Thanks! I hear all the books on the list are excellent. Maybe I can try a book or two a month. Have y'all checked out the coloring book that they recommend using with it? http://hillsideeducation.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=77 It looks great. Also, here is a link to all the books on amazon.

With regard to Catholic Mosaic, do y'all have a good library system with lots of Catholic picture books? Mine does not, so I will have to purchase most of the books. I doubt I can afford to do 4 books per month, so do you have any absolute must-haves for your 4 and 5 yr olds? I have The Last Straw and Angel in the Waters. Also, has anyone done Christmas Mosaic? OK, done hijacking the thread. TIA. :)

Try searching "eequalsmcq" or e=mcq.

Great advice, y'all. Thanks so much! I agree with you, Teachin'Mine...I really like moderation in just about everything (except chocolate :)), which is what I sort of envision with HS'ing. A balance...without compromising Truth. WRT RC History, I would love to hear updates from those of you who plan to use it next fall. I didn't notice the age of all of your kids, but I was wondering if it was something that should wait until the logic stage? I checked out the booklist for the younger kids, and the books look great...but I didn't get a clear picture from the CWH examples about the grammar stage. I suppose at that age, just reading them the picture books, bible, and something like SOTW is enough.

If you have RC History already, can you tell me how user-friendly it is? It looks like a great program, but not as open-and-go as say SOTW.

Thank you so much! This was extremely helpful. Can I ask what you used for World History stuff?

bump :)

I always liked the look of the Great Adventure Bible Timeline but wasn't sure if it was an actual program. It looks like it's just a timeline "kit" to go along with the student's bible study? I love the idea of Epic and will definitely look into purchasing it - thank you so much! ETA - Wow! I just watched the demo for the Epic DVD series and almost cried. Did you find that the CDs were sufficient? The DVD set is quite expensive.

I just need to educate myself more, I guess. I went to Franciscan University of Steubenville (school where Scott Hahn teaches), and I'm kicking myself that I didn't take more history/church history courses there. Good luck to you!

(Anyone else can chime in too, of course.) I am devoutly Catholic, went to a very orthodox Catholic university, and although I was a biology/chemistry major, I enjoyed taking theology and philosophy courses. I learned a ton WRT faith and morals, Mary, and doctrine. But I am scared to death of teaching my kids history, both in the context of the Church and just in general. All sources are bias. So, how the heck do I allow my kids to be exposed to all viewpoints w/o knowing just when to stop and say "this source says one thing, but we believe..." How do I know when I hit a sentence in the text that is erroneous (mainly the more subtle errors)? I just feel like I'm walking blind when it comes to history (although I haven't started yet...maybe it will become more clear as I dive into the subject). So, my question is...how did you get to the point of complete confidence in yourself when it came to teaching history to your kids? How do you discern when to use Catholic sources vs. other sources? In other words, how do you know something is worth reading? Was this something you felt comfortable with before you even starting HS'ing? Or something that developed over time? I am blessed with a husband who is very knowledgeable in the subject, a canon lawyer as a MIL, and a BIL who has his PhD in theology. So, I guess I can go to them when I have questions. But knowing when I should ask them is the question, LOL. Again, others please chime in. Even if you're not Catholic. Because those of other faiths undoubtedly have the same issues when it comes to history. TIA!

Great point. That was where I was torn...it doesn't seem that there is anti-Catholic content in SOTW 1, but I doubt it discusses the Old Testament much either. Are you planning on purchasing all the books on the CWH booklist? I don't have the SOTW AG, but I wonder if any of the recommendations in it overlap with CWH.

I've always liked the looks of CWH as well, but I wonder how user-friendly it is. I hear it takes a lot of time to prepare for the lessons?? I wish there was a 4-volume series like SOTW written with Catholics in mind.

When do you plan on starting Saxon 5/4? Since many folks start Saxon 1 in K and end up in 5/4 in 3rd grade, I'm wondering if that translates when using another program.

LOL, I can already tell at age 4 how much my son enjoys workbooks, cutting and pasting, and especially games. I know some boys won't go near a crayon, but my ds loves stuff like that. And now that you mentioned race cars? Well, there's no better way to reach my vehicle-loving kid.

Good point...I was wondering about the drill in McRuffy. I love all the puzzles/tangrams that you show in your blog...seems to be a good bit of critical thinking in McRuffy. On another note (I just started a thread on this), I hope McRuffy is a good prep for Saxon 5/4 and above. Sounds like any math is ok, just as long as they learn the basic math facts. Heck, a lot of people start Saxon 1 in K and hence do 5/4 in 3rd grade. I wonder if doing McRuffy K-2, then starting 5/4 would work out. (Not sure why I would want to, but...just brainstorming. :))

OK, nevermind. I see there is another post that's almost identical to mine! :D

Are there any folks who have used one or both of these for awhile, like a year or more? I love the concept of adding fun and games to a curriculum and I really enjoy looking through the samples, but I just wanted to see if the kids retain it, if there is enough practice (particularly in math), etc. I wonder why it's not used as much as some of the other curricula. I like the idea of doing this sort of colorful and fun math until he starts Saxon 5/4 later on (if that's the route I choose - who knows!). (Note: I'm not looking to use it with my 4yo, just when he starts K in a yr.) Thanks!

Yes, I am learning a lot with my first, lol. I can see him becoming an engineer just like his dad...I am often amazed at the types of questions he asks, the stories he makes up, and his obsession with nature, space exploration, etc. He loves when I read to him, and he has known the sounds of his letters since age 2 (I have no idea how...letter magnets, maybe?). But he just doesn't care about learning to read. Maybe in your dd's case, that's part of it too. I will hold off another year and see how things go. This is great, thank you! He really likes writing letters on paper and on a white board (his fine motor skills are great), but he also likes craft stuff, so I love your ideas. And he already knows the sounds of his letters, but I need to reinforce the concept that many consonants have more than one sound. I emailed Mrs. Beers awhile back about starting PR1 in kindy, and she said it sounds like he's ready since he can write w/o getting discouraged. But I got the impression from here that it's easier to wait. So, after learning all the letter sounds, does PR1 go into blending 2 letters, like b-a, b-e, b-i, etc? (It would be so much easier to just buy the darn thing and look at it in person instead of bugging you!) ETA: sorry, ignore my last question. You answered it in the other post. Thanks!

Great idea. See, PP does the beginning blends, not ends, like OPGTR. And I thought that would be easier. But b-a doesn't mean anything to him. Adding a "t" at the end does. I really like your idea, thanks. He also likes watching The Talking Word Factory, which does word families (cat, bat, sat...), unlike PP. So I'm sure it is confusing for the poor kid. ;)

Good advice, thanks. This is actually why I liked PP - there is no script and no workbook, so it can be really informal. During dd's nap time, I would just hang out with my son for 5-10 min, he would write the letters on his little white board, play the PP games, etc. (He's actually better at spelling than reading, so if I dictated "cat", he could spell it on the white board.) That being said, I don't think he loves it. Mainly b/c it's hard (just like swim lessons, which he hates, lol!). I've set it aside for now, but I hope he doesn't think he's won a battle by whining about it. :tongue_smilie:

Thank you! I've read just about all your posts on PR, lol....super helpful! It seems so many people use it once the kids are already reading...I'm willing to do that, but I wasn't sure if it was particularly necessary. Thanks, Michele

I definitely don't want to try it with a 4yo since I know it picks up the pace quit a bit. My plan was to wait until he was 5 *if* I were going to use PR instead of Phonics Pathways to teach him to read. Since so many people (like SWB in the WTM) encourage kids to learn to read at age 4, I thought I'd give it a shot, especially since he is a bright kid. But...I'm realizing now that just b/c he is bright in terms of solving puzzles, figuring how things work, etc., it doesn't mean he's ready to blend sounds. :o

I'll bump again just for kicks. :)

bump :blush:

I've heard great things about Catholic Mosaic. Wonderful way to study the liturgical year via picture books.