Does anyone else use a Catholic curriculum?

[Philothea]

I see many people here order their materials from Protestant companies.

So I was wondering if anyone, besides myself, uses WTM recommendations with a strong Catholic base?

If so, I am so curious as to what you use, what you like etc. Also what you didn't like and why would interest me too.

[Damselfly]

I am new to homeschooling and am looking forward to this August when my DS5 will be starting Kindergarten. I will be using a lot of the materials offered by Catholic Heritage Curricula and am continuing to research other Catholic curriculum such as Mother of Divine Grace and Kolbe. For Kindergarten and first grade I plan to use their (CHC) new handwriting program, spelling series, Language of God (as a supplement to FLL and PLL/ILL), and Little Stories for Little Folks for phonics.

I don't know a lot of Catholic homeschoolers, so sometimes I feel like I'm going at this alone. My friends who homeschool are all very different, from Protestant to School-At-Home to Unschooling. There is a local Catholic Homeschooling support group somewhat nearby that I hope to join. Other than that, we'll be following the liturgical year through crafts and discussion (not necessarily as part of the "school day"), attending Mass together and studying our faith daily as part of our lessons.

Nice to meet you :)

[Philothea]

Nice to meet you too.

I really like some of the stuff published by CHC, myself. My favorite pre-packaged is Mother of Divine Grace. I have taken a lot of their ideas and adapted them for our needs. I really like a lot of the religion suggestions from OLVS and I have also used Seton's handwriting.

I know a lot of Catholic homeschoolers but we all live so far apart and the children already have friends their own ages. All of my close friends homeschool, but they all live out of state.

I know there is a Catholic homeschooling group somewhere around here (North shore), but I have a huge fear that no one will like us once they get to know us. :)

[Faithr]

I'm a Catholic homeschooler. This coming year I'm using CHC for 2nd grade and Kolbe for 8th and doing my own thing for my 4th grader. I don't really plan my two teens curriculum so much as cobble it together from outside classes and then whatever is leftover I select something.

There are so many fine classical curricula out there for Catholics: Kolbe, St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum, MODG and then Seton. Really Catholics have been doing the classical thing for a long time now. Do you know the love2learn.net site? And RCHistory? And Unity of Truth is another blog that is great. There is a Catholic Classical yahoolist that I'm on. You might get some support from that. Also there is a wonderful Catholic Charlotte Mason curriculum online called Materamabilis.org (I think it's org; ;maybe com) Anyway that has really wonderful selections to choose from. Another good place for Catholic support is the 4reallearning forum.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

We're Catholic and use Catholic materials but I tend toward designing my own thing.

For next year we'll use
Religion
-- Catechism
-- Bible History
-- Liturgical Activities and saint studies

History
-- Our Pioneers and Patriots
-- Saint Biographies
-- Guided reading club (a mix of secular and Catholic)

Latin
-- Latin for Children (not Catholic)

Math
-- Singapore (not Catholic)

English
-- Shurley (Not Catholic and I'm just not crazy about it. We finished up this year's English early so I let her choose. She heard about Shurley from a friend and really wanted to try it. When we finish it, I belive we'll go back to a combination of the Seton English text and the CNRs that I love so much. They are both Catholic.)

Writing
-- IEW (not Catholic but written by a Catholic [I hear] and some of the materials are quite Catholic-y)

Literature
-- Variety of Catholic/secular.

Spelling
-- CNR spelling book.

Science
-- Unit studies, I think.

[Philothea]

I definately do my own thing too. The pre-packaged just would not work for us.

I really like CHC's A Year with God, because we really focus on the liturgical year instead of secular holidays. For example, we had an All Saint's Day party, my son was St. Dominic Savio and my daughter was St. Maria Goretti. (Two years ago they were St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare). Which probably sounds pretty boring to most people :)


Momofonefunone-- I love Our Pioneers and Patriots, what a great book.

As general reading to help put history in a Catholic context, I love "The Story of the Church" and "Christ the King, Lord of History." My only complaint would be the brevity of these texts.

I really want to get an entire old set of Voyages in English--the one before it was secularized. Even just to own it, I love old Catholic books.

[Plaid Dad]

MODG is probably the Catholic curriculum that is most similar to TWTM. It's also based on the Sayers Trivium and is quite rigorous. (The founder's book, Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, came out a few months before TWTM.) That's the first place I'd look for WTM-style suggestions. Seton is another good source. They are careful to make sure that the Faith isn't an "add-on" to the curriculum, but permeates every subject.

I wanted to put in a plug for Memoria Press's materials (and not just because they're my publisher!). They have both Catholic and Protestant authors, but I've never found anything in any of their curricula that I flat out couldn't use. Their Christian Studies program does need a little doctoring to be fully Catholic - they use a KJV-based children's bible that doesn't have the deuterocanonical books represented - but what is there is solid enough. I will be using Schuster's Bible History (http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-History-Testaments-Catholic-Schools/dp/0895550067/) with Knecht's Practical Commentary (http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Commentary-Holy-Scripture/dp/0895557576/) in place of the Golden Children's Bible MP recommends. Allcatholicbooks.com also has a PDF (http://www.allcatholicbooks.com/christianstudyVERSES.pdf) that gives the Douay-Rheims version for all the memory verses in the program.

My dd was enrolled with Kolbe this year and has worked well. I signed her up mostly to have support in dealing with reporting to our district, but I'm feeling more confident about that now, so we won't be re-enrolling. I do think it's a great program, though. They have a great booklet about Ignatian education (http://www.kolbe.org/Implementation_of_Ignatian_Education_in_the_Home__ _Francis_Crotty-p22174.html) that I found helpful. I also like their reading lists (http://www.kolbe.org/Kolbe_Academy_Recommended_Reading_List-p21798.html) and classical music listening guide (http://www.kolbe.org/Laudate%21_The_Kolbe_Listening_Guide-p22221.html).

As Faithr said, Catholics have a lot of resources because classical education is part of our Catholic heritage. It may take a little digging, but they're out there! :)

[Philothea]

I'm just satisfied for the day, knowing that I am not the only Catholic homeschooler here. :)

[K&Rs Mom]

I've found several Yahoo groups (including a Catholic WTM group) that are great for this kind of advice. I love this board because it is very diverse, so sometimes it's nice to have a smaller group to ask the more specific questions, or to find someone who really knows where you're coming from.

As far as what we're doing now, I try to substitute in some of CHCs books (spelling and grammar in particular) and add in the Image of God program for religion (an hour of CCD a week isn't enough). Besides a few passages we edit in SOTW, there isn't much to object to in the WTM plan.

[Testimony]

I thought it was. Is Memoria Press Catholic? If I am wrong, someone correct me.

Blessings,
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony:001_smile:

[kellycbr]

I think I'm a moderate Catholic, but I attend a very conservative parish that I love, so I think they believe I'm very liberal! We recently began homeschooling and I'm interested in ways to incorporate the beauty of our Catholic faith into their curriculum. Thanks for posting this question, because I learned about many new Catholic resources.:grouphug:

[In The Great White North]

My youngest was in 3rd so I didn't look any younger. I found most of them on ebay. And had 6th from my mom!

I remember my mom pulling it out when I was a kid to teach me all the grammar I didn't get in school.

[SoCal Sandra]

Adoremus.com and AllCatholicBooks.com have great prices on excellent materials. That's why I shop at those sites. I am protestant and have found many of my curriculum choices at those sites, Both sites carry complete Catholic curricula. Perhaps some of them might interest you.

BTW, I had a wonderful conversation with a Catholic priest whom I met at a recent St. Patrick's Day party. He told me that he encourages all his parishers to homeschool!

[SoCal Sandra]

Sorry.

[Sugarfoot]

a lot of various things, too. I want our whole curriculum to reinforce our faith and vice versa, but sometimes it's hard to find things that meet that criteria and fit our needs at the same time. We've tweaked a lot of protestant Christian materials, as well.:)

[Plaid Dad]

I thought it was. Is Memoria Press Catholic? If I am wrong, someone correct me.

Are you thinking of this Seton (http://www.setonhome.org/)? If so, yes, they are Catholic. (Seton Hall is a university. :))

Memoria Press is "mere Christian." They have both Catholic and Protestant authors, but their materials are not doctrinally specific beyond the basics of historical Christianity. Here is their statement of faith (http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/What-Is-Christian-Studies.html):

We are orthodox Christian and conservative in doctrine. We profess the historic doctrines of the Christian faith that are revealed in Holy Scripture and are taught in the ancient creeds of the Church, especially the Apostles’ and the Nicean Creeds. Our approach is consistent with the contemporary journal Touchstone Magazine and that of C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity when he says, "I am not trying to convert anyone to my position...only to defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times."

[Philothea]

I also think Adoremus books is great. They have good pricing on many things. They also sell many of the materials that are in traditional Catholic curricula programs.

Some other providers not mentioned would be Our Lady of Victory (http://www.olvs.org/index.asp?PageId=758) and Our Lady of the Rosary (http://www.olrs.com/) these are geared towards those who attend the Latin mass, but I think the latter has some really great home economics stuff for young ladies.

[Martha]

I use Seton (which is absolutely Catholic!), Catholic Heritage Curricula, Memoria Press Logic (they are not Catholic, but not anti-catholic, and use Peter Kreeft materials who is Catholic), Hillside Education (Catholic), MCP math (secular), and a few other items.

I try to keep my curriculum as Catholic as possible. After all, there's an entire secular world outside my door and in the media, so it's not like they need more exposure to that!:D

Always happy to meet another Catholic!

[Philothea]

Good to meet you too, Martha.

I like your blog! I'm hoping for the day when people will say to me "Are they all yours?" :)

[Martha]

oh I forgot to add, the best priced place I've ever found is http://www.allcatholicbooks.com they are really tough to beat much of the time.

If you like my blog, you might want to check the catholic education tab at the top. There's an entire page of catholic education links there.:)

[angela in ohio]

Writing
-- IEW (not Catholic but written by a Catholic [I hear] and some of the materials are quite Catholic-y)


Mr. Pudewa is Catholic.

I'm not Catholic, but a dear friend (who is) whose opinion I respect highly chose Mother of Divne Grace for her son. I think it looks well-put-together myself.

[kellycbr]

I want to learn more!

[Linda in NM]

I use some syllabi from MODG...I'm probably the only Episcopalian here, though...:-)

[Linda in NM]

Just wondering if you're on the North Shore of Massachusetts, Philothea--I grew up in Nahant, and I miss the ocean every day...

[Martha]

I want to learn more!
about what?:001_huh:
Catholic curriculum in general?
or modg?
The best way to get a look at modg is via the Emmanuel Books catalog, they are the carrier of all the syllabi and nearly all the recommended materials.:) You can buy one subject syllabi ONLY and see what you think.

[Philothea]

Yes, I am a northshorer. Not natively, but it is the only place I have lived here. I grew up in Ohio. We drove out to Nahant to explore one day, and realized we were low on gas... well there is not ONE gas station on Nahant so we cut our trip short, lovely area though-- I won't take points off for it being next to that "particular city with a bad reputation" ;)

[Philothea]

If you want to see sample syllabi for MODG they are here:
http://www.motherofdivinegrace.org/curriculum/syllabi.cfm

click on the appropriate link for each grade and scroll down to where is says sample-- I didn't know what grade was wanted, so I didn't link a particular one.

Anyways, I read Mrs. Berquist's book Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, I think she has some really good things to say and she is a very intelligent woman, but I just did not like the book-- mostly the organization of it, the depth and how it was written. Though I am definately what is considered an mega-ultra conservative Catholic, I think TWTM is way better at explaining and unravelling the classical method.

[Martha]

I didn't like DYOCC either.
Mostly the title. I mean it's NOT about designing anything much less your own thing. It's just her curriculum.:confused:

I like Teaching the Trivium by the Bluedorn couple better.
Also, Memoria Press has some really great articles in their catalog.:)

[Philothea]

whew! I am so glad I am not the only one that didn't like it.

[Testimony]

Are you thinking of this Seton (http://www.setonhome.org/)? If so, yes, they are Catholic. (Seton Hall is a university. :))
[/INDENT]

You can tell that I am from New Jersey. You are right Seton Hall is a University in New Jersey, which was Catholic at one time. I meant the Seton curriculum not Seton Hall. Opps!:lol:

Blessings,
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Martha]

bumping this because I'd love to get some first hand references for/against Our Lady of Victory - I'm curious about the kindergarten and or first grade??

Anyone?:bigear:

[Melmc]

Are you on Cathswapchat, Martha? That might be a place to ask about OLV because I've seen curriculum sold from there.

I'm Catholic and will homeschooling for the first time. I'm using a bunch of different things to put together the curriculum for my kids. A combo of CHC, MODG and Angelicum materials for K. Still working on the older two.

Something I discovered that I've fallen in love with is Hillside's Catholic Mosaic. I plan to do this as part of our Religion with all three kids. My fifth grader enjoys picture books so I think she'll like this and can read to all of us. It's a way of using picture books that follows liturgical year. There are activities and discussion guides for each of the books. I've been acquiring the books over the last couple of weeks. They look fantastic.

I bought Biblioplan Ancients for History and will be using a Catholic bible and adding some of RC History, Reading Your Way Through history resources/books to it along with some Montessori-inspired works. I also want to add the Roman Martyrs. I found a unit study about them on The History Place yahoo groups. RC History has some great Catholic history resources, including a list of saints that's chronological.

Oh, and another plug for Adoremus Books! They have a lot of great stuff.

[Philothea]

My blog has a review of OLVS K science, thumbs down-- save your money on that one.

The religion suggestion are very good, I use a lot of the books they suggest. Leading Little Ones to Mary is geared towards a school setting, but I was able to adapt it for my children (the two year old loves it).

K has waaay too much coloring. The Little Angel Reader look so cute and are good as far as getting Catholic words into the vocabulary. I have not tried them on a practical level, that is just from browsing them.

I love 24 songs for Catholic Children too.

Overall, I think getting ideas from them is the best way to go.

[kimba5]

Does anyone here actually use WTM? I was sent this link by a protestant friend who thought I might be interested. I am switching to WTM from St. Thomas Academy this year. I REALLY like WTM, I think it is well thought out and the history (Story of the World) program is incredible. I will trade out the "Spelling Workout" for the Seton spellers and add my own religion, but it doesn't seem as if anyone is using WTM!

[Martha]

Does anyone here actually use WTM? I was sent this link by a protestant friend who thought I might be interested. I am switching to WTM from St. Thomas Academy this year. I REALLY like WTM, I think it is well thought out and the history (Story of the World) program is incredible. I will trade out the "Spelling Workout" for the Seton spellers and add my own religion, but it doesn't seem as if anyone is using WTM!

Because there's more than one way to get a classical education and some children/families have different needs than others.

Because there is no such thing as the perfect curriculum.

Why aren't you using Spelling Workout? I mean it's WTM, so you should by your own argument be using it - right? I suspect you are not using it because either you think Seton's is better or because Spelling Workout simply didn't work out for you. That's the benefit of homeschooling.

This is the case for me. I like many methods or ideals of TWTM. I thoroughly enjoyed SOTW volumn 1 and 2. However, I personally prefer a more Catholic centered curriculum for the majority of our materials.

[KSGrace]

We are a Catholic family. Originally, we had planned on enrolling in Seton but felt using the full curriculum was a little too religious for us (I hope that doesn't offend anyone. We thought Seton was great just not for us). BUT...I see that a lot of people mention using certain Seton books. I would like to use some of Seton's books without using the entire curriculum. Where do you buy individual subjects from Seton? Can you get them from Seton's website? What subjects do you think they do best?

Thank you.

[Martha]

We are a Catholic family. Originally, we had planned on enrolling in Seton but felt using the full curriculum was a little too religious for us (I hope that doesn't offend anyone. We thought Seton was great just not for us). BUT...I see that a lot of people mention using certain Seton books. I would like to use some of Seton's books without using the entire curriculum. Where do you buy individual subjects from Seton? Can you get them from Seton's website? What subjects do you think they do best?

Thank you.

:001_huh:I have no idea how any Catholic can be too religious, but I know that's a whole other topic!:D

directly to your question though.
Through the Seton website, you can either:
- fully enroll for a grade level
- enroll in individual courses only
- purchase books only

www.setonhome.org (http://www.setonhome.org)

I've done all of those 3 options at various times for various children without a problem.:)
ETA: It's best to call to enroll in an individual course.

[kimba5]

I certainly didn't mean to infer that people weren't free to do what they want in educating their own children. Maybe my tone was not correct. I am deeply Catholic, I am not challenging anyone. I was just asking because I was hoping to hear from people using the curriculum and what Catholic bent they were using in it. I am the only person in my homeschooling group that is using WTM. I very much enjoyed the spelling workout books, but wanted to get back to more Catholic "stuff" and saw that the Seton speller was very similar in set up to the spelling workout. I do agree with the other person on Seton. We used it our first year of homeschooling and it actually scared my kids. The red Satan and the pictures of hell. I have all girls and they weren't ready for that just yet, I believe.

[Martha]

I certainly didn't mean to infer that people weren't free to do what they want in educating their own children. Maybe my tone was not correct. I am deeply Catholic, I am not challenging anyone. I was just asking because I was hoping to hear from people using the curriculum and what Catholic bent they were using in it. I am the only person in my homeschooling group that is using WTM. I very much enjoyed the spelling workout books, but wanted to get back to more Catholic "stuff" and saw that the Seton speller was very similar in set up to the spelling workout. I do agree with the other person on Seton. We used it our first year of homeschooling and it actually scared my kids. The red Satan and the pictures of hell. I have all girls and they weren't ready for that just yet, I believe.

okie dokie. no challenge taken then:)

I think this thread does tell of others "catholic bent" on WTM? They (we) seem to be doing the same as you, dropping materials because they either don't work for us or because a Catholic alternative is available.

I have just about everything by Seton up through 8th grade either in use, already used, or waiting to be used next year and have yet to see anything fearful like you describe. Even so, that is fairly tame to most history, protestant or otherwise, imho.

Oh well. To each their own. As I said, the differences and ability to meet those differences is a great feature of homeschooling!:)

[Jenny in Atl]

I use some syllabi from MODG...I'm probably the only Episcopalian here, though...:-)

Not, ... I'm one though a bit lapsed at the moment. :tongue_smilie:

[Andie]

I have nothing to add beyond the resources already given, but I'm Catholic, so here I am. :-)

We've used everything, I think. Or very nearly.

I would *love* to hear more about Catholic Mosaic from those that have used it, though! :bigear:

[TexasTea]

I use a variety of things like the other ladies who have posted. I love CHC for my younger kids and I have used Sonlight for years but add in Saint books, do our own books for Religion etc.

[kimba5]

okie dokie. no challenge taken then:)

I think this thread does tell of others "catholic bent" on WTM? They (we) seem to be doing the same as you, dropping materials because they either don't work for us or because a Catholic alternative is available.

I have just about everything by Seton up through 8th grade either in use, already used, or waiting to be used next year and have yet to see anything fearful like you describe. Even so, that is fairly tame to most history, protestant or otherwise, imho.

Oh well. To each their own. As I said, the differences and ability to meet those differences is a great feature of homeschooling!:)

It's in the kindergarten year. Maybe you don't find it fearful because you're an adult. My child won't even read "Little House in the Big Woods" because they eat their animals. bummed about that. It's a great book and I wish she would read it.

[Martha]

It's in the kindergarten year. Maybe you don't find it fearful because you're an adult. My child won't even read "Little House in the Big Woods" because they eat their animals. bummed about that. It's a great book and I wish she would read it.

wow. If they are that sensitive, I don't know that I'd paint Seton as full of hellfire and brimstone. It sounds like they are just sensitive, not that Seton is too religious or scary. And again, any protestant material could have the same result.:001_huh:

My oldest boy didn't know what it meant to be "saved" when he was in 1st grade. He was reading a reader that we bought used thinking it was "safe" and well...
About 20 mintues into his reading he comes up to me all worried and scared wanting to know if Jesus was going to save us. The poor kid though people were needing saved from monsters or something and was picturing all the unsaved people running like in some b movie from the blob because they hadn't been saved. That was the last time I bought reading materials without reading it first and or making sure it's catholic.:lol:

I just finished kindergarten with one and am starting with another and can't find anything scary in the materials. There's beautiful old classic art pictures like always, but nothing horrific that we can find. We love the art in Seton so much that I cut out the cover pictures to save for art projects.:)

[kimba5]

Too funny.

The art is in the Jesus and I book. When Satan is tempting the kids and in the first pages. You keep mentioning Protestant materials. I don't think I use any. Am I missing something here? or were you just telling that story.

Sorry, multi-tasking too much...baby crying, making dinner, listening to the radio and trying to write on this thing!:tongue_smilie:

[Martha]

The art is in the Jesus and I book. When Satan is tempting the kids and in the first pages. You keep mentioning Protestant materials. I don't think I use any. Am I missing something here? or were you just telling that story.

okay. yeah. I found a picture of Gabriel banishing satan into the flames on p. 3. Not scary in the least. satan looks more like a shadow than anything terribly scary. as I said - oh well.

no, not missing anything. Just saying that any materials from any source can have scary pictures or tales in them and it's not neccessarily a bad thing, imho. History isn't all roses after all. then there's fairy tales. Now those have scared a few of my kids! :)

[mchel210]

We are planning on using Sonlight with our kids next year. We used some abeka, sotw ect this year...but I had looked at putting my son in all seton next year. I decided to use Sonlight and add in Seton for Religion only. He is starting conformation classes at church weekly next year...and my dds are doing communion classes as well. Plus children of the kingdom singing class weekly...I also used a lot of books from materamabilis for them. I loved that resource. They had a ton of great ideas for school.

[fruitful vine]

It's wonderful to see so many Catholic home schoolers and wonderful to meet you! :blushing:

I would love to have that perfect Catholic curriculum that covers all my needs and teaches using our wonderful faith, but I've not been overly happy to date.
I hope I don't offend anyone but:

CHC has good Catholic books, but I felt that their science and social studies involved a lot of prep work. I just don't have the time each night to put all the time into getting the materials together. I also felt that the Spelling, English and Phonics were too easy.

Seton is also wonderfully Catholic, but I didn't feel it was set up for someone with a large family. Each child has their own workbooks for each and every subject. I personally like to combine levels when ever possible(English, science, social studies, etc.) Also, much of it seemed like busy work with no real teaching/learning.

Don't get me wrong, both CHC and Seton have wonderful Catholic material!!! I use parts and pieces from each.
One example; I use Seton's American History (How America Began) grade 4 to teach all of my children and it's Catholic!!
Also, CHC and Seton have some wonderful Catholic readers.

Math: I use Math-U-See and we all love it!! (Christian based)

Science: I use God's Design, I like it because I can adjust it to any/all grade level. (Christian based)

Vocabulary: My kids have a notebook where they right down words they see/read that they don't know. Then they look them up.

This coming year I would like to try "The Phonics Road to Reading" and "The Bridge to the Latin Road" By: B. Beers. I heard they are good. I'm excited that they teach Latin along with English, phonics, and reading all in one!! Only problem, it is not Catholic, but at least it teaches Latin. Anyone have any info. on those curriculums?

I would love to have the faith in each and every aspect of my teaching, but I feel that to get the type of education I want, I settle for other books and try to add in our faith in other ways.

My husband is a Bible wiz. Our kids know the Bible in-side out and up-side down. They have a Bible study each night.
We do use the A Year with God -CHC. and have had a Saints day party for the past 4 years!
We love to read saint stories.
Also we have a Cathoic quiz/game/activities book called Faith Facts for Young Cathoics.
They are fun ways to learn the faith, along with our regular catechism learning. :Angel_anim:

[Philothea]

I use WTM, but only as a guideline. For example, I love the history sequence and the science sequence as well. I am using SOTW but I just give the Catholic view on things.

I like it for ideas on how to teach, what subjects and when. The only thing that I do avoid is anything overtly protestant, in which case I like secular materials much better.

I find that with CHC the materials are too gentle. Seton is hit or miss with the materials being on the proper level. OLVS has good ideas but many of the materials are not that great. OLRS seems very good but I'd probably require more out of my children, and I think my favorite is MODG but it does move a little slower than I would like.

I didn't think that any of the programs were too religious, but Seton does use a lot of Catholic art.

[MelissaD]

Just wanted to wave at y'all and say "Me too, me too, Catholic over here!!"

I have a question for those of you in the Bible belt or in areas without Catholic HS groups. Do you feel a little out of place? I'm much more conservative then most of the other Catholics I know, but I'm not nearly as conservative as the Protestant homeschoolers I know. For example, we were sitting at swimming chatting about books and one of the Protestant hs moms mentioned that she wouldn't let her daughter read "My Father's Dragon" because it was too much like "Harry Potter":confused:. We love "My Father's Dragon" AND "Harry Potter"!! There have been several instances like that where I feel like a total outsider, kwim? It is hard to have deep friendships when there are such big differences.

I'll stop now, sorry to be a downer, glad to see so many other Catholics here!!

[Tea 4 Three]

I highly second most of the suggestions everyone else gave and wanted to say hello to all of you. We are a Catholic family also, and it is exciting to "meet" all of you.

I thought I might add a thought to this discussion..."Catholic material" doesn't necessarily mean that it comes from a "Catholic" publisher. I know I won't articulate this completely, so I might need to write another post...but "Catholic" teaching is found in all that reflects God who is Truth, Beauty and Goodness. I like to use some material that is very explicit in teaching the Catholic Faith, but it is very possible to use a curriculum that isn't explicitly Catholic (as long as it isn't heretical as far as the Faith is concerned) and have it still reflect a Catholic worldview. In fact, most of what I use isn't from a Catholic publisher. I also don't emphasize "teaching religion," as I believe the best way to communicate what we believe is by living it. So we do a lot of celebrating the fasts and feasts of the liturgical year, attending Mass during the week, and lots of discussion. I have found the Family Formation Program http://www.churchofsaintpaul.com/familyformation/ to be a wonderful way of facilitating the teaching of doctrine to all the dc at once.

There is also a woman in our homeschool group (a Catholic group) who has written some really great history and science curriculum. Her name is Mary Daly and her website is http://www.hedgeschool.com/
We did My First Timeline for an introduction to history, and it was wonderful!! I can't recommend it highly enough. My kids loved it. You can check it out here http://www.hedgeschool.com/historytime.html. After that we did Hillyer's Child's History of the World and now we are moving on to SOTW. We are supplementing with material from RC History. We are also integrating The Universe in My Hands for science, which Mary presents from a Catholic worldview. It isn't a stand alone curriculum, but orders all of the sciences. She is a very talented woman and I have learned so much from her.

One other tidbit I wanted to add...You might want to get on the email list for Adoremus Books. Every once in a while they do a coupon which combined with their free shipping is a great deal. They usually have them around the big feasts (the Easter coupon was 20% off.)

[fruitful vine]

I feel very out of place, but the number of kids I have has often made me stand out. I'm very conservative and many people question my ways, even among Catholics I feel that way.
I'm sorry to say that I question Harry Potter. Some of the under laying symbolizm can be questionable although the stories themselves are entertaining.
When dealing with any story the moms and dads need to be totally sure that the child understands the wrong and right in each idea that is going on in each story. Many storys are good stories, but need to be explained to the child. Many parents I know don't take the time to help their children understand the ideas in a book, but I'm sure you do.

[Andie]

Just wanted to wave at y'all and say "Me too, me too, Catholic over here!!"

I have a question for those of you in the Bible belt or in areas without Catholic HS groups. Do you feel a little out of place? I'm much more conservative then most of the other Catholics I know, but I'm not nearly as conservative as the Protestant homeschoolers I know. For example, we were sitting at swimming chatting about books and one of the Protestant hs moms mentioned that she wouldn't let her daughter read "My Father's Dragon" because it was too much like "Harry Potter":confused:. We love "My Father's Dragon" AND "Harry Potter"!! There have been several instances like that where I feel like a total outsider, kwim? It is hard to have deep friendships when there are such big differences.

I'll stop now, sorry to be a downer, glad to see so many other Catholics here!!


We don't have a lot of homeschoolers here, period, and the families that do aren't Catholic. We're much more conservative than most families (non-hs'ing, that is...there's only one other hs'ing family in our parish) in our parish, and our parish is very ps and parochial school centered. It's difficult. It would be nice to "fit" somewhere - at least occasionally! :001_rolleyes:

We're moving in June to an area with a large and fairly active Catholic homeschooling population and I'm so excited!

[In The Great White North]

I have never heard of Cathswapchat and would like to check it out.

Thanks

[TexasTea]

Just wanted to wave at y'all and say "Me too, me too, Catholic over here!!"

I have a question for those of you in the Bible belt or in areas without Catholic HS groups. Do you feel a little out of place? I'm much more conservative then most of the other Catholics I know, but I'm not nearly as conservative as the Protestant homeschoolers I know. For example, we were sitting at swimming chatting about books and one of the Protestant hs moms mentioned that she wouldn't let her daughter read "My Father's Dragon" because it was too much like "Harry Potter":confused:. We love "My Father's Dragon" AND "Harry Potter"!! There have been several instances like that where I feel like a total outsider, kwim? It is hard to have deep friendships when there are such big differences.

!!


Hi Melissa,

I live in the Bible Belt (East Texas) and yes, I feel out of place at times. I am the only Catholic homeschooler in my Homeschool Group. I don't have any advise for you, I just wanted to let you know that there were others in the same situation.

Debbie

[Plaid Dad]

Around here, being any kind of Christian at all is exotic! Most homeschoolers in our area are politically liberal-progressive and either secular or pagan. Many unschool. Although no one has been openly critical of us, I find that we just don't have that much in common with them. The only classical homeschooling families I know live at least 45 minute away and have children much older than my dd.

We have a very good, orthodox parish nearby, though, and I think there are some homeschoolers there, although I haven't connected with them. At my previous parish (Ukrainian Catholic), I was subjected to a number of very uncomfortable lectures from people who were highly critical of homeschooling. Pass the bean...er, borscht! ;) I changed parishes for other reasons, but it is a nice plus to be in a place where people don't get up your nose if you say you homeschool.

So I haven't been able to find a community of people in our immediate area who are both faithful Catholics and homeschoolers. I get most of my support either online or from a group of Catholic homeschooling families that I tutor in NH.

[Isa]

I use WTM as a guide, but end up using mainly other things. The one thing we've used consistently is SOTW, although next year we're going to use Memoria Press material for the first time (I might read parts of SOTW 4 on the side).

We use Seton readers along with other books. The Friendly Defender Cards, the Children's Baltimore Catechism, and some of the CHC materials are really good for religious study.

I've been very happy with Read to Write and Spell by Wanda Sanseri (based on the Writing Road to Reading but easier to use). My children are spelling 1-2 grade levels above their current grade by using it.

I've liked God's Design for Science Series because each chapter is short and is related to a the main topic of the book. This series follows the topical suggestions of WTM.

We use a variety of other materials and resources. If you can do it, the best thing in incorporating the Catholic faith into the day is to go to daily Mass. We went for quite awhile, but now it's logistically quite difficult for me with the number of young children I currently have. I hope to start going back soon.

[Parrothead]

We are Catholic and don't use a Catholic box curriculum. When we started five years ago, I couldn't find one that I liked. We did Kolbe the first year. I wasn't impressed with the science. The next year I was given a copy of WTM, had an ah-ha moment, and haven't looked back. I do RE as a seperate subject. I've also given up on the spiral RE workbooks. This fall I'll be using a curriculum that I'm putting together myself. It will include Bible stories, saint stories, and crafts or some other type of reinforcement. Wish me luck with that. LOL It is still in the planning stage right now. For my hands-on learner the stuff available commercially isn't a good match.

Oh, I belong gto a couple of Catholic mom message boards. We started our own Catholic homeschoolers message board in January. If anyone wants to join send me a pm and I'll give you the web address.

[Martha]

This coming year I would like to try "The Phonics Road to Reading" and "The Bridge to the Latin Road" By: B. Beers. I heard they are good. I'm excited that they teach Latin along with English, phonics, and reading all in one!! Only problem, it is not Catholic, but at least it teaches Latin. Anyone have any info. on those curriculums?

I second that question! It does sound interesting...

Please do not get me wrong folks. I don't think one has to use a catholic boxed curriculum to give a catholic education. I do try use catholic materials whenever possible because it's what I prefer and find easiest.

I would agree with vine above about CHC's history and science. I LOT of prep work there in my opinion.

With Seton, I combine history and science for all my kids based on whatever my oldest is focused in. This year is american history and life science, so I'll be working on that with all the kids to various levels.

I don't do vocabulary as seperate studies and never have and can't tell the difference between my kids and those who do. My oldest two are learning root meanings and such in science and I'd be interested in expanding that for them, but I haven't seen a noticible benefit to doing it from 1st grade on up.

I like CHC's spellers. They are very well done imho and simple to implement.

I live in what my dh (who isn't even Catholic!) refers to as the protestant belt. He goes on business trips and looks for a catholic books store to get me something and they always say, "but you live in the bible belt you should be able to find this stuff there!" and he has to correct them that it is not a a bible belt - it's a protestant belt.:tongue_smilie:

Yes, I always feel out of place. 8 kids and homeschooling, but I am happy in my jeans and t-shirt. I want a very catholic education for my kids, but that doesn't mean we never turn on the tv or read books others wouldn't (we love harry potter!). We have a catholic hs group but it's not very active. They are spread over half the state and many are too busy in protestant hs groups to have time to participate in ours. Of the 60 members, I'd say 10 - 15 are the core of all activity, myself being one of them.:)

[Philothea]

I'm very conservative and many people question my ways, even among Catholics I feel that way.
I'm sorry to say that I question Harry Potter.


You are not alone :) I wouldn't even question as to why a parent would not allow their children to read Harry Potter-- the same reasons that I would not. I actually do not know any Catholics IRL that do let their children read those books.

[Melmc]

I have never heard of Cathswapchat and would like to check it out.

Thanks

Here it is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cathswapchat/

[pixelroper]

I use some syllabi from MODG...I'm probably the only Episcopalian here, though...:-)

Another Episcopalian (grew up in, not near a church now)

What is MODG?? I couldn't find it on the abbreviations list...

[Andie]

Another Episcopalian (grew up in, not near a church now)

What is MODG?? I couldn't find it on the abbreviations list...

Laura Berquist's curriculum/school (http://www.motherofdivinegrace.org/).

[pixelroper]

Laura Berquist's curriculum/school (http://www.motherofdivinegrace.org/).

nt

[amary]

There used to be a yahoo Catholic WTM group. There is also the catholic homeschooling message forum that was private and just moved to a public board http://catholichomeschooling.yuku.com There are some classical people that post at that site.

[HFClassicalAcademy]

It is sometimes hard to spot the Catholic homeschoolers out there, especially those who do classical education. I did my own thing this year for my ds in K and dd in prek. Mostly focusing on math and phonics skills.

Now that we are moving into 1st grade (and K for dd), we'll be using Angelicum Academy. You should look at them, as they use all kinds of materials and follow the WTM very closely. Rigorous, but doable!

You can visit my blog and see what we'll be doing for 1st and K. I am part of a Catholic co-op here and everyone uses a mish-mash of different Catholic materials from Seton to CHC.

Nice to see all the other Catholics in this bunch!!

Liz
http://hfclassicalacademy.blogspot.com

[fractalgal]

I'm using Kolbe but was interested in substituting Rod&Staff English 3 for Voyages in English. I like the new science book Kolbe uses, but will likely susbsitute Singapore for MCP Math.

[clwcain]

We're Catholic, but I have not been impressed with any of the Catholic providers out there. We were leaning towards Kolbe as a sort-of halfway house, but I finally looked at my wife and asked, "Why, if we're going to substitute almost everything, would we pay tuition?" We have a number of friends who are very happy with Kolbe, and they've been very responsive to our inquiries.

We're going our own way, with the help of Drew's LCC. Even WTM hasn't impressed me, simply because it is so rooted in Sayer's deracinated proposal to "recover" the Triviuum.

Not impressed with MODG or DYOCC. It helped my wife come to agree with me on homeschooling, but it scared her into looking for the support of a box curriculum.

I agree that Seton's materials are too Catholic. They conveyed to us the sense of a ghetto or "approved" sandbox. That is a fundamentally anti-catholic approach to education and the world.

I want my children well educated. That means using the best resources I can find for my purpose, regardless of publisher. I take my role as bishop of the domestic church, the three-fold munus to teach, govern, and sanctify the souls in my charge, very seriously.

And, OT, we're advocates for the reading of Harry Potter. Happy to discuss that by PM with anyone who's interested.

[skissugar]

another catholic homeschooler here.. I grew up in the Episcopal Church, but switched to Roman when I married DH. Although we are Catholic, we tend to do our schoolwork as more Secular and do our Religion studies incorporated with our day to day life. If we do happen across anything "religious" in our studies, we do go over the catholic view on the subject and go over the view that the book is giving.. and talk about both.

[Faithr]

Here's a link to a Catholic Classical Education yahoo list that I'm on: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cce/

Folks there do all combinations of things from LCC to MODG to Kolbe to whatever.

[fractalgal]

We're Catholic, but I have not been impressed with any of the Catholic providers out there. We were leaning towards Kolbe as a sort-of halfway house, but I finally looked at my wife and asked, "Why, if we're going to substitute almost everything, would we pay tuition?" We have a number of friends who are very happy with Kolbe, and they've been very responsive to our inquiries.

We're going our own way, with the help of Drew's LCC. Even WTM hasn't impressed me, simply because it is so rooted in Sayer's deracinated proposal to "recover" the Triviuum.

Not impressed with MODG or DYOCC. It helped my wife come to agree with me on homeschooling, but it scared her into looking for the support of a box curriculum.

I agree that Seton's materials are too Catholic. They conveyed to us the sense of a ghetto or "approved" sandbox. That is a fundamentally anti-catholic approach to education and the world.

I want my children well educated. That means using the best resources I can find for my purpose, regardless of publisher. I take my role as bishop of the domestic church, the three-fold munus to teach, govern, and sanctify the souls in my charge, very seriously.

And, OT, we're advocates for the reading of Harry Potter. Happy to discuss that by PM with anyone who's interested.

Since I am new to homeschooling, I decided that the tuition price at Kolbe was worth it to me to have someone to help me with record keeping and a fairly well chosen curriculum to guide me. I may not feel that I need to use them next year, but time will tell. They are more than willing to substitute. They have excellent customer service with very fast responses to emails.
I am careful not to choose curriculum that makes my kids feel that they are somehow less than "Christian" because they are Catholic. It is my understanding that there are some homeschool curriculums out there that imply that.:confused1:
Angelicum seemed rigourous to me, but I was turned off by the fact that you HAD to use their curriculum.
I was not impressed with Seton's approach of having to send work in to be graded by someone else. I found it unneccessary. I did think that Seton had some good books, I'm just not fan of their approach.
I like to have choices and think that I should be trusted with the authority to grade my children's work. I am smart enough to know that taking tests for them or changing their answers to give them A's instead of C's will not help them in the long run.
Anyway good luck in your search for the best curriculum for your children.:)

[Plaid Dad]

Since I am new to homeschooling, I decided that the tuition price at Kolbe was worth it to me to have someone to help me with record keeping and a fairly well chosen curriculum to guide me.

We used Kolbe this year just for the record-keeping, substituting curriculum wildly. ;) It was our first year of having to report to our local school district, and I wanted some accountability. It was worth the money for that, but we don't feel the need to re-enroll this year. They were very helpful, though, and efficient with the paperwork.

[Diane in NH]

Just wanted to say that we are also Catholics. We use a variety of materials from the various providers. We have probably used them all (the Catholic sources I mean) at one time or another... We are Catholics that do prefer the Latin Mass, and yet, 3 out of 4 of my boys have indeed read all the Harry Potter books. I read the first one prior to them reading any, so that I could understand for myself whether or not they were suitable.

[Faithr]

We are Catholic and enjoy Harry Potter here too. I certainly do not think whether or not one likes Harry Potter should work as a litmus test for being a faithful Catholic! (Though I do think some Catholic group at one point dishonestly misquoted Pope Benedict XVI (actually before he was Pope)out of context to promulgate such an impression. Every once in a while one sees it floating around the internet. Shame on them!)

Catholics, I do believe, are free to disagree! I know faithful Catholics who love Harry Potter and I know faithful Catholics who decided the books were not for them. So be it!

[langfam]

We're were enrolled in Seton for 3 years. Switched to MODG this school year and loving it!

[Ishki]

I'm another faithful Catholic who loves Harry Potter as much as her children and know many other faithful Catholics who also enjoy HP. But that's an old, old argument. I also can't tolerate Seton. The way they tried to weave the faith into every little tidbit became almost 'cheezy' and somehow cheapened our faith. It was so over done it became artificial instead of natural. My opinion.

I've used bits and pieces of MODG, CHC and looked at Angelicum and Kolbe. I might consider Kolbe for high school for my next group of girls. I use what works. If it's Catholic, great. If not, still great because my girls are learning. The faith is the very core of our being, it's lived daily, so it doesn't need to be part of every sentence they diagram. We read lots of saints' bios, good books and discuss them from the POV of our Catholic faith.

I will say that we have used and been happy with the CHC books for the younger years. I think CHC isn't strong enough for older student, but for the younger years it's a gentle, loving, approach. I never felt overwhelmed by the religious content of their books.

My 'spine' for our homeschool is the WTM. It works well for us.

Janet

[clwcain]

Since I am new to homeschooling, <snip for length>
Anyway good luck in your search for the best curriculum for your children.:)

:iagree:

Fractalgal, your impressions of the various options match the conclusions my wife and I reached.

As we're in Texas, state reporting isn't an issue, but were it to become so Kolbe would be our choice based on the experiences of several friends and Drew's testimony as to their genuine flexibility.

[CleoQc]

I'm Catholic too, but a revert. Unfortunately, my DH didn't revert, he's Catholic mostly on paper, although he does attend Mass with us. I'm also the only one in my family that reverted to the Faith. Others are either atheists, or agnostics, and they would freak out if I ever get a book like "math for Catholic children" (or something like that from the Seton website.

So we don't use any Catholic material, much to my chagrin. However, I am starting to think my son needs way more that what's done at catechism. So I guess I have to look into that.

Anyway, I just wanted to raise my hand here as another Catholic homeschooler.

[Momto5]

Andie,

You asked about The Catholic Mosaic by Cay Gibson. We use here and love it. I have introduced it to several friends and they have enjoyed it as well.

Basically, The Catholic Mosiac and its companion book The Christmas Mosaic take quality Catholic picture books, organize them following the liturgical year, and give you activities to do based on the book. The activities (for lack of a better word) include vocabulary words, copy work, discussion questions, and often a craft.

The author of The Catholic Mosaic is active on a message board (with a format similar to this one) that another poster mentioned called 4reallearning. I have gotten wonderful information from that board and the people there have responded very kindly and honestly to my inquiries.

Hope that helps.

[TracyR]

I am I guess a revert . Was baptized into the Catholic Faith , attended Catholic school but never got to finish CCD because around that time my mother switched to the Protestant Faith . I've attended the Methodist church for 13 years because my huband and his family are Protestant ( except his one aunt who switched to the Catholic Faith when she married her husband eons ago) . Anyways I have felt God pulling at my heart strings and we attended Mass last Sunday and I felt like I was home finally .
So we are working on all of that .

Anyways I am using Calvert right now but have added in Loyola's Book of Saints ( a beautifully well written book I would say for 3rd grade and up ) . I have Seton's PreK activity book for my 3rd daughter and the K science , I plan on getting CHC's handwriting K for her as well , and will be starting that soon with her . I haven't decided what else to use as I like what I see from both Seton and CHC .
I'm also trying to decide between Seton and Faith and Life Series for Religion for my girls . I'm sure the answer will make itself known to me soon as I like qualities of both programs :>)

[Faithr]

I agree with others too about Seton's 'cheeziness' and also how it is so over the top Catholic as to have a ghettoizing effect. But I love the Faith and Freedom reader series they sell. I go to their homeschool conference every year. I think their Catholic history books make a nice balance when supplemented with secular history. I really like their penmanship books and I alternate using their catechism with Faith and Life. So I guess I pick and choose. I could never go with the whole program as it is so dry and workbook oriented. But around here all the homeschooled kids that I know do Seton and despite all my complaints about it those kids are really well educated. I'm often amazed.

[sixlilmonkeys]

Boy, this is a long thread...just wanted to say we are catholic too - been hsing for 12 years now. Its difficult to find 'the one, perfect curriculum', let alone a 'catholic' one, so we live our faith and tie in as much as we can. All the curriculum suppliers listed here are great. Its a good idea to get the catalogs, like from Emmanuel and Catholic Heritage, and browse through them.

So, we use a mix of things - our latest is studying Latin so we can relate to our catholic heritage! We are having a blast.

Michelle

[Ishki]

I agree with others too about Seton's 'cheeziness' and also how it is so over the top Catholic as to have a ghettoizing effect. But I love the Faith and Freedom reader series they sell. I go to their homeschool conference every year. I think their Catholic history books make a nice balance when supplemented with secular history. I really like their penmanship books and I alternate using their catechism with Faith and Life. So I guess I pick and choose. I could never go with the whole program as it is so dry and workbook oriented. But around here all the homeschooled kids that I know do Seton and despite all my complaints about it those kids are really well educated. I'm often amazed.

This made me feel the need to clarify what I wrote about Seton. It's Seton's publications that I don't care for and feel force Catholicism artificially. We enjoy the Faith and Freedom readers - probably because they remind me so much of what I used in school. Also, the history books by Fr. Furlong and How America Began and Before America by Don Sharkey are good. Again, these are older Catholic school textbooks. We have often used these as a spine for history.

And yes, I know two families that have Seton all the way through, and their children have become lovely, well educated adult Catholics. Isn't it nice that there are so many ways to approach educating our children, even as Catholics?

Janet

[lvbeingmom]

What a long thread. Wanted to drop in and say we are Catholic here too. We love Harry Potter and I use the ideas of TWTM. We have used all kinds of different things from different Catholic sources. I love making my own curriculum on what works for us.

[langfam]

I have some issues with Seton (we were enrolled), they're not bad ....just didn't like their style of having to memorize everything (for history in particular) and how written papers are so formulaic. That's why we switched to MODG.

Having said that I do still use some Seton books. Got my Seton catalog in today and they have 2 new history books out for 4th (you can see sample online) and 5th grade ( ready Sept) they look pretty good! My kids have enjoyed reading the 7th and 8th grade history books in the past (just not memorizing every fact). I also like how their math workbooks for the lower grades are laid-out, but the word problems drive me nuts (every one of them is Catholic.....like Therese read three chapters form the book of Ephesians and two from Tobit. How many chapters did she read altogether?) Why do they do that?!

[mchel210]

Hi...I was going to sign my son up for Seton this year...but opted to use Sonlight...Huge difference...as he really learns so much from stories rather then textbook. I had planned to add in faith and life series or Seton religion but he is doing conformation classes at church so I figure that is enough along with whatever sonlight offers. All 3 of my kiddos are in one class at church...none at the same time of course.

We plan on using Sonlight for the first time with them. There is a nice group on yahoo for catholics using sonlight. Last year we used a mixture of books along with materamabilis. We loved that...but I need a schedule in front of me next year.