One Saturday a month, I host a potluck breakfast in my home for Catholic homeschooling mothers. The group is always a bit different (there are over 60 women who have requested to receive the monthly invitations), but we always have an inspiring conversation! Here is what we shared this weekend:
(not all opinions are mine; they are a conglomerate of the moms present on Saturday)
- We attempted to watch a video from Fr. Barron about anti-Catholic prejudice for us to discuss briefly, but my TV wasn’t cooperating. So, you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/PgBo6uFQs5s
- A couple of moms suggested checking out a blog by Matt Walsh. He writes very traditional viewpoints on controversial current topics and events. http://themattwalshblog.com/
- During introductions, it was shared that every mom present either puts together her own curriculum or is hoping to modify one of the existing sets of lesson plans she has purchased to better suit her family’s needs.
- The first question we discussed was: What curriculum materials do you love?
- Math U See with a highschooler. Works great with elementary students. A totally different approach to math. There is an assessment you can give your children to decide where to start. http://mathusee.com/
- Khan Academy math with a 4th grader. It’s totally free online. https://www.khanacademy.org/
- Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We used half of the lessons then moved on to readers. http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Child-Read-Lessons/dp/0671631985
- Teach Your Baby to Read. Child reading since age 2. The program does teach sight reading, so phonics was a bit of a struggle. http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Baby-Gentle-Revolution/dp/0895295970
- ABC Mouse looks fun. One mom said it's confusing to her, not intuitive, and would probably be good if she figured out the best way to use it. https://www.abcmouse.com/
- Buy the $1 Dollar Spot math workbooks at Target. That's all you need.
- Education.com has tons of free worksheets or you can subscribe for $40 a year and print entire workbooks. http://www.education.com/
- Holyheroes.com is a fabulous place for free catechesis. They send weekly emails for Mass preparation. They have an Advent Adventure, a Lenten Adventure, and a Summer Vacation Bible School, all sent by email with videos and worksheets, mostly for free. http://www.holyheroes.com/
- Apologia’s Elementary Science books Exploring Creation with… were popular with a few moms. The notebooking journals are helpful, too. The topics range from Astronomy to Physiology, and they are great to use with multiple grade levels at once. http://www.apologia.com/index.asp?proc=pg&pg=4
- Speaking of science, there is a neat video about how wolves changed the rivers at Yellowstone here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q
- The movie God’s Not Dead is a fabulous one for teens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMjo5f9eiX8
- Prima Latina and Latina Christiana are good for Latin. http://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/prima-latina
- Familiae Immaculata is a new homeschooling group that meets once a month at the Mission of Divine Mercy in Canyon Lake. We begin with the Traditional Latin Mass and then have time for groups to go to Confession, Adoration, and fun faith-based activities.
- The Faith & Life religion series and Seton’s religion books are popular. http://www.ignatius.com/promotions/faithandlife/ and http://www.setonhome.org/elementary-school-book-list/
- Classically Catholic Memory is a good resource for memory work. http://ccmemory.com/
- Connecting with History by RC History is a great literature-based world history program from a Catholic perspective. http://rchistory.com/
- Andrew Pudewa has an awesome free talk on the Circe Institute website on Raising Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Be Building Forts All Day. http://www.circeinstitute.org/audio
- His writing program, Institute for Excellence in Writing, and his spelling program, Phonetic Zoo, are popular. There is a map which shows you where to start your child in the writing program, and the spelling program is audio-based. http://iew.com/ and http://iew.com/shop/shop-category/spelling?f%5B0%5D=im_field_category%3A22&f%5B1%5D=bundle%3Aaudio_course
- Spelling Wisdom is a Charlotte-Mason-style spelling program where words are studied in context using dictation rather than through arbitrary lists. http://simplycharlottemason.com/store/spelling-wisdom/
- Be sure to give yourself freedom to use the curriculum. Don’t let it rule you. You can skip pages or chapters or units or problems. It’s up to you!
- Remember that when you put together your own curriculum, you will never be done. There will always be something else you could teach. Set goals. Make a list and be at peace with what you choose. There is no perfect curriculum.
- Your children might not need college or need the knowledge you think they need.
- Teach your children to contribute to the world. They should cook and clean. Put their chores as a part of their lesson plans.
- They need a well-rounded education, though, in order to find their passion. Just remember they don't have to master everything. Expose them to much.
- CHC has a writing program called Creative Communications that is gentle and fun. Writing is a natural thing and should not be seen as complicated formulas. https://www.chcweb.com/catalog/CreativeCommunicationsThirtyWriting,Speaking,andDrawingProjectsforHomeschoolers/product_info.html
- What about keyboarding? Yes, teach it. I use the free online program from BBC called Dance Mat Typing; my kids love it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
- There is a keyboard set-up different from QWERTY that is better for your hands/wrists/arms. If you teach your children both, they can benefit. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
- Handwriting without Tears is an awesome printing and cursive program. DO teach your children cursive, please. They should be able to read their grandmothers’ letters. http://www.hwtears.com/hwt
- Little Women Hospitality Program teaches wonderful skills to girls. http://0307843.netsolhost.com/hospitality/HOSP_home.htm
- Use lapbooks to enrich curriculum. Many free ones are at Homeschool Share. http://www.homeschoolshare.com/
- Some of Seton’s books are not very modern. This can be a good thing and a bad thing, but you can always trust them. http://www.setonhome.org/
- Use notebooking pages to have children make their own book of observations. http://notebookingpages.com/notebooking
- Homeschoolfreebie.com sends daily emails with something new every day. http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/
- What about American History? Sea to Shining Sea is kind of dry. Connecting with History Volume 4 is American History. http://catholictextbookproject.com/project/project-volumes.html and http://www.rchistory.com/volume-four-american-history/
- Include sacred music and songs in Latin in your lessons.
That’s the only one of my questions we discussed. The conversation (and coffee) was so rich I didn’t get to any others!
What are your very favorite curriculum resources that were not mentioned above?
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