Catholic homeschool curricula

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Welcome to the church, Dan. 🙂

You’ve gotten some great advice here. I thought I’d give you a couple of other resources/websites where you might find some great help in choosing curriculum, and finding support.

Here is the 4 Real Learning Message Boards. This is a wonderful source of support:
4real.thenetsmith.com/

This is the Love 2 Learn website that has a lot there for reviews, support, encouragement, and help:
love2learn.net/

And this is Cathy Duffy’s reviews website. She has a book out too of her 100 Top Picks that is very helpful. But this website will also help some:
cathyduffyreviews.com/

This is our 12th year of homeschooling, and this journey has been such a blessing. I pray the same for your family as well. 🙂

Tracy Q.
 
Syele said:
Abecka History is extremely anti-Catholic.

Here are just a few of many many paragraphs:
“This Schism has lasted into the present day as the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Catholic Churches but the popes continued to dream of Universal Domination.”

“The Roman Catholic Church encouraged prayer, but the wrong kind of prayer addressed to the wrong people. It preached the need for salvation, But the wrong way to obtain it.”

and later it says, “They(Catholics) never experienced a sense of God’s Forgiveness in their own souls, only guilt and condemnation.”
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:bigyikes: OK, Catholics, it looks like we can scratch A-Beka off our lists!
MonicaC said:
I am using Our Lady of Victory School. Their books are very inexpensive and they are text so you can use them for your other children as they grow. The work books are also inexpensive I think the most expensive one I paid for was $12. I love that they only use Catholic based books. For math we use Saxon for our 4th grader and right start for our kindergartner. Both are excellent. I am also using a really cool phonic program call the Reading Works. It is great I highly recommend it.
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Thanks for the recommendations. We’re building our list, and though we’re leaning toward Catholic Heritage Curricula, I like having these other sources for supplementary material (especially since, as you said, they’re cheap 😉 )
TracyQ said:
Welcome to the church, Dan. 🙂

You’ve gotten some great advice here. I thought I’d give you a couple of other resources/websites where you might find some great help in choosing curriculum, and finding support.
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Thanks for the websites, and for the welcome home!

God bless,
Dan
 
Karin said:
Are the Catholic Heritage Curricula accredidated?
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I don’t know… it doesn’t make a difference to me one way or the other, since my state doesn’t require homeschool curricula to be ‘accredited,’ and it isn’t an academy-based program like Seton.
 
djrakowski said:
I don’t know… it doesn’t make a difference to me one way or the other, since my state doesn’t require homeschool curricula to be ‘accredited,’ and it isn’t an academy-based program like Seton.
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Ah…ok…I understand the difference now.
My state does not require accredited programs either but I do prefer something more like Seton…it seems it would be easier for kids to go on to colleges etc. if the program was accredited.
 
Karin said:
Ah…ok…I understand the difference now.
My state does not require accredited programs either but I do prefer something more like Seton…it seems it would be easier for kids to go on to colleges etc. if the program was accredited.
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Believe me, I understand why you asked the question, and I hope it doesn’t seem like I was dismissing you. I was concerned about this at first, but my research has led me to believe that there’s no significant advantage to having an accredited or even academy-based programs when applying to colleges. I went to a large secular state university, and one of my hall-mates was completely homeschooled, and not through an accredited academy-based program.

There are alternatives to accreditation, including strong performance on standardized tests and portfolios of work completed. I’ve also heard of some kids getting GEDs in place of high school diplomas.
 
Karin said:
It would seem that they are not…and give examples of why it is not important…interesting reading thank you…but I do not agree.
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I went to an accredited public high school in Michigan. Nearly 10% of my graduating class went to the same public university as I did, and nearly half of them flunked out within the first year. One of my roommates required remedial classes in his first year at the university. Accreditation didn’t guarantee success for these individuals, even though they all had good test scores and high GPAs.
 
djrakowski said:
Believe me, I understand why you asked the question, and I hope it doesn’t seem like I was dismissing you. I was concerned about this at first, but my research has led me to believe that there’s no significant advantage to having an accredited or even academy-based programs when applying to colleges. I went to a large secular state university, and one of my hall-mates was completely homeschooled, and not through an accredited academy-based program.

There are alternatives to accreditation, including strong performance on standardized tests and portfolios of work completed. I’ve also heard of some kids getting GEDs in place of high school diplomas.
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Not at all…I did not feel that you where dismissing me.
I still think perhaps since I live on the East Coast with many Ivy League schools etc. that a homeschooling program should be accredited…I guess that is one of the many reasons I chose the Seton program for my youngest.
 
djrakowski said:
I went to an accredited public high school in Michigan. Nearly 10% of my graduating class went to the same public university as I did, and nearly half of them flunked out within the first year. One of my roommates required remedial classes in his first year at the university. Accreditation didn’t guarantee success for these individuals, even though they all had good test scores and high GPAs.
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accredition does not guarantee anything …in public or private schooling or in homeschooling.
it does make it easier though (less hoops to jump through, IMHO) when the child is ready to move on to college or university.
 
Karin said:
Not at all…I did not feel that you where dismissing me.
I still think perhaps since I live on the East Coast with many Ivy League schools etc. that a homeschooling program should be accredited…I guess that is one of the many reasons I chose the Seton program for my youngest.
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I’m a member of the HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association), and I’ve seen reports in their quarterly magazine about kids from non-academy-based and non-accredited programs being accepted into Ivy League and other top-notch colleges, so it seems like a total non-conern for me.

I’m less concerned with my children getting into the finest universities than I am with protecting their innocence and guiding their faith formation. But, it is nice to know that high academic success is possible, even without accreditation.
 
Karin said:
Not at all…I did not feel that you where dismissing me.
I still think perhaps since I live on the East Coast with many Ivy League schools etc. that a homeschooling program should be accredited…I guess that is one of the many reasons I chose the Seton program for my youngest.
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I don’t mind jumping through a few hoops if I’ve prayerfully considered that I’m doing the right thing by my children. But I fully appreciate the other side, too.
 
djrakowski said:
I’m a member of the HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association), and I’ve seen reports in their quarterly magazine about kids from non-academy-based and non-accredited programs being accepted into Ivy League and other top-notch colleges, so it seems like a total non-conern for me.
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what % of homeschoolers get into Ivy League schools I wonder?
sorry curious is all.
djrakowski said:
I’m less concerned with my children getting into the finest universities than I am with protecting their innocence and guiding their faith formation. But, it is nice to know that high academic success is possible, even without accreditation.
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I guess that is why I send my kids to a Catholic School and homeschool…best of both worlds, IMHO!
But I do worry about them getting into a good college and or university and I feel that the route we are one is one that will help them do this…and by the way, I am not willing to jump through hoops.😉
 
Karin said:
what % of homeschoolers get into Ivy League schools I wonder?
sorry curious is all.
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It doesn’t really matter to me how many, or what percentage, get into Ivy League schools. At any rate, it would be more fair to compare the number of homeschooled students who apply to Ivy League schools to the number admitted, rather than considering all homeschoolers, many of whom don’t apply to such schools.

Here’s a link from HSLDA that mentions some statistics regarding homeschoolers, accreditation and college admissions (including the Ivy Leagues and Stanford): hslda.org/docs/nche/000002/00000234.asp

A few quotes from that article:
A Harvard University (MA) admissions officer said most of their home educated students “have done very well. They usually are very motivated in what they do.” Results of the SAT and SAT II, an essay, an interview, and a letter of recommendation are the main requirements for home educated applicants. “[Transcripts are] irrelevant because a transcript is basically a comparison to other students in the school.”
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Karin said:
I guess that is why I send my kids to a Catholic School and homeschool…best of both worlds, IMHO!
But I do worry about them getting into a good college and or university and I feel that the route we are one is one that will help them do this…and by the way, I am not willing to jump through hoops.😉
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I would love to send my children to Catholic schools, but we have a few barriers. One, the schools around here have a reputation for being lousy teachers of the faith, and I don’t want to do anything to undermine the faith formation we’re doing at home and in our parish. Two, they’re too expensive. Three, our daughter’s disability makes classroom schooling impossible.
 
Thanks for the links…I will read them when I get a few mintues.

In regards to the accredition issue…I guess it is a personal choice thing…whatever works and is best for you and your family may not be what works or is best for mine…I do thank you for presenting the other side…thank you!

In regards to the Catholic Schools…my eldest son attends a very good Catholic High School, St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City NJ, it is accredited and its religion classes actually the WHOLE school, IMHO, teaches the Faith (in school and outside) beautifully!!!
 
Karin said:
what % of homeschoolers get into Ivy League schools I wonder?
sorry curious is all.

I guess that is why I send my kids to a Catholic School and homeschool…best of both worlds, IMHO!
But I do worry about them getting into a good college and or university and I feel that the route we are one is one that will help them do this…and by the way, I am not willing to jump through hoops.😉
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**I have no idea why anyone would want to send their dc to an ivy league college these days. They are not the havens of logic and academia that they used to be and frankly the name brand “tag” usually doesn’t pay off in paychecks later. In fact, here’s an example of just how far they’ve come away from academia. Please note, homeschoolers must not be doing too bad as they have an entire dorm just for them. I find it foolish that the very things that make these homeschoolers unique and fetted by colleges (and they are MUCH sought after) is what the school wants to change.:rolleyes: **
larknews.com/september15_…php?page=1
 
Rob_s_Wife said:
I have no idea why anyone would want to send their dc to an ivy league college these days. They are not the havens of logic and academia that they used to be and frankly the name brand “tag” usually doesn’t pay off in paychecks later. In fact, here’s an example of just how far they’ve come away from academia. Please note, homeschoolers must not be doing too bad as they have an entire dorm just for them. I find it foolish that the very things that make these homeschoolers unique and fetted by colleges (and they are MUCH sought after) is what the school wants to change.:rolleyes:

larknews.com/september15_…php?page=1
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Well having a whole drom to themselves from what I gleaned is becuase Harvard thinks socially they problems.
And offering speical dorms is nothing new.
It is not my goal to send my kids to an Ivy school but a Good School…we are actually looking at colleges already as my eldest is headed that way in 2 years.
 
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