chirowife Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Anyone know of anything that would be similar to Seton or Kolbe that are not Catholic? Christian or secular would be fine. I love the looks of these but we are not catholic and I just don't think it would work for us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oraetstudia Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Seton probably wouldn't work, but Kolbe both uses a lot of secular books and allows substitutions for anything you want to change, so it might work for you. What is it exactly you are looking for though? I find Seton and Kolbe to be quite different, so I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 With Kolbe, the Catholic content (if any) is mostly in the teacher manual. So you can remove it at will. You can't do that with what I've seen of Seton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirowife Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 I think we need something that is pretty much planned out for us and some sort of accountability. This year has not gone well. I am not one that can "pull together" curriculum from various sources which I have learned the hard way this year. My oldest is starting high school next year and I think I am starting to stress a lot over it and the fact that this year has been such a bust... I am not sure I like the lit or history with Kolbe but I like the idea of how they let you switch classes and the overall flexibility. Seton is just so reasonably priced but seems a little behind for my soon to be 9th grader so she would be taking mostly 10th grade classes... I am just so unsure of what to do next year....ugh!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Another Jen Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Seton is going to require religion classes each year, plus all their subjects contain Catholic content. Kolbe may work for you but if you don't use their books then you lose out on the planned for you aspect. My husband would prefer a fully secular school, but I love having the plans and built in accountability so I've made Kolbe work for us. I use their science, math, grammar, spell/vocab, comp, and lit. I modify or use different history and religion. That lets me plan a little, but most of my bases are covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirowife Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 Thank you that's just what I need - plans and accountability! I have a friend whose son is in 11th grade and they use Kolbe so I'll talk with her. Maybe I'll use their science and lit/english and use Oak Meadow for history because my daughter really wants to do US history (but then the lit and history would not line up). We like our current math so I probably won't change that. I don't mind the Catholic content (I was raised Catholic and my husband is Irish Catholic) but we chose not to raise our kids Catholic so I don't want them to be overwhelmed but it also wouldn't hurt for the girls to understand the Catholic faith since their entire family is Catholic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 You might want to take a look at Hewitt Homeschool (the publishers of Lightning Lit.). They have a pre-planned curriculum for each level, including a general and college-prep. track for HS, and even remedial options. You can use only their materials, or enroll in their grading service. You submit a portfolio of work once per quarter, following their syllabus guideines, and receive a few paragraphs of feedback for each subject, including a grade. The cost is about the same as Kolbe with the grading service. Some of their courses have non-denominational Christian content, but it is not pervasive. They lean more toward a creative/experiential/lit.-based approach, a bit gentler than Kolbe's classical focus on ancient texts, etc. It depends on what you want. I considered Kolbe, but there was just too much to leave out in the Lit. (saints' stories, other religious lit.) and I wasn't interested in my dc's entire lit. study and history focusing on ancient times for 3 years. I have discovered that too much "tweaking" of a pre-planned curric. is often worse than just planning your own. I suggest you look for a program that you can use "as written" as much as possible. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I haven't used it, but what about Oak Meadow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Great Books Academy is a secular version of Angelicum, which is fairly similar to Kolbe. I have heard some very good things about Angelicum from families I know who have their children enrolled. I would presume that GBA is also good but I don't know anyone who has used it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) You might want to take a look at Hewitt Homeschool (the publishers of Lightning Lit.). They have a pre-planned curriculum for each level, including a general and college-prep. track for HS, and even remedial options. You can use only their materials, or enroll in their grading service. You submit a portfolio of work once per quarter, following their syllabus guideines, and receive a few paragraphs of feedback for each subject, including a grade. The cost is about the same as Kolbe with the grading service. Some of their courses have non-denominational Christian content, but it is not pervasive. They lean more toward a creative/experiential/lit.-based approach, a bit gentler than Kolbe's classical focus on ancient texts, etc. It depends on what you want. I considered Kolbe, but there was just too much to leave out in the Lit. (saints' stories, other religious lit.) and I wasn't interested in my dc's entire lit. study and history focusing on ancient times for 3 years. I have discovered that too much "tweaking" of a pre-planned curric. is often worse than just planning your own. I suggest you look for a program that you can use "as written" as much as possible. Good luck! :iagree::iagree: This is my sketchy plan for my 7th grader. I am subbing some of the subjects. My understanding is you can enroll per subject and/or they will make accomodations for giving credit for using different curriculum. Someone correct me, please if I have that wrong. I also looked at Oak Meadow. This is very writing and research intensive, though. Enrolling for high school is too expensive for us. Great company, though. Truely lovely people. Edited February 23, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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