body PART 1
Week 7: Becoming my “I”: Vocations and the Theology of the Body PART 2
Week 8: Dating, Discernment, and TOB
Week 9: The Body as an “Alphabet” and the Heart as the “Interpreter”
Week 10: A Sacramental View of Reality: Our Bodies Made Male and Female
Week 11: Catholicism for EveryBODY (Lessons 1-3): Overview, Sacraments, &
The Body as a Prophet
Week 12: The Body of Christ as the Center of Catholicism (Lesson 4)
Caveat: This syllabus may be altered at the discretion of the instructor.
- Teacher: Monica Ashour