Seton or Kolbe?

[Shelby_Grace]

Dear Homeschoolers,

We are using Seton right now. I am doing all three of them in 6th grade level because that is what the oldest is. The youngest is only going into 1st so I do her separate.
When I started this we used Kolbe which I liked as well…then freestyled for a while.
What is Kolbe like in the upper grades? I love Seton’s reading books! They are really interesting even for me. Does Kolbe still use Catholic National Readers?(Heavy stuff! Check out book 6)
What about cost? Who is more?
I know there are other great programs…I need one that is accredited, has daily lesson plans/or weekly…and cost effective for 4 kids. I have one child who suffers from epilepsy and all its attendent problems,2 compliant very academically inclined children, and one very busy 7 yr old. Suggestions welcomed!
Love in Jesus,
Shelby grace

 

[bluerose]

I use Kolbe. My brother-in-law’s wife (mother of 10) used it for a while, but she switched to Seton, mainly because Seton does the grading (hence it costs more than Kolbe) and she had many more grade levels to keep up with. But Kolbe’s program is really simple to follow, the proctoring staff is great, and you don’t have to use their curriculum for any particular subject. In fact, I use Seton’s Faith and Freedom readers (yes, the National Catholic Reader is a bit difficult to comprehend, but dovetails with grammar program… and let’s face it, how many public school students can diagram a sentence?)

My son is starting 5th grade in the fall, then I also homeschool my niece (4th grade), older nephew (2nd grade) and youngest nephew (Kindergarten). Their mother (another brother-in-law’s wife) passed away about two years ago and my husband’s sister and I took over schooling. It works great because we split up subjects to teach so one person isn’t trying to cover all the bases. For instance, my son will be studying Latin this year and my sister-in-law’s linguistics background is a big help!

I have never used Seton myself. My experiences with Kolbe have been all good. As a “for example” (and really nothing to do with academics) was after I enrolled my niece just a few weeks after her mother’s death, I was most impressed with the genuine care and sympathy expressed by the woman taking the registration (her name is Mary). But what really blew me away is that, a year later, I called to re-register my son and niece and to add my older nephew to the roster and Mary, bless her heart, remembered us and asked how the children and their father and the rest of the family were doing. With all the families they have enrolled, I never expected her to remember us.
Anyhow, that’s my two cents’ worth for Kolbe. I admit, cost is a factor for me, what with my niece and nephews also being enrolled (we’re trying to help my brother-in-law out with the schooling costs), but I think Kolbe has an excellent program, very orthodox, challenging. I know Seton sometimes helps out families with financial burdens, but I hate to take advantage when there are other families with greater needs. Besides, I was working toward a degree in education when my son came along, so issuing my own grades and working out the curriculum isn’t problem for me.

It’s all good, and I think it’s a matter of preference.

Good luck!

 

[SDA2RC]

Is Seton really that much more expensive than Kolbe? My son is going into 2nd grade and we are looking into homeschooling him. I looks like Seton would be about $525 for books and fee’s? How much approx. is Kolbe? Are there any others that are similar to Seton?

Brandon

 

[ChuckODonnell]

Has anyone seen an objective comparison of the Catholic Home Study providers? Our family is starting out with Seton for both the fourth and sixth grade. I wouild have started twelve months ago but could not find a way to contact other homeschooling parents or find an objective comparison to start looking at programs. I still do not know “what the issues” are related to homeschooling.

Issues could include cost, quality, transcripts, reporting requirements, Catholic teachings (I assume there is a spectrum of subjects, etc that can be taught), Latin, Great Book Series, Colleges that welcome such students, Classical Educated students, …

God Bless

 

[Marys_daughter]

You all may want to check out this site for more info- p201.ezboard.com/boroetlaboro

Its a Catholic Hsing message board with experienced parents. A ton of 'em! They are so helpful.

We use mostly CHC and some Kolbe. No experience with Seton but they seem like an awful lot of work to me. I don’t know anyone who uses them, but I know they have a loyal following.

As for cost. For a 5th grader and a 4 year old Preschooler we spent about $430.00. And that was going all out, getting our hearts desire! ( Hey, its only what we would have paid last year for one months tuition. So I splurged.)

We live in Illinois, a great hsing state, so we don’t feel like we have to be concerned about Accreditation yet.

Thanks,
Stephanie

 

[chimakuni]

I use my own curriculum for our elementary education. In Washington State, our children need to be tested once a year by standardized testing or evaluated once a year by an accredited teacher. Since I found that sending away tests and essays to Seton became a real anxiety provoking situation, I decided not to continue with them…plus in the fourth grade my son had 13 subjects to master when using Seton!

I purchase books using the Mother of Divine Grace Syllabi which I found in the back of a catalogue put out by Emmanuel Books. I do not purchase all the books from them, but instead, go on line and purchase used books through Amazon. This year, for fifth and sixth grade, my total cost is $150.00 for both students of ours and I will be purchasing about fifty dollars more in books through a local bookstore.

Barnes and Noble will give you a discount when you take your letter of intent to home school in to them. That is a great bonus.

Home educating is a wonderful way of teaching our children. It does not need to be expensive.

Praying for all other home educators. . . and myself!

 

[Peace-bwu]

I used Seton with my first grader last year and plan use it again. I was thrilled with the religion class and love the fact that the readers are Catholic, and the Catholic-centered history books. I liked all of the workbooks. I also added quite a bit to her history and science classes. I will look into Kolbe I didnt know anything about it.Thanks for all the info, this is a great thread for homeschoolers and those considering it.

 

[Katholish]

Having been through Seton, at least for a while as a student, I would use it if and when I ever had children of my own. I haven’t seen Kolbe’s curriculum, but I have heard a presentation at a conference given by one of their representatives.

I am not sure if I would use the grading service with Seton in the early grades (the grading is optional), but I would certainly enroll for the lesson plans, and probably pick up the grading in 5th or 6th, it would depend on how many children I had I suppose. Over 4 and I would go with the grading earlier.

 

[bluerose]

You can get information on Kolbe at www.kolbe.org.

IIRC, last year, I paid $200 for registration for our first child, then $125 for each subsequent child (Kindergarten is separate). This includes your curriculum, answer key, tests, welcome package. Books are sold separately, but they are yours to keep. I have been using my son’s textbooks for the younger kids since he was in first grade and his are the only textbooks I buy every year (of course you must buy new “consumables” for phonics, math, handwriting, etc.) Sometimes used books are available for sale, which would be a major help as the child progresses to the higher grades (grade 4 and up uses the Saxon math series and is probably the most expensive text at about $50 to $60, depending on the grade level.)

I’m getting ready to start the new school year after Labor Day (I have yet to figure out why our local public schools start on a Wednesday, 10 days before Labor Day and then give the kids a three-day weekend right at the start!)

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

BlueRose