I started with the home-schooling group at our parish. The mothers there were very informative and helpful in demonstrating options for us. It seems most people stuck with the big companies, specifically Seton and Mother of Divine Grace. There may be other large companies who offer programs, but these were the names that kept popping up. I would absolutely suggest anyone who is starting out with home-schooling to join the local h.s. groups to get good advice and recommendations. A lot of times, the families are experienced and can really make the transition easier.
At the time we started, I absolutely knew what I didn't want, and that was the common public school method/curriculum; we all know how poor public schools are in educating children in America. On the other hand, I have mixed thoughts on this. I also believe that many public school teachers do the best they can with what they have. Many time the fault lies on the parents and sometimes on the children themselves. The point being, there are many circumstances that play into how well a child is educated and I don't want to point the finger solely at public school.
Based on what I have experienced myself in public school and the inside information I received from my spouse(who at the time was teaching in a public school), that both the environment and the method public schools taught was ineffective. Therefore, picking a home-schooling curriculum that resembled public school seemed asinine. The interesting thing is, a lot of Catholic programs, curriculum and time lines are completely identical to public schools. This seems completely erroneous to think you will get better results with your children, when your giving them the same product that society is giving them. So whats the answer? The answer is a method that is proven by our Catholic Tradition and that is the Classical Method.
The Classical method is exactly what the names implies and that is the Classics. Children today are no longer steeped in the time tested and proven works of the great thinkers of time past. The same people who's works have lasted for hundreds of years and are still presented in good Catholic universities and sparingly in public ones. These works present Ideas, not random facts that kids must memorize for a standardized test. Ideas, but also morals. When a child reads the Grimm's and Anderson's fairy tales, they gain knowledge of right and wrong. The image of love between a man and woman are etched in their little brains and their vocabulary flourishes; that is if the proper translation is read to them. I mention proper translations, because we don't want the hard words removed from these beautiful stories. How else will they be able to properly articulate their own ideas if they haven't the tools to do so? Of coarse after the grammar stage of learning they will advance from the fairly tales to more mature level of literature, but not until the imagination has been properly nourished. Many of us today are suffering from a disease of underdeveloped imaginations.
Unless your blind, you may not have noticed, that schools are moving in a direction that is almost completely of the Natural Sciences. Technology and Science are inundating the course catalogs of schools. Science is a wonderful thing and nobody can argue the great advancements we have made. But when you sacrifice Christian culture for the next gadget, what you get is a society that is no longer concerned with Natural Law, Virtue and ultimately Holiness. So, a classical education is paramount in fostering both a strong intellect, but also a moral compass, which this world so desperately needs today.
Lets look now at how this is applied to the student at home. We do a hybrid curriculum which consists of both Mother of Divine grace and The Classical Christian Homeschooling method touched on in his books The Death of Christian Culture and The Restoration of Christian Culture. His books are not a homeschooling guide, but do provide a springboard to the idea of what should be taught. He also provides a list of the "1000 Good Books" that children should read to prepare themselves for the "Great Books" of Adler. The Mother of D.G. catalog is simply found by googling them. We purchase their syllabi and pick and choose what we want to use out of them.
My children are all under the age of 7, so we have not yet ventured from the grammar stage, but one thing I will say, is that you should NEVER stress as to how far ahead or behind your child is in comparison to what some curriculum says your child needs to be at. Every child is different and pushing them when they are not ready to advance does more harm than good. Here is an excerpt from Senior that describes the problem with "advanced placement'' and pushing our children to move too quickly.
"A Chinese once criticized American education by saying, "You are always pulling on the flower to make it grow faster." and At Princeton, under Dean Root, the students in the four-year college normally took five courses per year; the exceptionally bright ones were permitted to take four, on the grounds that for them it was really worthwhile to go slow. An education is not an annoying impediment to research or business, but a good in itself, indispensable to the development of the qualified person."
Do not worry about meeting some sort of imaginary deadline with your child. The slower the better and I would be willing to bet that he or she will be exactly where they need to be come time for college.
Lastly, I would highly recommend you just pick up a good book, hopefully one from seniors list and just read it to your children. Keep doing this until they can take off on their own, and then gently guide them toward sainthood. Remember, our goal is to raise Saints, not for them necessarily to become scholars. However, with Gods grace and our obedience, they may become both.
At the time we started, I absolutely knew what I didn't want, and that was the common public school method/curriculum; we all know how poor public schools are in educating children in America. On the other hand, I have mixed thoughts on this. I also believe that many public school teachers do the best they can with what they have. Many time the fault lies on the parents and sometimes on the children themselves. The point being, there are many circumstances that play into how well a child is educated and I don't want to point the finger solely at public school.
Based on what I have experienced myself in public school and the inside information I received from my spouse(who at the time was teaching in a public school), that both the environment and the method public schools taught was ineffective. Therefore, picking a home-schooling curriculum that resembled public school seemed asinine. The interesting thing is, a lot of Catholic programs, curriculum and time lines are completely identical to public schools. This seems completely erroneous to think you will get better results with your children, when your giving them the same product that society is giving them. So whats the answer? The answer is a method that is proven by our Catholic Tradition and that is the Classical Method.
The Classical method is exactly what the names implies and that is the Classics. Children today are no longer steeped in the time tested and proven works of the great thinkers of time past. The same people who's works have lasted for hundreds of years and are still presented in good Catholic universities and sparingly in public ones. These works present Ideas, not random facts that kids must memorize for a standardized test. Ideas, but also morals. When a child reads the Grimm's and Anderson's fairy tales, they gain knowledge of right and wrong. The image of love between a man and woman are etched in their little brains and their vocabulary flourishes; that is if the proper translation is read to them. I mention proper translations, because we don't want the hard words removed from these beautiful stories. How else will they be able to properly articulate their own ideas if they haven't the tools to do so? Of coarse after the grammar stage of learning they will advance from the fairly tales to more mature level of literature, but not until the imagination has been properly nourished. Many of us today are suffering from a disease of underdeveloped imaginations.
Unless your blind, you may not have noticed, that schools are moving in a direction that is almost completely of the Natural Sciences. Technology and Science are inundating the course catalogs of schools. Science is a wonderful thing and nobody can argue the great advancements we have made. But when you sacrifice Christian culture for the next gadget, what you get is a society that is no longer concerned with Natural Law, Virtue and ultimately Holiness. So, a classical education is paramount in fostering both a strong intellect, but also a moral compass, which this world so desperately needs today.
Lets look now at how this is applied to the student at home. We do a hybrid curriculum which consists of both Mother of Divine grace and The Classical Christian Homeschooling method touched on in his books The Death of Christian Culture and The Restoration of Christian Culture. His books are not a homeschooling guide, but do provide a springboard to the idea of what should be taught. He also provides a list of the "1000 Good Books" that children should read to prepare themselves for the "Great Books" of Adler. The Mother of D.G. catalog is simply found by googling them. We purchase their syllabi and pick and choose what we want to use out of them.
My children are all under the age of 7, so we have not yet ventured from the grammar stage, but one thing I will say, is that you should NEVER stress as to how far ahead or behind your child is in comparison to what some curriculum says your child needs to be at. Every child is different and pushing them when they are not ready to advance does more harm than good. Here is an excerpt from Senior that describes the problem with "advanced placement'' and pushing our children to move too quickly.
"A Chinese once criticized American education by saying, "You are always pulling on the flower to make it grow faster." and At Princeton, under Dean Root, the students in the four-year college normally took five courses per year; the exceptionally bright ones were permitted to take four, on the grounds that for them it was really worthwhile to go slow. An education is not an annoying impediment to research or business, but a good in itself, indispensable to the development of the qualified person."
Do not worry about meeting some sort of imaginary deadline with your child. The slower the better and I would be willing to bet that he or she will be exactly where they need to be come time for college.
Lastly, I would highly recommend you just pick up a good book, hopefully one from seniors list and just read it to your children. Keep doing this until they can take off on their own, and then gently guide them toward sainthood. Remember, our goal is to raise Saints, not for them necessarily to become scholars. However, with Gods grace and our obedience, they may become both.
