Author | |
Elizabeth Founder
Real Learning
Joined: Jan 20 2005 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 5595
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 10:25am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Sigh...
with my first high schooler, who wasn't really my own, I used straight Sonlight for three years of high school. It worked fine. He was working full time as a professional soccer player (sorry for the link--I can't tell the whole story right now). He did the work and I think that some of it has borne fruit several years later--he's becoming quite the team evangelist.
Michael was a voracious reader and we started with Sonlight cores and added and deleted. He liked being a part of of the adding/deleting process and he ended up with a sort "literature-based unschooled high school." He was also blessed to be a part of a great group of kids who studied literature and art together. Dante was a social event. Interestingly, he too, is a team evangelist.I think the Sonlight folks would be pleased.
Patrick hates being compared to Michael, even vaguely. He wants to own his own high school (which is a HUGE improvement over a few weeks ago when he didn't even want high school at all). He wants to do Core 300. I can see doing it but I'm going to want to pull enough of the Sonlight books to make room for Chesterton and Belloc and more CS Lewis, as well as 20th century saints and Witness to Hope...
CHC has some study guides. I have the Kolbe guides and then there are some at Hillside, too. I just need to pull it all together coherently. I thought about insisting he start with a lower core, but I think I'm going to go with the interest..
Now, what to do about Christian? I'm thinking Core 400, but he's got some learning glitches I need to keep working around...
__________________ Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Elizabeth Founder
Real Learning
Joined: Jan 20 2005 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 5595
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 12:41pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
ALmom wrote:
I don't do sonlight so I don't want to jump in on this thread (just lurking), but if someone wants more info about what is in Kolbe, I'm happy to provide. They are wrapping up the 11th and 12th grade re-writes now. |
|
|
Janet,
What books will Kolbe cover with guides in 11th and 12th grade?
__________________ Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
|
Back to Top |
|
|
stellamaris Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 26 2009 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 2732
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 1:16pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Elizabeth,
Yikes! I feel like I really discouraged you! I'm sure you have done a GREAT job with your children up to this point, so whatever you plan and however you plan it, it will work out fine. Sometimes it's as much about what the student puts into the work as it is about the work itself! Please don't let any of my comments cause you to change what has already been successful in your own home!
__________________ In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Elizabeth Founder
Real Learning
Joined: Jan 20 2005 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 5595
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 1:49pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
No, you didn't discourage me. I think I'm discouraged because I really want to open a teacher's manual and have it all laid out. I'm finding that with my two current teenagers, it's really helpful for someone other than me to be the authority. It's nice to say "Kolbe (or Sonlight) says you can read this many pages in this book today." It's also nice to have the synopses of each day's reading that Kolbe provides. But when I start to tweak, I lose that benefit...
__________________ Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Cay Gibson Forum All-Star
Joined: July 16 2005 Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline Posts: 5193
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 2:15pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Elizabeth wrote:
I'm finding that with my two current teenagers, it's really helpful for someone other than me to be the authority. It's nice to say "Kolbe (or Sonlight) says you can read this many pages in this book today." It's also nice to have the synopses of each day's reading that Kolbe provides. |
|
|
What about "Daddy says..."
I know what you mean though. That's one huge benefit of co-op and teenagers. All I have to speak are the names "Ms. Angela said...", "Ms. Marty said...", "Ms. Monica said..." ...and there is humble (even, instant) submission.
What I don't want to do, and what I find interferring with my discussion here, is make everyone think a co-op is the only ---or even best---way to educate a high schooler...because I know most hsers still don't have these offered and because I know some families can't *do* them, for all kinds of various reasons. And, unless you have a committed group w/ the same purpose, it won't work anyway.
So what do you do in the home...
Incentives?
Motivators?
Marks?
Prompts?
I don't have time right now to go into detail but does anyone have Laura Berquist's Teaching Tips and Techniques? Wonderful, wonderful, informative manual that addresses all kinds of questions...including high school concerns.
Quote:
This booklet (Teaching Tips and Techniques) is a collection of Laura Berquist's talks and articles. She has talks and articles covering each branch of the classical curriculum: Religion, Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, History, Latin, and the Fine Arts. She also has talks and articles that provide a general consideration of the classical curriculum covering why to homeschool, character formation, teaching toddlers and teens, homeschooling high school and many more.
|
|
|
I did get a spell yesterday to sit down w/ my SL catalog and was pleasantly surprised. Delighted. I'll explain why later.
Annie wants me to cut her a kiwi...
__________________ Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Bookswithtea Forum All-Star
Joined: July 07 2005
Online Status: Offline Posts: 2621
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 4:15pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the catalogue.
Incentives and motivators don't work well here, and neither did coops. Well, coop might have worked for the high schooler but it didn't work for me because of the number of interruptions to everyone else's school day.
Seems like what works best here is the motivation to just *be done* as soon as possible!
__________________ Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
|
Back to Top |
|
|
KackyK Forum All-Star
Joined: May 22 2007 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 1811
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 4:17pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
This may need a new thread too Cay, your question about how to motivate!
Other than the co-op teachers, which my dd has 3 of and yes she does like to perform well for them...we've participated with two other families this year where each child in their own home, at their own skill level and time, prepared a report on a country. Then we get together with the other two families, and the kids share them out loud. Dd works hard on those reports without much prodding since she knows she'll be "showing" her stuff.
Sorry...had nothing to do with SL!
__________________ KackyK
Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven
Beginning With the Assumption
|
Back to Top |
|
|
ALmom Forum All-Star
Joined: May 18 2005
Online Status: Offline Posts: 3299
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 8:44pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Elizabeth: Don't know how to highlight your question so just answering here about what books are in 11th and 12th Kolbe -
The Dream of the Rood (poem)
Beowulf
The Song of Roland
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Divine Comedy (been modified to cover Hell, and selections from the other two)
The Cantebury Tales
Richard III
Macbeth
The Tempest
Hamlet
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Paradise Lost
There are some lecture tapes that give background or intro to works for those of us moms who are not strong in this area. I purchased some stuff on Catholic elements in Shakespeare. I always loved the sound of the words in Shakespeare but have never read this for pleasure. I have Literature of Christendom Lecture Series and Notes (Lectures of Dr. White and Dr. Rao).
These are considered supplemental to Kolbe literature. We find them helpful and I like to listen to them even if my children don't (some love this others listen to what I may consider important enough for them to hear). I haven't listened to this particular one yet, but for me some of this is essential since I'm toast when it comes to more than discussing how a work touches me - ie any technical aspects. They give lots of historical background from a Catholic perspective.
They sell study guides to all of the books they assign in their lit and history plans.
In history they use Kolbe Era of Christendom Reader - 2 volume set. I was really excited about this but we have not gotten to it yet.
Also Byzantium Reader
Viking Portable Reader
Chronicles
Kolbe Academy Study Guide (4 volume set)
In history, our personal experience is that we love the exposure to primary sources but the works can end up being quite heavy and insufficient for giving a good overview of the period. We have relied on easier materials from all different grade levels in RChistory,MODG lists, anything we have that covers the time period - while getting exposure and picking one or two primary resources to read quickly and discuss without a lot of test taking or question answering. I generally pick one that we do 1 paper topic around since these really are so good. I have a hard time skipping paper topics for this reason - but I know we do have to prioritize and I'll have these plans forever and may actually go and do some of this myself as soon as dc graduate.
Honestly, I think the biggest help from Kolbe in history are their actual lesson plans which provide summaries of the historical events now plus intro to the works being read. Ie when you are reading primary works in history, you must know something about the events to detect biases etc. I find it useful for my children to read the Kolbe plans even when we are not using the works themselves. I do like them to read some of the primary sources (how much depends on their reading ability, interest, readiness for the analysis and background familiarity with the time period) in order to really do history. If they know that Gibbons had a certain bone, then they read Gibbons with that understanding. If they know someone is the official court reporter then that will help you discern what really happened. This is how historians do history. I do find considerable need for much lighter reading in history for my children to keep the events straight so we substitute most heavily in history.
The paper topics in their plans are superb!
The 11 th grade year covers through about 1600.
The 12 th grade I'm taking mostly from the most recent catelogue I have but I'll look and see if I've got anything else on hand. I know at one point, one of the Kolbe advisors sent me an e-mail in response to my question about basic time period breakdowns and assigned works so we could plan better. I'll look for that information. I know they are just now completing this rewrite so there may be some changes. I'll get back to you guys when I find the additional information I have somewhere. I know I'll be ordering those plans shortly.
True to form, we are just moving along and are somewhere in the middle of the 11th grade year (doing Roland right now). We do things our own way. I'm lurking with interest to see how things are dovetailed between sonlight (which I've never seen) and Kolbe if you do it.
The theology readings dovetail with some of the lit and history nicely in terms of time perid as they read Intro to the Devout Life and Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence and of course church documents along with their standard Laux theology course.
The 12th grade year emphasis is on Short Story and Poetry in the English and more modern works. For those unfamiliar with Kolbe - they have two seperate English courses each year - one is a standard English course with writing instruction, grammar (not concerted but incidental in the writing course), vocabulary and oral presentations (ie memory and recitation) The other course is the literature course that dovetails with the history. 11th grade English focuses on the research paper.
For the 12 th grade English course:
The catelogue lists Art of the Short Story - anthology with technical elements of the short story
Writer's Workshop
Works read as you study the technical aspects of short story and poetry are:
The Menagerie of Marsepink
A Treasury of Poems (anthology of English lang. poems)
The Wasteland, Prufrock, and Other Poems (TS Eliot)
The Literature for the Lit course -
A Tale of Two Cities
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Crime and Punishment
Brideshead Revisited
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
The Man Who Was Thursday
Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde
George Orwell 1984
Their History covers from about 1600 to present
The Modern Era History Reader is Kolbe published 2 volume set of historical documents (American and European)
Democracy in America
The Federalist Papers
Documentary History of the United States
Modern Times
I'm trying to figure out where I placed my summary of works being planned for 12th but I do think this covers most of them.
Oh, and Martha: The CDs (can be played on computer) are supplemental and probably useful most for parents who are not great literary folks or for some of my children who race on ahead and need the background. These are not things we do major testing on, though I guess we could practice notetaking skills. They are not the actual works themselves and though I've ordered some things for auditory listening this has been for really quick exposure to primary history sources where my intent is for them to just get the flavor - or with Shakespeare to actually watch a theatre production or play.
Caroline: Thank you immenssely for your post. I am not a confident English teacher and have bungled through with my first and beginning to see the end with my 2nd - and always wondering if we've done right by them. I was so affirmed by your description of the balance of works read to discuss issues and teach along those lines, those lighter works to provide background and context and the classics to dig into and learn to analyze. It seems that is what happens around here by the time dh has chopped my plans (I'm a try to do everything type). Your post gives me confidence that we are on the path and expressed so well the purpose of what we've ended up doing that we haven't always been as clear about as we should or even completely understood the whys - just that it worked. Thank you so much!
Oh, and to everyone who expressed that Kolbe is intense, and very, very heavy in the classical bent. I wholeheartedly agree. We have never ever attempted to do every single one of the major works. The heaviness is most felt in the history rather than the literature, imo and this is where we pull in much lighter works a lot and allow dc to simply skim read some things that I'd like them to be exposed to or excerpts.
I'm really looking. I have an upcoming 9th grader whose writing skills still need work. He is an avid reader and will be more than ready for Kolbe'r reading. He happens to be a big history fan so that should help. He has a better background than my others did in hisotry. I'm not sure how well we'll fare on the writing side. I'm also not sure how deep his reflections will be in 9th grade. Dd was a deep thinker and loved to write. Kolbe has been a very good fit for her. I'm going to be lurking on this site to see how it all comes together. I'll probably still be signed up for Kolbe for this child - just for the EES but I don't always hand in anything to them. Come to think of it, I don't think we've ever gotten our transcript from Kolbe though this will be the 3rd child in high school for whom we have signed up - so I don't send them quarterly samples or anything. I'm even doing a Seton grammar course with my middle schooler who is signed up for Kolbe. I am a maverick !
Oh and as for the mom who commented on the children not wanting to read slowly - don't worry. I will say that some of my children, their first reaction when they were going to be "questioned" or tested on material read, was to read it very, very slowly. We bogged down so much it was insane! I finally just told them to please just read it for the gist of things, we'd take the test (or do the study guide)to see exactly what was remembered and then use that as a jumping off point for things we might need to discuss. Or we simply dropped writing for a while except for a final paper. That was a tremendous help and I found my children settling and discovering their own style for retaining what they were reading. Most of my children are big picture learners and if they slow down, retention disappears. If they read it through for the big picture, they do much, much better. My one dd found that she liked doing the study guides after reading the book as that helped her. We noticed this with Hillside or with Kolbe - it doesn't matter except that if you bog down in Hillside books, it only takes a bit of time to get back on track. If you bog down in a Kolbe book, you can take the entire year reading one of those works and never getting to anything else. This might be fine if you were really doing an in depth analysis or discussion but not so good if all you managed was to read the book and got lost in the details and lost comprehension as a result. I had to specifically tell some of my children - don't worry about remembering everything, just read it quickly and then we'll talk about what you think of it. Once they saw that they could read it quickly and still understand and retain information, they were fine for the remainder - not quite sure why I just had to tell them to read quickly.
Janet
|
Back to Top |
|
|
stellamaris Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 26 2009 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 2732
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 9:00pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Janet, I was so happy to read that Kolbe now has a text that gives the pertinent historical events in order. That was a big drawback with their program when we used it last-no information at all about historical events, personages, etc. and the student was either supposed to glean all this from the primary sources or research. It was a real impediment at the time. I always liked their writing topics, so I may reconsider Kolbe for my younger crew. Also, a great book for your son the history buff might be Empires of the Sea, a really interesting book (from a secular perspective but very fairly done) about the Battle of Lepanto and its antecedents. Another fascinating book if he likes war (as my boys seem to!) is The Fifteen Decisive Battles in the History of the World. From one history buff to another!
__________________ In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Cay Gibson Forum All-Star
Joined: July 16 2005 Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline Posts: 5193
|
Posted: March 31 2009 at 9:01pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Bookswithtea wrote:
Well, coop might have worked for the high schooler but it didn't work for me because of the number of interruptions to everyone else's school day.
|
|
|
This is probably the #1 reason families in our group have given for having to drop out of co-op.
__________________ Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
|
Back to Top |
|
|
ALmom Forum All-Star
Joined: May 18 2005
Online Status: Offline Posts: 3299
|
Posted: April 01 2009 at 12:23am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Caroline: thanks, we'll look into the Empires of the Sea. We already have the other one.
And, yes, I know what you are talking about with the lack of sequencing of events. We had trouble with that with our oldest to do Kolbe and she was not a history fan so we really struggled. I almost didn't stay with them for my next child, but when they added EES, we just stuck with it and used what was useful to us and pulled from other things for the rest. When they are in revision, the biggest complaint I have is that they are terribly slow and behind schedule - another reason for us to weave in RChistory as we were always a bit ahead of the revisions. But now that most are revised that problems should be much less. I'm glad we did stay with Kolbe and each year they seem to add in more of the suggestions I have or my wish fors. I'm glad that the history has gotten better - much better. I still like a bit more continuity than Kolbe has, but I find myself doing more from their plans now than I did when oldest was in high school or even with 2nd dd first 2 years.
I've found with history, especially, I have to work at it from the angle of passion. Not many folks will be passionate about reading Herodotus as their main history reading for 1st quarter freshman year so while he is certainly a primary source and important to historians and I want my children to get the flavor of Greek history by reading him, still I know they will not learn much history reading Herodotus. We have to balance this heavy stuff out. I do not let them get bogged down with this. We do it quickly for the flavor. If they become historians, they can tackle it again.
Oldest dd likes some history now - music history and such. Next child came at it from a fascination with the airborne units and then family history (grandfather a WWII veteran under Patton and one of the Thunderbirds - not the air show ones). Ds came at it from fighter planes - he likes the German WWII equipment so he has read tons of memories written by Luftwaffe aces. He also likes military strategy and battles and read lots of those easy reading Emmanuel book American history books. Next ds hated history until we honed into his science interests. We eased in with some of the Holling books, followed by some history of technology and lots of projects. He is the one who'll make the shadruf kind of stuff. I think he got inspired to study the periodic table in great depth after reading about explosives of the Civil War. I like the politics and human interest and how it all connects and everybody else is so young they just absorb the debates and arguements at the table.
Oh, but I digress and this is about sonlight and weaving materials together for a Catholic version. I'll still be lurking.
Oh, edited to add, the Kolbe study guides do not have paper topics in them. Those are all in their lesson plans. The study guides are more question and answers. The best stuff is in the actual plans, but the study guide does have some questions about background of the work, and some of those technical things you are studying. The analysis is in the paper topics, imo.
One thing I don't know, if you did sign up for Kolbe, and didn't want other stuff, you might get all 4 years of plans in one year for a few subjects. I forget the exact number of plans you get, but I know I've gotten 10 th and 11th literature and history plans this year.
It might be worth talking to them about what you have in mind and seeing what would work without infringing on copyright.
Once you purchase them, the plans are yours for your own use so that is always helpful. I don't copy tests and stuff, but I have plans for just about every grade from 4th and above now. You have to be enrolled for EES service, but you can order the Kolbe published books and guides without being enrolled as well as anything else they sell in their catelogue except a few AK or TM where the publisher has placed restrictions on Kolbe. (I think you cannot get the TM for the middle school writing book unless enrolled - and this is a great guide for helping with writing). I think it is hard to get a feel for Kolbe by just looking at one or two subjects. One of the things I love is the crossover between disciplines. It is done so well that a paper topic one year will be about comparing something you read in another discipline or something you learned last year or .... You don't see this without seeing the plans for an entire grade level laid out.
The Jr and Elementary lit guides are sold seperately but cost - wise it is almost better to just enroll and use the plans you want without doing quarter reporting. You get these plans with your middle school or elementary school enrollment and then have the option to purchase EES if you need it. For some of mine, this has been a real motivator. I guess a lot depends on how helpful you'd think other plans were - I suspect you could probably ask for the Jr lit plans along with a high school enrollment as well. They have always been very flexible with me in terms of a couple of extra plans for the year.
Oh, and I know Books had trouble a year or two ago about getting credit for 8th grade high school level science. They have modified those policies now and there are certain Kolbe courses they will allow for high school credit even if they are taken in 8th - just so you know that they will now accept some 8th grade work as credit for high school, provided it is a high school level text or what not.
The real lesson in all of this what is useful or can I use from different providers type questions, is that it is always best to speak to the provider directly during the year you are planning to enroll or as you consider using some of their material to weave into sonlight. All of them are trying to be responsive to expressed needs and change things. I know most of you here have no desire to enroll with any provider but just want a good bit of lesson plans already laid out for you - with a good, Catholic flavor and living books. It might be worth asking to see what could be worked out or used and if there is a way to make it cost effective. I know they'd at least be willing to let you look at some sample plans. They are in the process of revamping the on-line stuff so some of that may still be old. That would give you more of an idea of whether it would work to weave as you speak. If anyone lives near me, I'm happy to let you come peruse my plans. Since I don't know sonlight, it is hard for me to know exactly which portions of my Kolbe stuff would be most beneficial. I'm trying to get a feel of what you are wanting. Are you just looking for lit to substitute where sonlight is not suited either due to level or protestant bias? Or are you looking for the reflections of a Catholic worldview in literature guides (ie Dr. Pearce and Catholicism in Shakespeare)? What is it in sonlight that you find especially good that you have not seen anywhere else? I guess since I'm totally ignorant on sonlight, I'm not quite sure if I'm just going way off topic or if it is something really helpful. Are you looking for project ideas to go along with the books? I know Kolbe does not have any kinds of hands on in literature.
Janet
|
Back to Top |
|
|
stellamaris Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 26 2009 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 2732
|
Posted: April 01 2009 at 6:45am | IP Logged
|
|
|
One of the difficult aspects of homeschooling over a LONG period of time is that the available materials just keep changing! This is why this forum is so great...it's almost impossible for one person to keep up with it all. Janet, thanks again for the info on Kolbe. Sonlight's appeal is in that "passion for history" you mentioned; they choose books that really engage the reader. You're so right, Herodotus (which we have used also) doesn't engage most students! Sonlight's drawback (for a lot of Catholics) is their very Protestant bias, although I'm excited to hear Cay's comments. And, I have to say, it was because of the Sonlight curriculum we used for one of my older children that I happened to read Catholicism and Fundamentalism, which was very instrumental in my conversion (ironic!). It's just a work out to substitute good Catholic books and edit the material to provide a Catholic worldview.
__________________ In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Erin Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 23 2005 Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 5814
|
Posted: April 01 2009 at 7:43pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Caroline
A dear Protestant friend and I have been discussing Sonlight as she is using Core 200 with her dd. She tells me she is finding some of it written from a Catholic worldview.
Anyhow a couple of other comments my friend has made that I thought interesting to share for those discerning. There is ALOT of reading involved, and they are finding it is taking ALOT of time, all the discussions needed, lots of discussions. Now my friend has two children, 14 and 4. But how would all of this work for me with 8 children? I am lucky to have time to check up on my dd these days big guilt, I'd love to have discussions but.. time coupled with a very private child makes this another ball to juggle.
And my thoughts, I've spent some time pondering and praying whether Sonlight is for us, still praying. One area I struggle with is the seemingly brevity, I was looking a Core 300 and to cover 20th Century World History seems quick to say have only 2 books on China. Maybe I am struggling with a different approach as we have always tended to go more indepth (lots of books on one time period), less breadth. Thoughts?
Caroline made some fantastic points that I have printed out and highlighted, in the other thread, heads up if you hadn't clicked over.
Thank you so much Caroline, I feel so much more empowered by what you shared. You have no idea.
__________________ Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Shari in NY Forum Pro
Joined: Nov 23 2005 Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline Posts: 358
|
Posted: April 02 2009 at 8:36am | IP Logged
|
|
|
stellamaris wrote:
And, I have to say, it was because of the Sonlight curriculum we used for one of my older children that I happened to read Catholicism and Fundamentalism, which was very instrumental in my conversion (ironic!). It's just a work out to substitute good Catholic books and edit the material to provide a Catholic worldview. |
|
|
For me it was Becoming Orthodox by Peter Gilquist and reading the copious notes John wrote in the Core 6 IG refuting the awful Bob Jones history text Sonlight was using at that time that tipped the scale to our converting! (Roman not Orthodox, by the way).
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Martha Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 25 2005 Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline Posts: 2291
|
Posted: April 02 2009 at 8:45am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Erin, you bring up very valid concerns that I share.
for me, I'm trying to find balance. I can't have those in depth discussions on every subject every day with every kid, but I can for 2 or 3. (Kolbe history, Religion, and to a lesser degree with kolbe science)
the problem for ME with using something like sonlight is the sheer amount of time involved in making it catholic and the pace of the program. Kolbe is pretty deep, but at least we won't feel rushed, like we're going thru history at warp speed.
finding that balance between my entire family needs and the individual children is always needing to be adjusted. some times daily! which makes using any program "as is" just as impossible as customizing everything. I have to have middle ground between those two things to keep my sanity and keep us on track.
__________________ Martha
mama to 7 boys & 4 girls
Yes, they're all ours!
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Elizabeth Founder
Real Learning
Joined: Jan 20 2005 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 5595
|
Posted: April 02 2009 at 9:00am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Of all the cores, I think Core 200 is the one that needs the most intensive parental involvement. I haven't found the other high school cores to need that kind of hand-holding. When we did Core 200, we were co-opping with a Protestant family. We all knew what we were in for, but it was ridiculously intense and I wouldn't do it that way again. I *would* do that core again (I tweaked quite a bit) and I hope to with Patrick. I wouldn't do it at 14. Fourteen is just so naturally argumentative and kids that age aren't really at peace with themselves. A program like 200 that obviously has such a huge impact on adults (look at Caroline and Shari just in this thread) is just too much for the teenagers I've known. If I do it again, I'll put it at the end, just before graduation. I don't think it's good confirmation prep. I don't see any reason to do it earlier than the late teens. A late teen brings more thoughtfulness and less argumentativeness to the conversations.
__________________ Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Bookswithtea Forum All-Star
Joined: July 07 2005
Online Status: Offline Posts: 2621
|
Posted: April 02 2009 at 9:52am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Shari in NY wrote:
For me it was Becoming Orthodox by Peter Gilquist and reading the copious notes John wrote in the Core 6 IG refuting the awful Bob Jones history text Sonlight was using at that time that tipped the scale to our converting! (Roman not Orthodox, by the way). |
|
|
I thought this book was great, too, but didn't he convert to Orthodoxy? I read a lot of both Orthodox and Roman materials when we were praying/researching. At one point, we seriously considered Orthodox.
__________________ Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Bookswithtea Forum All-Star
Joined: July 07 2005
Online Status: Offline Posts: 2621
|
Posted: April 02 2009 at 9:54am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Elizabeth wrote:
Of all the cores, I think Core 200 is the one that needs the most intensive parental involvement. ...If I do it again, I'll put it at the end, just before graduation. |
|
|
If you do this, what will you call it on a transcript?
__________________ Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Maria B. Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 16 2006 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 544
|
Posted: April 02 2009 at 2:59pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
ALmom wrote:
The 11 th grade year covers through about 1600.
The 12 th grade I'm taking mostly from the most recent catelogue I have but I'll look and see if I've got anything else on hand. I know at one point, one of the Kolbe advisors sent me an e-mail in response to my question about basic time period breakdowns and assigned works so we could plan better. I'll look for that information. I know they are just now completing this rewrite so there may be some changes. I'll get back to you guys when I find the additional information I have somewhere. I know I'll be ordering those plans shortly.
|
|
|
Janet:
Were you able to locate the information about basic time period breakdowns and assigned works?
Thanks so much!
__________________ Maria in VA
Proud Mom to 10 Great kids!
|
Back to Top |
|
|
Maria B. Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 16 2006 Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline Posts: 544
|
Posted: April 02 2009 at 4:36pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We used MODG Lit/Hist syllabi this year for 9th and 10th grade. It just was not enough and too dry for my girls. So, I am back to Sonlight. I used it for earlier grades and loved it. This discussion has been so interesting and informativie. Long story short, I am going to use Core 300 for my 10th grader. If anyone would like to share what they are going to supplement this with to make it Catholic (from Kolbe and MODG, etc.), I would love to see it. I also have a high schooler using the Civics/American Govt. from SL. Anyone else?
Thanks everybody for sharing your wisdom and experience. This is such a blessing!
__________________ Maria in VA
Proud Mom to 10 Great kids!
|
Back to Top |
|
|
|
|