Looking to homeschool catechism only

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bombitmd

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Hi everyone!

I’m looking to homeschool my kids in catechism because they don’t teach religion at their school. I’ve been reading as many posts on this subject, and the more popular options are Seton and Kolbe.

My main goal is to teach them about our catholic faith. There’s really no need for any tests or grading (but of course, I’d still test them just to see how much they’re learning). My biggest question is I just don’t know if purchasing the main lesson book is enough to go on, or should I include the lesson plans that they provide.

Would really appreciate any suggestions based on your experiences. Both Seton and Kolbe look promising. Still reading up on the other suggestions (CHC, St. Thomas, Divine Grace School, etc) BTW, my kids are Kinder, Gr 1 and Gr 8. (For my Gr 8, I’ll probably start a few grades lower to catch her up.)

I’m currently browsing Sophia Institute; I like the way their lesson plan/ guide is presented. I have yet to see samples for Seton. The one for CHC which they showed a sample of is like a menu; although I don’t know if there is any guide in the books themselves.

Thank you!
 
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H/s mom here. Seton is what I’d recommend for what you’re seeking. This said, I don’t love their curriculum because I feel it relies too heavily on pre-Vat II materials (Baltimore Catechesim, etc.) I think those have their place but aren’t the backbone of what I prefer for my kids. I’ve created my own catechesis curriculum with a nice (I think) mix. We’re going through the new Theology of the Body kids’ books put out by TOBET. Can’t recommend them highly enough!! IM with Seton would update to incorporate book series like these…
 
Oh, and re: the lesson plans… I think that depends how confident you feel about teaching the material. If you’re really comfortable with the material I wouldn’t spend the extra $$ on lesson plans. Just me, though…
 
Thanks, Jen! I’m pretty confident on my grasp of religion (15 years of religion in a Catholic school from Gr 1 to college! 🙂) I guess it’s more of how to conduct the lesson is more of the concern. Am reading through TOBET right now, thank you!
 
Awesome! I am a catechesis as well, so looking for great catechesis teaching tools is a favorite pastime of mine! If you come across resources you love, please come back and post here so I can look them up too! 🙂
 
We homeschool with seton and it is phenomenal. It is indeed “old school” but with that comes a simplicity and purity that seems to be lost in current resources even at the parish level. Speaking of which, have you utilized the parish for resources?
 
bombitmd said:
Thanks, Jen! I’m pretty confident on my grasp of religion (15 years of religion in a Catholic school from Gr 1 to college! 🙂) I guess it’s more of how to conduct the lesson is more of the concern. Am reading through TOBET right now, thank you!
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Not meaning to pick on you. But round these parts (my location) if someone says they had 15 years of Catholic education something extremely odd and not at all Catholic is about to fly out of their mouths!😅
 
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You might also check with your parish’s head of faith formation. I do homeschool through our parish using the same materials they use in the classroom. I don’t love the materials but I add and subtract as necessary. On the plus side, they are covering the same materials as their peers at the church and get credit for it - making sacramental prep easier.
 
The “Faith and Life” series is hands down the best.

Ignatius Press YoCat and DoCat are excellent as well
 
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IdaCatholic said:
We homeschool with seton and it is phenomenal. It is indeed “old school” but with that comes a simplicity and purity that seems to be lost in current resources even at the parish level. Speaking of which, have you utilized the parish for resources?
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As a rule, “old school” means “good homeschool”, and not just where religion is concerned. That said, we use modern technologies, such as Kahoot for math drills, YouTube videos, and two hours a week of computer studies. We watched the series The Bible when we were studying about Moses and Abraham in history class (TAN’s The Story of Civilization series).

The SJBC is very good, though I have found myself having to maneuver around a “dated” feel to it, not in the religion and spirituality being taught, but it is a product of the early 1950s — no racial diversity in the illustrations (everyone is white), a reference to hungry children in Europe, and so on. On the other hand, one picture shows some boys admiring an air rifle in a toy store window (to illustrate wanting the things of this world versus wanting things of God), something that I can assure you would never appear in any textbook today.

Incidentally, my son has an air rifle and he loves it.

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/the-story-of-civilization-vol-1-the-ancient-world.html

(Don’t bother with the activity book unless you’re just into that sort of thing. I found it next to useless for our class and didn’t buy it for Volume 2.)
 
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Like others have said, check with your parish and see what they’re doing. Do they do the family program or strictly classroom.

I’m not sure Sophia will be up your alley. They’re geared to be done more as a group, so you may end up paying for stuff you won’t use. That’s what my wife’s parish uses.

It was OK. We really watched what we(she) taught as I’m not Catholic and we didn’t like some of the things it implied.

We did the program for 2 years and dropped out. A lot of families did.
 
IdaCatholic said:
Not meaning to pick on you. But round these parts (my location) if someone says they had 15 years of Catholic education something extremely odd and not at all Catholic is about to fly out of their mouths!😅
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I’m sorry you experience that! It’s not the case here, praise God! And I hope it’s not the case in the OP’s case either. Sounds like she is very concerned to provide her kids with a solid, orthodox Catholic upbringing & Im sure she did as much for her students for the 15 years.

As an aside… catechesis of the Good Shepherd is another fabulous catechetical option!!
 
TheLittleLady said:
The “Faith and Life” series is hands down the best.

Ignatius Press YoCat and DoCat are excellent as well
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I was about to ask how to order for individuals, then I found it! yes, I’ve read a lot about the Faith and Life and image of God series. I’m now trying to choose between Seton, Sophia, and this … 🙂
 
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IdaCatholic said:
We homeschool with seton and it is phenomenal. It is indeed “old school” but with that comes a simplicity and purity that seems to be lost in current resources even at the parish level. Speaking of which, have you utilized the parish for resources?
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Admittedly, no, I haven’t asked our parish. Although the last time I checked a few years ago, when I was to have my daughter’s first communion, they usually work with the schools. I’m from the Philippines, and majority of the private schools here handle their own catechism and communion, confirmation. And as far as I know, most parishes actually don’t have, by default, a catechism program or even Sunday school. I guess they take it for granted that majority already have catechism at school. I’ll still check, though.
 
Jen7 said:
Not meaning to pick on you. But round these parts (my location) if someone says they had 15 years of Catholic education something extremely odd and not at all Catholic is about to fly out of their mouths!😅
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Ah, point of clarification - I had catechism in school from Kinder all the way thru college (theology) mainly because it was a Jesuit university; I didn’t actually teach 😛
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I used Our Lady of the Rosary School for my older children. It gave them a solid catholic formation. (So solid that the liberal priests in our diocese would give them a hard time about their serious (reverent) approach to the sacraments and church. My children always passed their diocesan religious testing with high scores.
 
Second Faith and Life!

For DSD, now that she is in senior high, I use A Course in Religion for High School Youth, by Fr. John Laux. (Faith and Life goes to Grade 8.) Fr. Laux’s series has four books, Chief Truths of the Faith, The Mass and the Sacraments, Catholic Morality, and Catholic Apologetics. There are also two companion books, which I have not used - one is on Church history and the other is on the Bible. While the language is rather old-fashioned, the principles are great.
 
For High School, Scott Hahn was part of a series titled the Didache. It was EXCELLENT
 
I’m interested too. PSR at my parish is a joke and we don’t live in our parish’s territory so they wouldn’t be with their classmates anyway. I’d like to find a simple curriculum where I could do a quick lesson at bedtime. I never had PSR or religion class as a child, other than in kindergarten, so I’m a bit at a loss.
 
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