TracyR Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Just wondering what everyone's favorite Catholic curriculum is? What subjects do you like the most? I'm looking at Seton and CHC at the moment. Would like to see what others recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalphs Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Have you looked at Laura Berquist's Mother of Divine Grace at Emmanuel Books? www.emmanuelbooks.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 CHC is my favorite for the younger grades, then I like Kolbe for junior high. I've never followed any curriculum all the way though. I am very relaxed. I like CHC because it is so creative and when it is workbooky, it is short and sweet about it. I love, love, love the way it teaches the Catholic faith. Some people complain it is not rigorous enough. But I say rigorous-schmigorous. I see no reason to be rigorous in the early years at all. Light and fun makes learning a joy and doesn't burn the kids (or mom) out. And they somehow are completely ready for the more 'rigorous' stuff when they hit jr/high school. I like Kolbe though it is a switch from CHC. It seems drier at first, but the more we use it, the more I appreciate it's efficiency and challenge. I think for Jr high it is very well thought out. I can't really talk about high school because I've always put together my own thing for high school, mostly because we have so many high school level classes available in our area so I farm most of it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I absolutely love CHC's Little Stories for Little Folks. We are also doing number practice and letter practice for Little Folks which is good. The kindergarten and 1st grade handwriting goes with the Little Stories which works out really well. I haven't tried anything else. I do have to say that when you order, you get your items FAST! It came from CA to my door in 2 days. I am going to register with Kolbe, either for K or 1st. I love them because you can do your own thing in whichever subjects you want. I love their language arts and religion. I am not using their math and haven't decided on the other subjects. I have spoken with them via email and phone and have been very impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12Stars Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I love an eclectic variety of Catholic materials. Some I like for different ages and reasons. The truth is like too much :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwka Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I like what I use, which is below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBG580 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleischdoc Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Used Seton for K and 1st, but then I read WTM and decided it was too "traditional school in a box" for us. Fiddled with Mother of Divine Grace for a few years, but hate her science. Using Kolbe for my 7th grader this year and I do like it for the upper grades- and they let you you be very flexible but it gives me some structure to follow (though of course I have to tweak it because I can't follow anything exactly :) ) It is too much for my 4th grader, though, so I do more of a relaxed wtm with her and add in religion stuff. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
at the beach Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 :bigear: I have a child going into 6th grade next year, my youngest.(!) Anyway, I'm currently trying to decide what program to use for her. I really like Laura Berquist's book, Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum. I'm considering MODG for next year for her because I am also seriously considering it for my rising 9th grader, so if we enroll I'd want to enroll both of them as the price is per family. I am also drawn to CHC for my youngest, but it does seem kind of workbooky. Seton is attractive as far as price and structure, but it sure looks quite textbook-ish, probably too much so for us. I find that a CM approach works well with my youngest, in fact with my 14 yo, too. This year, we have settled on mostly Mater Amabilis with my 11 yo. There is something so manageable about reading a chapter a week of many different books and just doing copywork and narration for language arts. My youngest child has learning differences, so a gentle approach is really necessary for her, however, she also thrives on structure, so being enrolled in a program would probably also be good for her. Unfortunately, enrollment would require something like MODG or Seton. For whatever reason, I haven't really been interested in Kolbe from looking at their samples. Boy, do I sound confused or what? So, I would love more feedback from others on any or all of these programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I don't think you can go wrong with Mater Amabilis. I think it is a lovely program. It is fine to pick and choose from whatever programs appeal to you. A little bit of this and a little bit of that still gets the job done! And it is more customized to you and your children's tastes. I love many of the read aloud/literature selections from MA. I know so many people love MODG but it just never clicked with my kids. I'm always attracted to it. I agree with another poster that it is very weak on science. CHC is much less workbooky than Seton which is all workbook all of the time. CHC has workbooks for grammar, spelling and penmanship. The lessons are shorter than in Seton. They also use MCP for math, but I don't think of that as workbooky because I tend to use just the TM and teach little lessons on our whiteboard. We only use the workbook sheets if my child needs reinforcement or for the tests. My kids have loved all the religion read aloud books suggested in CHC. I mean begged me to read them to them over and over again. And CHC science is excellent. I think Kolbe is dull for the younger years but excellent for junior high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susesmiles Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 My SIL uses Seton and likes it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I think Kolbe is dull for the younger years but excellent for junior high. Can you elaborate? I am thinking of enrolling with them. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I recently enrolled my oldest daughter in Kolbe for the second semester of 10th grade. She wanted more organization than I was providing, and more accountability, but I'm already spread really thin. She LOVES the Kolbe course plans (as do I!), and has changed up a few things to be able to utilize them. We've been very pleased with how quickly Kolbe processed her stuff, sent us materials we've ordered, and how responsive they are to questions. I wish I'd gone with them last year! After actually holding the high school course plans in my hands, I'm planning on enrolling my middle two kids next year (8th and 5th...eeek!), and possibly my youngest, if we decide to homeschool him also. Kolbe is easy enough to tweak, and parents are allowed to substitute whatever materials they prefer. They're very flexible. In the past, I've used the lesson plans from CHC for Pre-K/K and 2nd, and I love all their supplemental stuff. The First Communion prep in the 2nd grade CHC LPs is brilliant. I also have the middle school lesson planner, which has great supplements, like the guide for "From Sea to Shining Sea" which I've used through three kids now. I like a lot of the materials that CHC carries, but I'd have a hard time utilizing it as a complete curriculum. It's very lovely and gentle, but it's a little too gentle for me. :) Seton is too workbook oriented for us. We do use some of their materials (history and handwriting), but the couple of times I've tried buying all the materials for a single grade, like last year for 3rd, we found it very dry going. My 4th and 7th grader are using Seton's books for US history this year. I particularly like the book my 4th grader is using - America's Catholic Heritage (Seton lists it for 5th.) I really like the syllabi for MODG, but I found them hard to tweak because they use too many materials that I just don't like. They use things like 100 Easy Lessons and a handful of Abeka books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12Stars Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I really do like Kolbe as well, their staff is great. I am thinking of enrolling my two other daughters as well. They by far are the most flexible. I second the comment of MODG. In theory I love that there is so uch richness especially in history, but it gets to be too much. We did do it one year and it was expensive for history alone. My children do enjoy CHC materials very much. I love the Little Folks series and their supplemental books too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oraetstudia Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I put my own stuff together. I do use a little bit from CHC (mostly some of their readers for younger grades -- we tried their spellers and Language of God and hated them) and I use Seton's religion workbooks, but their program is too school-ish for us. If I were going to buy into a whole program, I would probably use St. Thomas Aquinas Academy or maybe Angelicum. The former uses the most books that I already use, but the other looks pretty tweakable and sounds pretty good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 It is so great to hear the positive stuff about Kolbe. I have praying about this so much and have always been led back there. I will definitely use CHC to supplement (especially little stories for little folks). Has anyone used the kindergarten story books from Seton that you can color (the ones about saints)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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