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Ali
Member
| Joined: | Sat Jan 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 622 |
| First Name: | Ali | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | JW, finally fully Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Apr 7th, 2008 12:21 pm |
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We haven't ventured to far from Faith & Life series and the old style Baltimore Cat for kids. We've done them before, but are ready to review first communion stuff with Q. I'm just out of material for him {sigh} Not that I'm looking for resources for 1st Communion specifically, I'm just curious about what you all use. FWIW, he also attends CCD weekly. Hey, if I'm a teacher, and I have to get up extra early Sunday mornings, so do both of my kids! Even the one who gets religion every day at Catholic school  It ain't like a little extra is gonna hurt her 
What about Mother of Device Grace (MODG)? I've heard of it, but never had the opportunity to see any of the books. Is that actual curriculum, though, or just a way to teach? Like Charlotte Mason ???
Honestly, I've had a rough year schooling Q. I haven't had that fire for hs'ing I had when dd was younger. But I don't know what it is about this time of year, it seems to be relit, and I'm making plans for next year! LOL
Thanks!
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True Image
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| Joined: | Mon Apr 7th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 67 |
| First Name: | Anne | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Lifelong devout cradle Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Apr 7th, 2008 07:47 pm |
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I use Catholic Heritage Curricula and love it. I have used Kolbe and some Seton materials, mixed with CHC and whatever else I wanted. A few years ago, I switched to total CHC. The lesson plans are well laid out, and my kids are thriving on it. In the lower grades (4th & below), the lesson plans use a 4 day schoolweek. In grades 5 & above, you can modify them to a 4 day week easily. (I do that because our homeschool co-op meets once a week.) There is no busy work, nor too much repetition. I test using the CAT from Seton, and my kids score very high.
CHC's lesson plans include hands on religion activities and Faith & Life for the main religion text. The hands on activities are excellent and add depth. In particular, the second grade sacramental prep is outstanding. The hands on is included in the lesson plans.
Kolbe and MODG are classical. I used Kolbe materials and was pleased with them. I switched to CHC because I preferred a liberal arts approach. Kolbe is a day school in CA and also a homeschool provider. All teachers sign a pledge of fidelity to the Magisterium, and all textbooks are in line with Catholic teaching. Some of the texts are secular, but nothing is against Catholic teaching. Kolbe is accredited, so high school graduates receive a diploma from an accredited high school.
I have many friends who use MODG. Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum is written by the founder. You can purchase syllabi without enrolling in the school. MODG is also accredited, so high school graduates receive a diploma from an accredited high school.
We chose not to use MODG because it uses Abeka texbooks which are published by Pensacola Christian College. With the abundance of good Catholic, secular and even Protestant textbooks that are not anti-Catholic, we do not see any reason to use Abeka. That's our particular conviction, and my friends who use MODG are happy with their materials. (Except that they have to edit the Abeka textbooks and discuss the anti-Catholic slant with their kids. )
BTW, this year has been a tough one for me, maybe because my youngest started homeschooling this year. I want summer vacation.
Anne (homeschooling mom to 4 - 7th grade, 5th grade, 2nd grade, preK/K)
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EMarshallBuckles
Member
| Joined: | Mon Nov 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rockville (Near Richmond), Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 520 |
| First Name: | Marshall | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Christian Church,Episcopal Church,Baptist denomination,learning about RCC |
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Posted: Mon Apr 7th, 2008 08:13 pm |
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| My wife and I homeschool our daughter using A Beka curriculum. We do that because they have DVD recorded classes. Our daughter is a visual learner and learns better watching lectures(we could teach her ourselves, however, A Beka does have some excellent teachers). Although A Beka does have a strong Christian influence on their students, which we appreciate, occasionally (not that often but occasionally) they have said some things which are negative about the Catholic Church. However, we remind our daughter that her Uncle Martin, whom she loves, is a Roman Catholic and we explain that Roman Catholics are our Christian brothers and sisters who truly worship and serve Christ in a wonderful way! She sees EWTN broadcasts, frequently, and we sometimes discuss various Catholic saints and church history, etc. She knows that we think very highly of Pope Benedict XVI and that we thought very highly of Pope John Paul II. Frankly, I would have preferred to use Seton, however, they just did not have the DVD instruction. Anyway, no matter what curriculum one uses, among the Christian curriculums, it is a great idea to either homeschool or have one's child in a private Christian school these days. The public schools are getting to be major, unruly "zoos", very sad to say!
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True Image
Member
| Joined: | Mon Apr 7th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 67 |
| First Name: | Anne | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Lifelong devout cradle Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Apr 9th, 2008 07:19 pm |
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I wish I could find a Catholic curricula that uses a DVD approach. Maybe my third child would be more motivated to do his work.
I'm considering Seton for high school.
Are you going to HEAV in June? Sadly, I don't think I will make it this year; but I will make it to IHM the following weekend.
Anne
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EMarshallBuckles
Member
| Joined: | Mon Nov 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rockville (Near Richmond), Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 520 |
| First Name: | Marshall | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Christian Church,Episcopal Church,Baptist denomination,learning about RCC |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 02:25 pm |
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Anne, Seton is outstanding, and regionally accredited, so I certainly would highly recommend it for high school! I keep up with them and they are starting to get more classes online so maybe that would be an option if you use them.
We had our daughter in a private, Christian elementary school, near my wife's office in the adjoining county, for Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. However, when we decided to strongly consider homeschooling, one year, four years ago, we went to the HEAV convention and intensely looked into all the home school stuff. However, since then, we pretty much keep up with HEAV (for non-Virginia readers, HEAV is the homeschool association for parents here in Virginia, ha, ha) through their emails and publications. Because we settled on a curriculum, we just haven't had much need to go hang around the convention. By the way, our local school official who oversees homeschoolers in our county is a nice Catholic lady who is an alumna of the University of Notre Dame, no less! While she works in public education, she has some children some of whom have gone to public school and some of whom have gone to parochial school (now she has grandchildren, however). She is very helpful and a very nice person!
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Ali
Member
| Joined: | Sat Jan 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 622 |
| First Name: | Ali | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | JW, finally fully Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Apr 11th, 2008 11:43 am |
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I guess I just want something easier. But I don't think there is anything. Well, if there is, we can't afford it. I was looking at Alpha Omega LifePac workbooks on Ebay. I remember doing those with my daughter. Easy, yes. All laid out, yes. But school was not fun that year. It was all sit down and do your work kind of stuff. That's not how my kids learn.
I wanted all the leg work done for me, but still be designed how *I* want it. LOL That, I realize, is rather impossible. LOL
Ali
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True Image
Member
| Joined: | Mon Apr 7th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 67 |
| First Name: | Anne | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Lifelong devout cradle Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Apr 11th, 2008 01:18 pm |
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Ali wrote: I guess I just want something easier. But I don't think there is anything. Well, if there is, we can't afford it. I was looking at Alpha Omega LifePac workbooks on Ebay. I remember doing those with my daughter. Easy, yes. All laid out, yes. But school was not fun that year. It was all sit down and do your work kind of stuff. That's not how my kids learn.
I wanted all the leg work done for me, but still be designed how *I* want it. LOL That, I realize, is rather impossible. LOL
Ali
Homeschooling is never easy. It's not for wimps.  (Even though I wish it were easy. I keep reminding myself that this is my path to holiness. I am not just homeschooling to get my kids into heaven. I'm homeschooling to get myself into heaven.  Fr Hardon said that "If at the end of the day, you are not exhausted, confess the sin of laziness." I rarely have to confess that sin!  )
I used to design my own program every year, but I finally decided that CHC was as close to what I wanted as I could get in a "packaged" curricula. It's flexible, has a good blend of workbooks and hands on activities and is close to a unit study in a couple of areas. It works well for us, so I'm happy.
MODG is an actual curricula with books and syllabi. You can enroll in the program or just purchase the books and curricula. My DD is doing the 7th grade history in our co-op this year, and it's thorough. That's the most experience I have with them.
Anne
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True Image
Member
| Joined: | Mon Apr 7th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 67 |
| First Name: | Anne | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Lifelong devout cradle Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Apr 11th, 2008 01:22 pm |
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Ed, I want to go to HEAV for the shopping. Since I'm homeschooling 4, I'm tired of writing out lesson plans every year in a lesson planner. I want to purchase one of the computerized lesson planners to make it easier. I know there are (at least) two programs, but I can't remember their names (Homeschool EZ Tracker?).
I also want to buy Institute for Excellence in Writing. Next year, we're going to focus heavily on writing; and several of my friends have used and highly recommend IEP.
Anne
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mrsbmoo
Member
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 267 |
| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | former Methodist. RCA, Presbyterian, Holiness, Wesleyan... Catholic as of June ... |
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Posted: Fri Apr 11th, 2008 11:28 pm |
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I have used Faith and Life for late elementary and middle school but I felt it was not very friendly to little kids. My other complaints with it, is that while it has catechism questions to memorize, it doesn't have a supporting Bible verses to memorize. I guess I have met too many Catholics who are not very familiar with basic Bible knowledge. I used it for my 5th through 8th graders who already had a good basis in scripture from their previous years as a protestant. For my 3 year old, I plan to use Image of God until 3rd grade. It is also sold by Ignatious press but is more hands-on and visually oriented. It also gives more time in the lesson to the related Bible story. She is already doing the preschool A level. I also want to use that Dominican video curriculum that is on EWTN Saturday mornings. They seem to be putting out a new set every year. For my High School daughter, we have used Scott Hahn's series on scripture supporting Catholicism and this year we did biographies of great Christians which we both have enjoyed. Next year we are going to read Catholicism for Dummies and
I have taught ABEKA but found it a bit light acedemically after middle school, particularly in science. My daughter who will be in 11th grade next year will use apologia science(also a Christian curriculum) which is more rigorous and comes in a computer version. She also uses some Alpha Omega switched on schoolhouse courses. She is going to use British lit , consumer math, and Government from them.
____________________
Becky
Wife of Michael(called Moo) and stay at home mom to 5 daughters between 7 months and 16
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3John4
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 76 |
| First Name: | Dede | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic, Protestant, Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 02:29 pm |
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Wow, lots of great info here!
We have used Sonlight as our "framework" for the past 12 years. I also use the Faith and Life Series for bible--Sonlight has us reading at least one chapter of scripture a day + memorizing passages, so the combination works well. The read-alouds, readers and history books are wonderful. I use Apologia for science and Math U See. Having taught language arts in the public schools for ten years, my personal opinion is that Abeka has one of the best elementary programs-IF you follow it sequentially from third to eighth grade.
I will add that I have used MODG, Seton and Kolbe materials for certain things and actually make sure I order something from each of them every year. I think all three provide outstanding curriculum, and really want to support their efforts.
Ali, like you, I'm starting to get "the fire" for next year, and have found myself ordering materials earlier than usual. I am amazed, and very grateful that after twelve years of doing this, I still LOVE it!
Dede
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Ali
Member
| Joined: | Sat Jan 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | Ohio USA |
| Posts: | 622 |
| First Name: | Ali | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | JW, finally fully Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 11:23 pm |
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3John4 wrote: We have used Sonlight as our "framework" for the past 12 years.
Did you know there is a Sonlight Catholic yahoo list? Great info, and super ladies. If you need/want the link, pm me and I'll send it to you
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