Given that the Baltimore Catechism is only applicable to Catholics of the Latin Rite, even Eastern Catholics would be excluded from the CLAA's full program. There are four other Rites and 22 other Churches in communion with Rome; all of them are Catholic.

Having read his response I can say it's about what I'd expect to read from him. Yes, I did once say glowing things about CLAA. I recant them. I've spent the last 10 months recanting them in public and in private. So he can threaten and bluster all he likes. I'm not alone in having the experiences I did.

When many diverse people with no contact with each other have the same negative experiences of one program and its creator time and again over the course of a year, that isn't hearsay. That they tell their friends about it should come as no surprise. Nor, outside of a courtroom, does such activity invalidate the observations and experiences as evidence for or against something. Where there is smoke, there is fire.

None of them claim to teach, or plan to teach, philosophy and theology both of which do require canonical approval. Further all of the others have ecclesiastical oversight. And none of them start the discussion by trashing the rigor and Catholicity of their competitors.

Which is in no way appropriate for children under 4th grade. BC1 was for 4th to 6th graders, BC2 for 6th to 9th graders, and BC3 was for 9th grade and over at which time the child would have been transitioned to a high school catechism program like that of Fr. Laux, available through TAN-St. Benedict. The BC is widely available, free on the Internet, or inexpensively in reprint, including the "fourth book" that was a teacher's manual. Angelus Press, Baronius Press, and TAN-St. Benedict all sell reprints. If a parent wants a solid, pre-Conciliar, catechism program for their grade school aged child (K-8), The Neumann Press reprints the Our Holy Faith series. It, too, is rooted in the BC framework but it is also structured to be age appropriate and cultivate the life of faith in the child in a way that mere rote memorization and recitation of the Q&A from the BC cannot. If you want something post-Conciliar, but still Catholic, I can heartily recommend the Faith & Life series put out by Ignatius Press. Kolbe Academy offers study guides to parents that use the Baltimore Catechism paired with Faith & Life. Seton and others are also rooted in the Baltimore Catechism. So, no, the CLAA is not the only program, nor even the best program, available today offering solid Catholic catechesis. And, with the exception of Faith and Life, I'm pretty sure all the options I've listed will allow parents to catechize their children, regardless of how many they have, for less than whatever the current per-course, per-child, per-year price charged by the CLAA.

As to the question of whether or no the school is "Catholic"... Canon Law governs broadly, and the local Ordinary specifically, what institutions may or may not call themselves Catholic or market that they offer a Catholic education. Further, the Jesuits are pretty protective of their "brand", for what its worth these days. Bill Michael's CLAA doesn't meet the criteria in Canon Law, has no recognition from his Ordinary and thus may not market itself as a Catholic school or claim to provide a Catholic education. There are no Jesuits involved, AFAIK, and it is not a school erected by the Society of Jesus according to the norms laid down in, you guessed it, Canon Law and the Constitutions of the Society. For these reasons he cannot rightfully lay claim to Jesuit spirituality or education, either, although he attempts to do so.

In many states, the striking of a minor with an object by someone in authority over them (parent, teacher, minister, etc.) is the criminal act of child abuse. This has nothing to do with parenting philosophy. It has to do, on this matter, with an incitement to violence that in some jurisdictions constitutes a criminal act. When challenged on this publicly by Drew Campbell and others, Bill Michael became abusive and dismissive towards them. This occurred not just on his own forum, from which he regularly deletes the worst excesses of his treatment of others (along with examples of a complete lack of logic, rhetoric, or grammar in his argumentation). He carried this fight onto the Latin Classical Education Yahoo! Group where, as far as I know, the archives still contain his declarations referred to above by Tress and read by many others.

As my compilation of the problems with CLAA runs to 10 pages, I distribute it by email. Either PM me here or send me an email through the WTM Board. In short, the program is not Catholic and it is not classical. It relies on untested theories of a man with minimal education, and no actual formation or training in the subjects he purports to teach. He works hard to build a cult of personality about himself and he advocates child abuse. He is emotionally abusive to vulnerable women and to children. And those are the most polite things I'm willing to say in public about Bill Michael and the CLAA.

Drew Campbell and I are both no longer involved in CLAA and would actively discourage anyone else from becoming involved.

If you're serious about a 6th grader of average or better intelligence studying Latin, I'd recommend Henle or Lillian Hines Our Latin Heritage series (the latter is out of print, but widely available second-hand) or the Cambridge series. Most of the kiddie Latin intro programs won't actually teach her any Latin that she'd want/need to know and they won't help her with grammer much, either. Get a good, user-friendly grammar-translation course and then work it. I can't recommend Latin for the New Millenium only because I have no first-hand knowledge of it. Oerberg's Lingua Latina would also be excellent, but it's a more roundabout way to get to the "grammar exercises" approach that her English teacher is aiming at. If you want to outsource this, The Potter's School Latin program is good from everything I've heard. HTH

The game is neither pro-Christian nor anti-Christian. It has nothing to do with the Christian Faith in any way, shape, or form. Nor does it have anything to do with politics. Think of it as a rather refined and elaborate game of Battle (sometimes called War) where each player has a deck. Certain cards can defeat other cards due to card value. Add in some elements of Bridge: some cards work with other cards, often in unexpected ways, to improve a player's chances of winning. The language of the game is of spells, mana, casting, summoning, divination, etc. But none of these things are actually attempted by the players and, as with (for example) the magic used in Harry Potter, if a player tried to do such a thing they would be very disappointed (speaking as one who did practice magick for several years). I would say it is no worse than a host of other pastimes that young people can get up to, and significantly better than many. FWIW, it's good at teaching some long range thinking and resource management skills within the game and, if you limit their funds, resource management of the money they need to purchase and expand their collections. HTH

I used to play Magic:The Gathering, but it's been a few years.

Old Calendar, New Calendar, Eastern Calendar, or some combination thereof?

Definitely not one lesson per day. You move at a pace that allows the student to master the material, with frequent review of previously studied material so they don't forget, and you (the teacher) must stay several chapters ahead of your student so that you can actually teach them. If you can do one lesson (or more) per day, go for it. But don't do so at the expense of mastery.