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Seton or MODG for high school?


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Dd 13 and in 8th grade has been telling us she wants to hs for high school. The plan had been to send her to high school outside the home, but I'm open to hsing because she's doing so very well overall.

 

We are using Kolbe now but I made a lot of adjustments because dd attends a coop. I like Kolbe but it's very rigorous, sometimes to the extent that I don't know if the work is developmentally appropriate for many students. I'm also wondering about Seton and MODG because their accreditation seems like it would facilitate the college application process. At the same time, I don't know if I could ever go with an accredited program because I tend to want to tweak so much and expect this tendency to get worse (or better depending on your opinion) as I learn more. That's why Clonlara would work, except for the price.

 

Does anyone have experience with these two choices? We're Catholic so I'd look at these first. I looked at Clonlara, too, because I'm open to secular, but the price is WOW!

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I like Kolbe but it's very rigorous, sometimes to the extent that I don't know if the work is developmentally appropriate for many students. I'm also wondering about Seton and MODG because their accreditation seems like it would facilitate the college application process. At the same time, I don't know if I could ever go with an accredited program because I tend to want to tweak so much and expect this tendency to get worse (or better depending on your opinion) as I learn more. That's why Clonlara would work, except for the price.

 

Does anyone have experience with these two choices? We're Catholic so I'd look at these first. I looked at Clonlara, too, because I'm open to secular, but the price is WOW!

 

Kelli,

 

I have a couple of friends that are using MODG for high school, and I've looked at their lesson plans. I am using their Latin lesson plans, and I like the structure. Personally, I didn't care for the 9th grade religion plans and the 9th grade lit/history plans. The religion plans are very solidly Catholic, but the books they use were very dry, IMHO. I knew my son wouldn't have responded well to them. The history and lit plans (at least this was a couple of years ago) were kind of loose for my taste, but that could be a benefit depending on how you look at it. They had you choose a couple of books to read in 4 eras of US history and then write 4 papers on related topics. I need lots of hand-holding for literature discussion, and the MODG didn't have any specific guidance so I knew it wouldn't work for us. I love that MODG is solidly Catholic, and if you think their materials/methods would fit your style and your dd's needs, they are an excellent program. My friends have been happy with their MODG consultants over the years.

 

I'm also a tweaker, and I never looked at Seton because I understand that it's very rigid, and it has to be in order for them to get the regional accreditation.

 

I'm curious what you think of Kolbe because I was thinking of using them for my younger son in a couple of years. From what I've read, I thought their high school program was somewhat flexible in that they offer different levels of diplomas (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and standard). I think I read that the standard diploma allows you flexibility in your choices. Is this not the case?

 

Also, I'm not sure if having an accredited diploma would facilitate the college application process at a lot of schools. So far, it doesn't seem too hard to apply to college as an unattached homeschooler. My senior son has been on several interviews this spring and summer where we discussed application as a homeschooler with admissions people, and it wasn't a problem.

 

Some of the schools have asked for specific information from homeschoolers (detailed course descriptions, for example) and others have not. We have been told that his standardized test scores will be looked at a little more closely and have been advised that he should take a few SAT2 tests in key subjects to give the admissions officers confidence that he has been well prepared at home. He'll also be submitting the transcript from his cc courses.

 

Best wishes as you explore your options,

Brenda

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I have used Kolbe for 4 years now. I use some of their lesson plans, but I am not using all of them by any means. I have used Notgrass, Math Relief, Apologia for science, Analytical Grammar, Lightning Lit, etc. so you can see I have been rather ecletic. You can substitute for Kolbe for most of their classes as long as you are using a high school level curriculum. The only time you can't sub another class is if you want their Summa diploma.

 

I looked at Seton, and used a couple of MODG guides, but Kolbe has worked very well for us.

 

Veronica

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I have used Kolbe for 4 years now. I use some of their lesson plans, but I am not using all of them by any means. I have used Notgrass, Math Relief, Apologia for science, Analytical Grammar, Lightning Lit, etc. so you can see I have been rather ecletic. You can substitute for Kolbe for most of their classes as long as you are using a high school level curriculum. The only time you can't sub another class is if you want their Summa diploma.

 

I looked at Seton, and used a couple of MODG guides, but Kolbe has worked very well for us.

 

I'm excited to hear you could use all those wonderfully varied resources with Kolbe!

 

I absolutely love Kolbe's flexibility and the advisors are excellent, but I do see myself deviating from their curriculum quite a bit. And, I don't know if their accreditation, not being regional, would be recognized by a public university for instance. When I look down the road, knowing dd's abilities and temperment (really rather bright but somewhat easily overwhelmed) and our income level, I see a good, solid public university as a very realistic option. Unless, she got a scholarship to a private college. She has already expressed interest in Ave Maria, or rather the beach in Naples, Florida. :001_smile:

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I have never enrolled my kids completely in anything before b/c I am too much of a tweaker. However, I have ordered 8th grade MODG plans and 9th grade Seton (complete) before.

 

I found MODG to be only OK.....my own plans are better and I like my selections better. I did use parts of the history, but I ended up tweaking it tons (like not having them only read certain days and all writing on others. I spread them together)

 

I returned the Seton. Way too much busy work for me and didn't go anywhere near the depth I like to go. It reminded me totally of my experience in high school---all surface and memorization priorities vs real exploration of topics that lead to higher level thinking skills.

 

I am experimenting with this yr with a combination of classes from Regina Coeli (Catholic) and Scholars Online (secular). Both seem to be excellent choices from the research I did before enrolling dd.

 

As far as being accredited, that would extremely low on my list of concerns. I would concentrate more on outside evaluation sources such as AP, SAT IIs, CLEP, and dual enrollment credits.

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Momof7, what did you use from Seton that you thought was surface level only? I don't like them in the lower grades, but we've used Kolbe, MODG and Seton plans and for high school English Seton is outstanding. The information in the lesson plans and discussion guides make it very deep and meaty. We have plans for the same books from the three schools (e.g., Tale of Two Cities) and here is the difference that I see-MODG gives a few surface and a few deep questions, Kolbe gives mostly comprehension questions and then a few that are extremely challenging, deep with no preparation to answer those question. I've found sparknotes online that are more helpful than Kolbe's plans. Seton has very few comprehension questions and varying levels of literary analysis. Each question builds on the others, so by the time you get to the last few questions on a chapter, you can answer the deep/challenging questions. That repeats for each chapter. For the student to really benefit, the parent should do these discussion questions with him. I spent less time discussing the books with the children when we used Kolbe and MODG, but while the Seton English plans take up more of my time, the experience is more satisfying for dc and myself. Several of the books I remember studying in college lit and I don't remember gaining the insight that I have using the Seton plans.

 

Although I've never fully enrolled in Seton, I can't recommend their high school English and Lit. highly enough especially considering the literary analysis paper reviews/grading that is part of the single course fee. A few years I've considered fully enrolling because we use similar books for some subjects, but we have other favorites for science and history and I just don't want to give those up. If I was starting from scratch, I might go with them for high school.

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It has been 6 yr since I returned it, so my memory is a bit foggy. I remember that there were only 3 novels covered during the yr for freshman English. My ds was straddling their courses and I ordered (I think) their 10th grade history and it was an Anne Carroll book. I do not like her books at all b/c I find them incredibly biased and not an accurate representation of history.

 

If you compare Seton to Regina Coeli's humanities courses, RC is more in line with classical ed. Seton is more in line with traditional schooling.

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I'm excited to hear you could use all those wonderfully varied resources with Kolbe!

 

I absolutely love Kolbe's flexibility and the advisors are excellent, but I do see myself deviating from their curriculum quite a bit. And, I don't know if their accreditation, not being regional, would be recognized by a public university for instance. When I look down the road, knowing dd's abilities and temperment (really rather bright but somewhat easily overwhelmed) and our income level, I see a good, solid public university as a very realistic option. Unless, she got a scholarship to a private college. She has already expressed interest in Ave Maria, or rather the beach in Naples, Florida. :001_smile:

 

My dd is only a junior, so I can't say how it will go with a public university. She will be starting CC first and wants to be a nurse. But my ds did 9th grade with Kolbe and then went to public school. He had 8 credits and the public school took all of them.

 

My dd was very interested in Ave Maria's summer offering in Marine biology - the beach is a big draw!

 

Veronica

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I remember that there were only 3 novels covered during the yr for freshman English.
English 9 uses a total of 7 novels. Three are predetermined by Seton and the other four are selected by the student from a choice of three each quarter. In grades 10-12 we've always done the Literature courses too and that makes a total of 12-15 novels a year depending on what which lit we used. I didn't mean to put you on the spot when I asked you that question, I just thought maybe you had used one of the courses from the lower grades.

 

I didn't know that you were thinking about Regina Coeli. They do have more of a Great Books flavor, at least on paper. The discussions vary depending on the teacher. From our limited experience the humanity course was better than Kolbe & MODG, but we ended up dropping after a few weeks because the service the children were getting was not commensurate with the cost. I found I could do the same thing myself with the Seton plans. We did hang on through higher level Latin, but I've moved the younger children to Lone Pine and we are very pleased with the teacher commitment with that school. It was my original hope to register with RC for everything. It's a great idea and I love it on paper.

 

We don't use the Carroll's books very often. I have with a few children, but only paired with Teaching Company tapes. Together they offer an interesting parallel.

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I am experimenting with this yr with a combination of classes from Regina Coeli (Catholic) and Scholars Online (secular). Both seem to be excellent choices from the research I did before enrolling dd.

 

 

I thought Scholars Online was a Christian program? Are you using "secular" to mean not Catholic? Or is there more than one Scholars Online? (Sorry if that sounds like a silly question. My oldest dd is just getting to the age where I have begun looking into online classes. So I really don't know everything that is out there.) I have been considering Scholars Online myself. My dd can begin next year. I would prefer a secular program, but cannot find one that I really like. Scholars Online is currently at the top of my list since they have a great reputation, offer both Latin and Greek up to the sixth year and accept students of other (or no) faiths on the understanding that it is a Christian program.

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Does SO use audio conferencing? I mean, is it interactive with the students talking to the tutors or just typing? It seems that SO has a good reputation and I've been tempted to try it. RC has audio dynamics, but it seems that the students usually just respond with very short written notes and had to stay on mute most of the time.

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As far as being accredited, that would extremely low on my list of concerns. I would concentrate more on outside evaluation sources such as AP, SAT IIs, CLEP, and dual enrollment credits.

 

Thank you for this advice. Facing this for the first time, I don't know what my priorities should be. This is very helpful.

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Although I've never fully enrolled in Seton, I can't recommend their high school English and Lit. highly enough especially considering the literary analysis paper reviews/grading that is part of the single course fee. A few years I've considered fully enrolling because we use similar books for some subjects, but we have other favorites for science and history and I just don't want to give those up. If I was starting from scratch, I might go with them for high school.

 

What do you like for science and history, especially if you don't use the Carroll books? It seems that all the Catholic programs use them without exception. There has to be other options...

 

Thanks!

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What do you like for science and history, especially if you don't use the Carroll books? It seems that all the Catholic programs use them without exception. There has to be other options...

 

Thanks!

 

I'll agree that Seton has an excellent english program, HOWEVER....

 

I'm considering switching from Seton's english to Kolbe's in 9th grade and maybe throughout highschool because I like how Kolbe ties literature with history. And because it seems Seton focuses rather heavily on american and british/euorpean literature and history for basicly the entire 4 years of highschool. I like that Kolbe gives the Greeks and Roman base and what I feel is a more well-rounded world history course.

 

Kolbe might be much harder because they are geared towards an honors program?? (It's only considered honors if taken in conjunction with their history program, btw.) Although it does bother me that you say their lesson plans aren't very supportive of the materials... that is a real concern for me to consider as this will be my first 9th grader and he's the oldest of 9.

 

I don't think Seton has busy work. I think they have LOTS of chances for reenforcement, which not every kid needs. But I don't consider that busy work. I just skip it if I feel it's firmly cemented. The only thing I'd change going back is I'd never let them out of a writing assignment, regardless of curricululm used. The quanity of writing in the upper levels has really hit my ds hard and he's having difficulty adjusting to the level of writing required.

 

I rather dislike Seton's current options for highschool history, faith, and science. Very bland and not very in depth, imho. I also like the flexiblity of Kolbe.

 

I'll know better at the end of this grade whether I really want to leap fully into Kolbe or not.

 

I'd also not give much notice to being accredited though. I've yet to hear a college that even asks.

 

There's my rather frayed thoughts on this...:)

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I don't think Seton has busy work. I think they have LOTS of chances for reenforcement, which not every kid needs. But I don't consider that busy work. I just skip it if I feel it's firmly cemented. ...:)

 

 

The beauty of homeschooling.......we, as the primary teachers, get to choose what approach to education we find valuable. Seton's approach is not mine. I have several friends that are Seton users, solely. Their children are bright and articulate. They love Seton.

 

I find Seton confining and not how I approach high school ed.

 

Just a little expansion on my comments.

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What do you like for science and history, especially if you don't use the Carroll books? It seems that all the Catholic programs use them without exception.

 

We started homeschooling back when the Catholic programs used xeroxed books and the Protestant programs didn't want to sell to homeschoolers. Most of the books mentioned on the high school board here didn't exist at that time. Some of what I rely on still are just old textbooks picked up from the thrift store. I almost always couple these with Teaching Company DVDs and literature recommended by John Senior, or other Great Books list from places like Kolbe, Scholars online, etc. If I were starting over, I would look at each of the newer history plans from the three schools and see if they were something I could live with. It's important to have something from a solidly Catholic worldview. You can always easily add other views and commentary to a program. Fifteen years ago Seton, Kolbe and OLV plans were little more than page numbers with some small commentary. Seton's has developed beyond that, but the last look that I had at Kolbe and OLV plans was four or five years ago and they still only had page numbers along with summarize. I think Kolbe may have updated since then, but they have a no return policy on course plans, so I haven't purchased them.

 

Back when we started, Our Lady of the Rosary had the best history program for high school. There plans were just outlines with page numbers, but they had created their own book called "Christian World Culture" that went along with the program. They used Petrovich's Human Achievement as a base over a two (or maybe three) year period and integrated excerpts of the great philosophers and others. Petrovich wrote an excellent World History textbook and we still use parts of it, but I probably wouldn't recommend buying it since there are so many newer secular books recommended here and on other boards that sound just as good. We wanted to read entire primary source documents and writings rather than just excerpts, so we quickly moved away from OLR history. It is a lot of work to pull in the Catholic perspective with secular material and it's taken me years to develope notes for discussions with the children. I know they aren't as good as they could be

 

Seton's history programs don't cover the time periods that we want and the books tend to overly whitewash Catholics in history. Not always, but enough that it's annoying. The lesson plans don't correct that whitewashing. On the other hand, they do a fine job of explaining some ideas that are difficult to grasp and make aspects of history that could be boring, interesting to some children.

 

To answer your question, I change what the children use from year to year based on their needs. For example, this year for Ancient history one dc is using Teaching Company's Men of Greece and Men of Rome, excerpts from Carroll's Founding of Christendom, excerpts from Petrovich, The Right Way to Live: Plato's Republic for Catholic Students, parts of Plutarch and about half of the books Kolbe lists for that time period. This particular child loves to read. For American history this year the dc is using the Teaching Company's "History of the United States" about 70% of Christ and the Americas, sections from a secular textbook that I can't recall at the moment and various primary source documents and speeches. Dc is also using Seton's American literature which gives has them reading seven American novels and English 10 also requires a few American novels This child is most likely going to a secular college for science, so she uses more Catholic textbooks than some of the others. She won't be hearing the Catholic perspective in a few years, so I want her to be firm in her foundation now. I should mention that we have also used parts of RC Connections and Hillside Education material in high school.

 

Science is also mixed. For biology one child used my old college textbook, another used Visual Biology and a few others have used Abeka Biology. Chemistry is Apologia. We use Conceptual Physics by Hewitt and for those who do Physical Science in 9th grade, we have used Abeka, Bob Jones and Apologia. I've collected them all over the years and they choose based on the writing style and content. Those who do an advanced science in 12th grade use one of the Apologia books or we pull together a course using library books.

 

Several years ago I spoke with Fr. Charles Connor of EWTN when he gave a retreat at our parish. I asked him directly about homeschooling and history. He told me to primarily use Catholic textbooks and books even if I thought they were overdone. We didn't talk about specific titles, but we did talk a little about the importance of having the Catholic view foremost in the student's mind. He mentioned something about it being easier to correct some whitewashing (he didn't use that word) about one or two things than it was to change a view that had been planted with secular material. I'm being vague here because I don't remember his exact phrasing and I don't want to err in quoting a priest. My memory is not that sharp for things that were discussed 6 years ago.

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I'm considering switching from Seton's english to Kolbe's in 9th grade

 

Try to look at the entire course plan before taking the leap. We tried a set of Kolbe's newer plans for lit. last year and it was like taking a huge leap backwards. The books were more challenging to read, but the discussion questions were mostly comprehension. They didn't lead anywhere, unlike the Seton questions that point the student toward thinking deeper about what happened and will happen. Maybe the slack is picked up with their newer history plans which I haven't seen.
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Fr. Laux's books for religion are boring and we haven't been using them, but this year we went with Seton's 12th grade apologetics course. It's very well crafted, very philosophical and dead on for the rhetoric stage.

 

Kolbe uses the same materials for their 11th grade religion studies as Seton uses for 12th grade. Just an FYI.:)

 

Try to look at the entire course plan before taking the leap. We tried a set of Kolbe's newer plans for lit. last year and it was like taking a huge leap backwards. The books were more challenging to read, but the discussion questions were mostly comprehension. They didn't lead anywhere, unlike the Seton questions that point the student toward thinking deeper about what happened and will happen. Maybe the slack is picked up with their newer history plans which I haven't seen.

 

I will look into it more. And as I said, a lot depends on how this year goes.

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I used one of them (Church History) for a graduate college course in church history! I think they're pretty rigorous, and it would take a lot to put them solidly into a high schooler's head. I don't care for the archaic spellings of OT names. I'm doing Bible history with my son this year and I'm having to pull from different sources for this class. Different chapters of Fr. Laux' "Introduction to the Bible" are good, but a high school student doesn't need all the stuff about biblical scholarship. His chapter on Wisdom literature was great, though. So many people rely on his books, but to me they seem to suck a lot of life and joy out of the subject matter.

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I really like Didache's History of the Church.
Have you had the kids work straight through it or used it as part of another course? Last year one of my dc used parts of it with her medieval history course. I've never used it for the study of religion per se, but I know that many people do. I'm wondering how they work that out as it seems like it would require a good deal of extra time each day. When dc used it last year it covered part of her history and part of her religion. I'm wondering if anyone has developed it into a combined history/religion course. I don't imagine that would require too much extra work, but it didn't occur to me to do that until almost Christmas last year.

 

I've been trying to decide how to use it next year and would like to hear how it's working out in other's homes.

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I actually used it as our spine with my middle schoolers last yr for medieval history. I read it aloud and we had some great discussions and spent days researching topics it brought up in addition to other readings I had already scheduled. (Unfortunately we didn't make it through the ren. like I wanted to, only to it) I will definitely continue to use it as a history text. (though I should qualify that I don't ever use any textbook solely. I always pull in books from the alternative view pt)

 

My ds used the Understanding Scriptures text last yr for his 10th grade theology class at a Catholic school. I am planning on using it with my younger kids next yr.

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I don't recommend that book at all if you want to teach your children that what is written in the Bible is actually true. That book is beautiful, and there are some great sub-sections, but I don't agree at all with some of the positions presented in that text as "gospel" truth. I was really surprised -- I thought Scott Hahn was more conservative than that. One thing for the Laux book is that he debunks the "documentary hypothesis" and gives good reasons why Moses really did write the first 5 books of the Bible. I think it's very dangerous to tell high school students that things in the Bible are not what they seem, especially when the hypotheses (like evolution) have no shred of concrete evidence. It shouldn't even be brought up. There's so much in the actual scriptures that scripture overviews should just concentrate on what's actually there. {/rant}

 

I am interested in seeing the other volumes of the Didache series, though. They are clearly well-made, otherwise. :)

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and they both have been assured by Seton that they're pretty flexible. My one friend, especially, is doing science, history, and foreign language on her own, and her oldest has been doing math independently of Saxon for several years.

 

Flexibility is good! Thank you for this information.

 

Saxon didn't work for us either. I would cry if we ever had to face that again.

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As far as being accredited, that would extremely low on my list of concerns

 

 

I would have to agree.

 

But if you did want a Seton diploma, Seton only requires

Seton History

Seton Religion

Seton English

 

and the rest of the subjects can be substituted Math, Science, etc.

(online rumor) has it they will accept OLVS religion instead also if that's a concern.

 

I know K-9 Seton has minimal (minimal) 'required' assiginments for the Transcript Grade to post. I'm wondering whether gr 9-12 are similar? You might be able to do your own thing a bit and just turn in the required assignments?

For instance, Science-9 has 17 chapters, but only requires 8 chapters/tests for the Transcript Grade.

The student can do the 8 chapters in probably less than one semester, and would have the other 20-plus weeks to do your own thing in science, omit science, work on other subjects, etc.

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I'm late to this conversation and have not read the responses. MIL had quadruple bypass surgery today, so this doubles as a prayer request.

 

My dc were enrolled in Seton for 3 years. By the time we reached 10th grade, we were experiencing severe burnout and high levels of anxiety. The only courses that we found effective were the English courses. Their religion and history courses rely too heavily on memorization of facts rather than an understanding of the overarching themes. Sometimes my kids would spend days memorizing for a test, which often could take up to four hours to complete. A week later they would have forgotten everything. Another complaint I had with Seton was the lack of advice regarding the courses my high schoolers should take to make their transcripts look good to colleges.

 

We have been enrolled in MODG for a full year and are in the beginning of our second year. The stress levels have decreased tremendously. I like that my family has a personal consultant who helps me tailor transcripts to reflect the strengths of each child. She helps me to make sure all my bases are covered, that the transcripts are well stacked, and the students are shown to be well-rounded. I also like the option of using the teacher directed program whereby a student is directed by a teacher via weekly phone calls, and who also grades all their papers. This year MODG has started a new program called Learning Support Classes, which is basically class discussion via conference calls one hour per week. MODG has been flexible if I want to substitute curriculum, for example, we use Kinetic Books Physics and Kolbe's Anatomy and Physiology and Chalk Dust for Math.

 

Both Seton and MODG are regionally accredited, while Kolbe is not.

 

HTHs

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My dc were enrolled in Seton for 3 years. By the time we reached 10th grade, we were experiencing severe burnout and high levels of anxiety. The only courses that we found effective were the English courses. Their religion and history courses rely too heavily on memorization of facts rather than an understanding of the overarching themes. Sometimes my kids would spend days memorizing for a test, which often could take up to four hours to complete. A week later they would have forgotten everything. Another complaint I had with Seton was the lack of advice regarding the courses my high schoolers should take to make their transcripts look good to colleges.

 

 

 

I agree. My son who was fully enrolled for one year and completed several other courses does not like Seton at all. I found the only course worthwhile was the English, and I may have my dds take their English courses but would never enroll full time. They are always claiming to be flexible and to "fit the program to the child, not the child to the program" but then that's extremely hard to do. We also had a hard time getting advice and getting questions answered. However, since my ds did not take any college courses during high school, I do think it helped with his college applications to have some courses graded by "outsiders."

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I know your post originally asks Modg or Seton but since Kolbe gets a mention I thought I would add Angelicum to the"soup".

We started with Angellicum in 2002 and we have been very pleased. They look difficult at a glance but when you consider that you pick the grade lever for each subject, you can really match the pupil to the program. They emphasize art, music , philosophy, and literature. They have online socratic discussion classes for all grade levels. I guess they do use the Carrol books as spines but I have added my own books there as well. I try to make sure that the questions on the lesson plans and quarterly exams are covered but that isn't a problem. I do my own grading anyway and add and subtract questions.

They emphasize geography using National Geographic s and we have enjoyed that.

My 18ds is in the third year Great Books studying Middle ages but also doing Apologia Physics and Anat and Phys, Saxon Adv, Math and Didache Scripture studies ( thanks for the heads up on that!) .

My elder son also did two years of the Great Books discussion and still keeps in contact with his old classmates. They have both loved it and study hard during the week so that they will be ready for the discussion. For me this is incredible because one boy was a history and encyclopedia buff and the other is interested in film making and has major reading difficulties. We get a lot of the readings either from Audible.com or he puts them on his laptop and rest Readplease to read them aloud as he looks at them.

They are only getting better at responses and support. hth

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  • 5 months later...

I keep going back over this thread, too!

 

Thank you to all who replied. It's been much appreciated over the last months and will continue to be as we make plans for next September.

 

My current thoughts are:

 

enroll in Kolbe

do Kolbe science (physical or biology, have both books)

do MODG history/literature

do Seton English

figure out what to do about religion and geometry

 

I'm just wondering if Seton English with the MODG history/lit. syllabus would put dd over the edge....and, therefore, me too.:confused:

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I think for Seton's English 9 my kids read 6 books (they weren't difficult books either) and did a research paper in the 3rd quarter. 3 of the books were used for discussion and analysis: Lilies of the Field, Where the Red Fern Grows and Merchant of Venice. Then they did 3 book analyses (several books to choose from) which they had to write with a specific focus, e.g. theme, conflict, character sketch.

 

 

For MODG's American Hist/Lit., they read 15 or 16 books. You have many books to choose from, so you could pick books that were an easier read if they were getting bogged down. You could also modify some assignments, for example you could do the research paper on the Civil War and it could count for both English 9 and Am. Lit.

 

 

My dc who have done Seton's history and MODG say that MODG's method is far more effective because history comes alive and they have a better understanding of the issues of the time period.

 

HTHs. Blessings.

Edited by langfam
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I think for Seton's English 9 my kids read 6 books (they weren't difficult books either) .

 

I like this.

Because then I can pick and choose and assign any other reading of My Choice for the student.

 

Seton chooses books it seems in view of the literary analysis assignments, not so much so the student can "read difficult books." I think that makes sense. The "easier" books are a tool for the real task to learn, that of literary analysis.

 

And then I can choose what (difficult, Great, classical) books I'd like my student "to read" on my own too.

 

:seeya:

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I am still considering using some MODG syllabi next year for history, but as a new Catholic, I still can't get over the almost complete lack of ANY Catholic programs/schools that appeal or even look semi-interesting! Seton English actually doesn't sound too bad, but the history---puleez! We use the Religion, but quite honestly, I don't agree at ALL with the whole "attending at ANY other church is a sin because you are condoning non-Cath worship". Ew. Kolbe looks pretty good----but I really don't care for public school textbooks and being "forced" to pay for enrollment to get an answer key. In fact, Kolbe reminds me of the private "Catholic" grade school we went too----ALL secular, public schools books, some good lit, but for all intents and purposes you would NEVER know you were going any sort of religiously affiliated school unless of course you were Catholic, and you had to take Cath Religion classes---but faith and God were NEVER mentioned in any other class. Angelicum is a disaster----and SO disorganized! OLVS---dry anyone? Catholic Heritage Curricula---sounded so sweet and academic---but it was WAY too light and the 7th and 8th history too vague to work for us. At least MODG is not afraid to use REAL books along with those dry, boring CAth history texts, add in crafty arts and music and use Apologia! My Catholic friends are so envious of the joy we have using Sonlight along with Catholic supplements.........but that old "Catholic guilt" makes them slog through horridly dry and boring materials that are all Catholic. I am hoping that the MODG Medeival syllabus has the lit analysis that I am looking for and is not too terribly dry, because otherwise all of my kids curriculum is going to be totally Christian and non-Catholic with "religion" thrown in because I can't destroy their love of learning with boring curriculum..:tongue_smilie:

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Kolbe reminds me of the private "Catholic" grade school we went too----ALL secular, public schools books, some good lit, but for all intents and purposes you would NEVER know you were going any sort of religiously affiliated school unless of course you were Catholic, and you had to take Cath Religion classes---but faith and God were NEVER mentioned in any other class.

 

 

We are enrolled with MODG, but my dd is taking Kolbe's Anatomy and Physiology course this year. Even though the text is secular, the lessons plans for the 4th quarter will include the Church teachings on controversial topics.

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  • 2 months later...
I keep going back over this thread, too!

 

Thank you to all who replied. It's been much appreciated over the last months and will continue to be as we make plans for next September.

 

My current thoughts are:

 

enroll in Kolbe

do Kolbe science (physical or biology, have both books)

do MODG history/literature

do Seton English

figure out what to do about religion and geometry

 

I'm just wondering if Seton English with the MODG history/lit. syllabus would put dd over the edge....and, therefore, me too.:confused:

 

I've been looking at this plan.

 

It seems to me that, if one were to decrease the lit from MODG, the Seton wouldn't throw both of you off the cliff. If you have $$ to burn, the Didache series appears quite thorough. But, dang! $50 a book!

 

I've been searching for what *I* deem to be a good Lit analysis course for awhile now. It does appear that, at least at the 11th and 12th level, Seton is all about the analysis (9th and 10th are half analysis, half composition).

 

Does anyone happen to know how much Seton costs for an individual course? They are intentionally vague on their website.

 

MODG has a revised syllabus for European history (I'm sure I'm the only person who did not know this, as I never looked at their stuff before...): she has made a "combo-platter" of Medieval European History, Lit, and Geography. I guess it now includes more European countries than it used to.

 

I wish the one for American history didn't use the Carroll text. I'm sure she's a nice woman, and that it fits the needs of many people, but I just don't like what I've seen of that book. Anyone do this syllabus with an alternate spine?

 

Thx

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I sent an email to Seton 2 months ago asking about the cost of 9th grade English and I was told $160.

 

Ow! Ow ow ow ow...

 

Especially when all I want to buy is the course, not all of the "support".

 

 

a

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I sent an email to Seton 2 months ago asking about the cost of 9th grade English and I was told $160.

 

Also, if it's been more than a year since you've been enrolled with them, don't forget to add in the $30 New Family Application Fee. Plus whatever shipping costs are, unless you live close enough to pick them up.

 

Additionally, not that I've seen it mentioned in this thread, but just sort of an FYI, the single course math fee is: $165 for the course, $40 for the books (this would include the student text and solutions guide), and if applicable, $30 for the new family fee. Grand total for my ds to enroll for Alg. 1 next year $205. This of course does not include the Dive CD ($50) or Saxon Teacher CD ($70)

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I was ready to purchase (gulp) at least 2 of these books for my high schoolers. BUT....are there any other problems with any of the texts from a solid, Catholic perspective besides "Understanding the Scriptures"?

 

Laura, (or anyone) could you elaborate a little more on this problem with "Understanding the Scriptures"? I really don't mind contradicting historical issues in a history book whether it be Anne Carroll or secular...but I don't want to be contradicting the religion text. I find that I have to contradict enough from other Catholic's perspective on moral issues, like bc and abortion:tongue_smilie: Is it even worth purchasing and looking over - or just bypass it for another Scripture text? Laura, (or anyone) what would you suggest?

 

Also has anyone used/needed the TM? I think the answers would be nice to have because if we discuss anything here, it's literature and religion.

(I homeschool 6 with 2 others)....so time is limited with each.

 

Thanks so much!!!

Stephanie

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Dd 13 and in 8th grade has been telling us she wants to hs for high school. The plan had been to send her to high school outside the home, but I'm open to hsing because she's doing so very well overall.

 

We are using Kolbe now but I made a lot of adjustments because dd attends a coop. I like Kolbe but it's very rigorous, sometimes to the extent that I don't know if the work is developmentally appropriate for many students. I'm also wondering about Seton and MODG because their accreditation seems like it would facilitate the college application process. At the same time, I don't know if I could ever go with an accredited program because I tend to want to tweak so much and expect this tendency to get worse (or better depending on your opinion) as I learn more. That's why Clonlara would work, except for the price.

 

Does anyone have experience with these two choices? We're Catholic so I'd look at these first. I looked at Clonlara, too, because I'm open to secular, but the price is WOW!

 

We've enrolled in Seton's English courses, but I won't do full enrollment because I like to do science & history "TWTM way" and prefer to do other subjects different, as well. Seton is quite rigorous, which is good, but it can be overwhelming trying to finish in their time frame.

 

I am familiar with MODG, but not enough to give any input.

 

Have you thought of OLVS (Our Lady of Victory School)? They are also accredited. I really like their materials. I've used their L.P. for some subjects and though a couple things bugged me, overall, I was impressed with what they have. You can enroll in single subjects, just like you can with Seton.

 

Sheri :)

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