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For Catholic religion course, can you compare Didache series to Fr. Laux texts?


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I'm trying to decide on a Catholic religion curriculum to use with dd at high school level. I saw that MODG syllabi use Fr. Laux texts. I've never been able to find online samples of Fr. Laux texts anywhere. I have found a brief preview of the Didache series of textbooks.

 

Can anyone give me a comparison of the two, or if you have only experience with one, can you give me opinions?

 

Thanks,

Louise

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I own 2 of the Didache books, Church History and A Moral Life in Christ. I used the Church History book as a spine for Middle Ages/Ren. studies......not exactly my definition of a religion text, but I love theology and this book is centered on history, not theology. Our ds used the Moral Life text in a private school so I have never used it personally. But, he was not impressed by it......but he is also very intellectually oriented and I would assume the book did not challenge him to any new material.

 

The advantages to the Didache books are that they are written in an engaging manner and the art work is beautiful. (I absolutely love the art work in Church History) Fr. Laux's books are written in much more formal language and assume that the readers are educated Catholics. They are simple black and white texts with no real pictures. My kids actually prefer the Laux books for their content.

 

I'm not sure that is very helpful. Sorry!

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We used a book called Catholicism & Reason by CR Publications in the 9th grade as our major religion text. It says in the intro that it's designed for high school and RCIA. It's not set up like a traditional text, though, but there are discussion questions in the TM. I liked the book because it was easy to read, and contained references to Papal encyclicals and the Catechism. To this, I added "The How To Book of the Mass" by Dubriel, and Beginning Apologetics by Steve Wood & Jim Burnham. He also read several visions books on the lives of the saints that coordinated with our history studies. Here is the website for CR:

 

CR Publications

 

I use MODG religion plans for elementary & middle school, but I looked at the Fr. Laux books and found them to be too dry for us. I've never used the Didache books.

 

Best wishes and hope you find something that works for your family,

Brenda

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Didache is interesting, a large, easy to handle book, has a supporting workbook and teacher's manual if you want it (as well as answer books).

 

Fr. Laux is a small paperback with (IMO) a lousy typeset and without supporting materials unless you purchase them from a secondary source.

 

My kid found Didache engaging and easy to use. Each section has italicized references to the Catechism and Bible that can be looked up for verification/more info., as well as a profile about a saint who "lived the concept" that was explained in the chapter.

 

Frankly, he couldn't make it through the first chapter of Fr. Laux, he found it so boring and unengaging. And this is a non-flashy kid who normally does NOT like texts with pictures, etc.

 

I will say that, after the first 3 chapters, we did ditch the workbook in favor of discussion instead. Theology is his favorite course, and he would much rather do compare contrast discussions than the rote regurgitation that was asked for in the workbook. I also don't think the teacher's manual is absolutely necessary.

 

 

a

 

P.S. We're also on our second reading of Kreeft's Apologetics, which is a heavy work - the first time was a couple of years ago.

Edited by asta
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