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folklaur
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| Posted: Oct 19 2006 at 1:50pm | IP Logged
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Is there a way to combine Seton with the ideas and ideals presented in Real Learning?
Do any of you do this?
Can you tell me how it "looks"?
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JSchaaf
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| Posted: Oct 19 2006 at 2:25pm | IP Logged
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Please, please! We are leaning toward enrollment next fall...but I still want to do things the CM way.
Jennifer
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amyable
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| Posted: Oct 19 2006 at 2:42pm | IP Logged
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We are about to attempt this. Our family just enrolled with Seton and I am hoping to do this very thing.
Right now, however, I am having a hard time getting up to speed with Seton, and I have no *real* experience doing this - just my hopes and dreams.  So maybe I should just sit back and see if anyone else responds. 
I *will* say that at the young ages I have at home (8, 6, 3, 1) Seton doesn't have to take too much time. The rest of the day is free for walks, crafts, reading books about the subjects presented in the Seton books or other subjects (we still keep several baskets of library books around for interest led learning...).
Once I get used to Seton and see how my girls are handling the subjects, I will be able to better tweak the work they present. We are already doing narrations instead of the Q & A they suggest to check reading comprehension. But I hope to eliminate more of the busy work. Seton does suggest this. They only present "all that work" so that kids who struggle have the option to do it. Most of the subjects seem doable in "short lessons" also (again this is only for the 3rd and 1st grades, I don't know about higher years yet).
So much for me sitting back and saying nothing.  I am quite interested in reading other replies!
__________________
Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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ALmom
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| Posted: Oct 19 2006 at 2:53pm | IP Logged
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If you are looking at their elementary materials, keep in mind that you don't have to do everything - and no one is going to keep you from moving to the next grade because you did your own thing in several subjects.
In general, the only material you must hand in for them to record the grade and mark it, is the stuff that they have listed as hand in for them to grade which is really rather minimal. You are free to modify everything else as you see fit. However, they do tend to require memorize - regurgitate so you have to be careful to cover the stuff "on the test." if you plan for them to do record keeping, etc.
However, you do have the option of telling them up front, that you are signing up for them just for the lesson plans and counseling help and that you will hand in only things that you want additional feedback for. It costs the same, but you have the option of skipping their grading services if you want. They are more flexible in elementary grades and people do what they want and keep moving forward.
I may not be the best person to respond since we didn't really care for using Seton - but I did do quite a bit of my own thing in the one elementary year that we used. Also, keep in mind that you can sign up for individual courses, too. I do know that one year we did our own science entirely and just submitted a description of what we did, sample work and our own assigned grade (they seemed fine with this in elementary particularly in science and history). We had taken advantage of my grandmother's struggles to overcome her stroke and did a study of human anatomy and some research on the brain and strokes. We spent tons of time with my grandmother as she was dying and included this as well. We got positive comments from Seton.
The most important thing is to remember that you are still in charge and you use it the way you see fit. I have sometimes signed up for courses and never sent in the work for my children because I really wanted the plans as a general outline - and we did things our own way. I did this with a high school Spanish course ( we used a tutor ) but got the plans from Seton. Now, I knew we were not using their transcript services so it won't matter that we never "finished the course" in their eyes. You just have to think through things and how you want to do it.
In elementary, no one ever goes back and looks at stuff before 8th grade, so if you have incompletes (in Seton's eyes) but want to move your child on up to the next level, no one will stop you and the holes in the transcript won't matter.
Janet
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kjohnson
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| Posted: Oct 19 2006 at 3:41pm | IP Logged
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After struggling with illness and having surgery last year, we decided to put our 3 school-aged children in the neighborhood public school. Thankfully they are all back home this year, but it was a very hard adjustment to get back in homeschool gear after only 1 year in the school system. We had experimented with CM and classical education for our first 4 years of homeschooling and when I brought the kids back home I felt that the children would need the structure they had grown accustomed to in the classroom. (And I was intimidated about having a year off with just me and my 2yo dd and then suddenly homeschooling 3 dc and caring for a toddler and being pregnant.) Hesitantly, I enrolled with Seton this past June (so if it didn't work out I could start something fresh by the fall).
We kept on task for about a month and then I began wanting to bang my head against a wall. The workload exhausted both me and my children (and I did none of the extra work in the lesson plans...just the bare minimum). I had planned to work hard through the morning and keep the afternoon free for fun learning, read-alouds and relaxation, but my kids were toast by lunch and we ended up in a near vegetative state for most of the afternoon  .
After about 5 weeks of work, I contacted Seton, mailed back all of our lesson plans and tests and with no hassle, received a generous (though partial) refund. One thing I can say about Seton is that they are very helpful and honest and it was very easy to deal with them.
I don't want to discourage any one, but I want to share my experience. We've since reverted back to our old ways (with a lot of confidence after experiencing the public school system and trying the "no holes" workbook/textbook approach). We're now using an Ambleside/Mater Amabilis hybrid. And it's working so well. I really thought the structure and organization of Seton was going to make life so much easier, but it really complicated it and squelched the excitement of learning in my children. With baby #5 due in March, I really can't imagine the Seton workload being an option for our family. But keep in mind that every family is different and what didn't work for one family, may be a great blessing for another. 
God Bless,
Katherine in TX
www.livingeducation.typepad.com
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rivendellmom
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| Posted: Oct 19 2006 at 5:08pm | IP Logged
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We are enrolled with Seton for 8th grade math, 7th grade reading, 5th grade english, 5th grade science, 3rd grade math, and 2nd grade reading. We have been fully enrolled in the past as well as having years where we did our own thing. Its working out really well for us. My kids like getting an outside grade in a few subjects. Its nice to be able to get help in Math. I feel we are still implementing a "Real Learning" lifestyle. You can do wahtever you want while enrolled in grade school. It depends on whether you need the grades from Seton to meet your states requirements. In IL we don't. So I don't worry too much about receiving a grade from them. I may send in a English paragraph to be graded just to get another opinion. In 2nd grade reading I just wanted the plans.
We may fully enroll next year while we are in India. I like to keep all the Seton work to the morning and then be free all afternoon. You can tweak things so that they work out that way. PM me if you want more specifics.
Jen
__________________
Jen in suburban Chicagoland Mom to Connor(91), Garrett(93), Reilly (95), Mary Katherine (98), Declan (05), Ronan in ^i^ 6/28/08
visit our new blog: http://recreationalscholar.blogspot.com/
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Bridget
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| Posted: Oct 19 2006 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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We are enrolled in Seton this year.
I only send in work and tests to be graded for my 8th grader, as a way to prepare for high school work.
The lesson plans are full of ideas and resources, which would be so helpful to someone who hasn't had the benefit of the resources here. Really they are very good.
I have not had my children do many of the written assignments, we do them orally or they do a lot of illustrating. I am very lax in the science and history assignments because my children like those areas so much that they do extra work or reading on their own. I know they are learning the material because of the informal narrations they give me in casual conversation. Very detailed.
I have ditched spelling and vocabulary in favor of Latin. The 3 oldest and I do Latina Christiana together. They have all been doing spelling for years and none can spell worth a darn. They started blogging and I hope that writing about their interests will improve their spelling.
We swapped the individual Bible studies for one we do together also.
My children have rarely met a history or science text they didn't like so those are fine. They enjoy the Seton readers as well. Seton's English is TOUGH but very good. We are plugging away, learning it together.
I do not care for the way Seton handles teaching early reading so i stuck with my tried and true Little Angels Readers.
I am wrapping up the work for the first quarter. I am very glad we enrolled this year.
__________________
God Bless,
Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
Our Magnum Opus
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Oct 19 2006 at 8:34pm | IP Logged
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kjohnson wrote:
We kept on task for about a month and then I began wanting to bang my head against a wall. The workload exhausted both me and my children (and I did none of the extra work in the lesson plans...just the bare minimum). I had planned to work hard through the morning and keep the afternoon free for fun learning, read-alouds and relaxation, but my kids were toast by lunch and we ended up in a near vegetative state for most of the afternoon .
After about 5 weeks of work, I contacted Seton, mailed back all of our lesson plans and tests and with no hassle, received a generous (though partial) refund. One thing I can say about Seton is that they are very helpful and honest and it was very easy to deal with them.
I don't want to discourage any one, but I want to share my experience. |
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In fear and panic over high school around the corner, and with a ds asking for something radically different, we enrolled this fall in three courses...Reading (a combination of reading comprehension and 4 book reports), Vocabulary (because this is required at the high school level through 10th grade), and English (grammar and paragraph writing).
My experience is much like the one above. We started out working hard and with a very positive attitude. We are now hitting that vegetative state.  I find myself more and more frustrated. Its not Seton's fault. They are sooooooooo helpful and kind on the phone and very easy to work with. Its just that their vision and goals are truly different than mine.
Keep in mind, especially if you are looking at this for high school, that this is not just a traditional education. Its meant to duplicate the best prep schools in the nation.
Ds and I are going to finish out the quarter and then re-evaluate, but I'm already looking into other options. I did get ds to admit, recently, that he wanted to try this because he likes that we swapped out thoughtful assignments (ie...narrations) for fill in the blank type reading comprehension.  I'm completely bugged by that. We both really dislike the book report process.
I will say that we are learning a lot from English 8 and I don't consider that time wasted. Its only a 2 quarter class and I think we will finish it out. I can't comment on the paragraph writing unit as I haven't even cracked the book.
If you really lean toward Real Learning, are used to using lots of literature, are easily bugged by too many workbooks, and intensely dislike studying and teaching toward the test, then I don't recommend full enrollment. Using a course or two might work well, as an alternative, as long as you are really ready for a workload that is heavier than many other excellent programs.
hope this helps!
__________________
Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: Oct 20 2006 at 1:44pm | IP Logged
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Bookswithtea wrote:
Its not Seton's fault. They are sooooooooo helpful and kind on the phone and very easy to work with. Its just that their vision and goals are truly different than mine.
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This sums it up for me. I am using it only for my 10th grader and there is a lot of banging heads against walls here!  I just don't share their vision. I went to a good Catholic college-prep high and certainly would not say that I have a good education.
I really, really wanted to be able to stay on track, but it is not our style. Even my son, who likes the check off the box variety of education, is bored to tears. He told me today that a friend at our co-op, who used to do Seton, told him that Seton just wants kids to fail. 
Now of course, we know that it isn't true. However, it is very demanding in a fill the bucket sort of way.
I think there are better alternatives to Seton if you are really drawn to Real Learning. CHC is one of course. Another, that I am looking at again but have never signed up for, is St Thomas Aquinas Academy. staa-homeschool.com
Their curriculum choices are quite Real Learning compatible. They don't offer quite the same level of structure as Seton. To me, that is not such a bad thing though, because I can't stick to the structure anyway.
__________________
In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Oct 20 2006 at 2:14pm | IP Logged
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In addition to STAA, Kolbe has two different diploma options that allow the parent complete freedom to choose materials, and NARS (a secular program) allows this as well. These are the two I've been researching.
Laura, which of your children were you considering enrolling?
The other thing I forgot to mention is that it really helps to look at a friend's Seton materials. Their catalogues and individual workbooks don't really showcase the full Seton program at all. I am still blown away by how fast the 8th grade English is moving (we are about 3-4 weeks behind, I think and we've been trying sooooooo hard to stay on track, too!).
__________________
Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Oct 20 2006 at 2:40pm | IP Logged
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We're enrolled with Mother of Divine Grace this year and I really love it. I am able to use alot of the Real Learning philosophy. There are tons of real books to read and narrate (it's actually required), we have plenty of time for nature study, copy work, etc. I even do Montessori work with my younger kids without a problem. Just another option!
Becky
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ALmom
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| Posted: Oct 20 2006 at 4:13pm | IP Logged
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Books:
What we did with English grammar with Seton (and it is one of my favorite things they offer) is to register for it but not every year. Ie, I did it in 6th grade with my now 8th grader (and the same thing with my now graduated highschooler). We did not feel tied to their pace and counted it for several years worth of English grammar. So English 6 was for 6th and 7th grade. So I think we finished it sometime at the end of 7th grade. Now we don't do any grammar (she is in 9th grade) but she is taking Latin and we review as needed - so far she hasn't needed any review. Anyways doing it at our pace and our way, neither of my children needed another grammar course again . I plan to do the same thing with my now 6th grade son - but I'll probably wait a few more years and just sign him up for whatever level - and then take as long as we need to actually get it.
Other years and times we do grammar in a different way.
Janet
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MarilynW
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| Posted: Oct 20 2006 at 5:46pm | IP Logged
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I enrolled my oldest (Grade 5)only in Seton this year - partly because I am still trying to discover my homeschooling style, partly because I spent too much time last year writing my unit studies and plans and researching material. Also - I am a little concerned about high school and how to get accredited etc - and I wanted to see how Seton was.
My impressions are thus so far:
Positives
- the folks at Seton are really really helpful - I am using my own Math, History and Science - and they have really accomodated me.
- they are really very efficient at communicating, answering questions etc
- Seton material is good solid Catholic material with nothing objectionable
- I use the online lesson plans, put my own subjects in and print them out. It is nice to have a base. I feel totally free to leave things out or add things. eg for some stuff there is just too much and we do only do some of them. The people at Seton encourage this.
- for History - Grade 5 is American History - we use the Furlong text as a base but add in living books, timeline and Blackline maps
- Seton's English is very tough but I think very thorough
- Seton's Reading is good eg for Grade 5 we are doing several Bethlehem books and Vision Saint biographies
My main concerns/negatives:
- I feel that most of the work is for her to do herself - she is very motivated and responsible - but I know she misses all the time we had together reading. Also I miss the CM thing of everyone learning together - she is much more interested in the work I am doing with her younger siblings and all the read alouds than she is in her own work! I miss all the cuddling up and reading books and doing crafts together - which there is not much time for with Seton. (We are really really looking forward to Advent where we do a 5 week break with lots of unit study/notebooking work)
- Seton is a lot like regular school - and I do not want my daughter to get the "cross everything off my list" mentality with little enjoyment
- maybe too many subjects - though in fairness the way we do them is shorter lessons - so they do not take much time.
- I have a worry about that quote from "The Latin Centered Curriculum" - Multum non Multa - are we covering too many subjects superficially?
I am still clueless about the high school question - not having gone to school or college in the US I feel a little lost with the whole credits system. Someone has pointed out NAHRS to me www.nahrs.com which may be a way to use a living books approach and still get accredited.
Marilyn
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Seton & Real Learning?
