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time4tea Forum All-Star
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 1:05pm | IP Logged
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I have been looking at the new CHC catalog, with an eye toward the upper elementary grades (4 and 6). I am very impressed with the changes I have seen in the depth and breadth of their curriculum, and am considering giving them another try for the coming school year. Has anyone here had any experience with their curriculum for these grades and if so, can you share your impressions?
Thanks in advance!
__________________ Blessings to you!
~Tea
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Becky Parker Forum All-Star
Joined: May 23 2005 Location: Michigan
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 1:25pm | IP Logged
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I've been thinking the same thing Tea. I'm looking at CHC for 5th next year. The newer science book looks especially nice. I don't have any experience to share yet, but I'm hoping you get some replies.
__________________ Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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time4tea Forum All-Star
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 1:42pm | IP Logged
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Hi Becky! Yes, the science books and the Catholic Textbook Project history books, plus the lesson plans broken out into individual grades (I didn't like the Middle Grades Lesson Plan Guide very much......). The new Language of God books look really good, too. I like quite a bit of it.
And I am looking to simplify next year. This year has been really, really hard (lots of outside stresses, not just school), and I think streamlining and simplifying will help me focus on essentials next year.
I am also very attracted to the Catholic content/emphasis of their materials. I find them to be a great encouragement to our family.
__________________ Blessings to you!
~Tea
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Becky Parker Forum All-Star
Joined: May 23 2005 Location: Michigan
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 3:19pm | IP Logged
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My friend has used CHC for several years. She showed me the history text and the Language of God books and that is what got me thinking CHC for next year. I too am trying to simplify. Add to that my ds's desire for workbooks and CHC is looking pretty good right now. I guess every year has it's flavor!
I was thinking the other day that I wish there was a CHC yahoo group. Not that I need another group to join, but I like to read what the folks that use the various programs are talking about to see if they would fit for us. I know you can ask for advice at the CHC site but in a group you get a much broader range of opinions.
I recently received the 2nd and 5th grade lesson plans that I ordered. I wasn't intending to go CHC all the way, just use the plans for a few things, but now I think it would work to just follow their plan. I'm not sure about geography in 5th though. I might have to add something, unless it is covered along with history.
__________________ Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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time4tea Forum All-Star
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 3:36pm | IP Logged
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Becky,
I used to belong to one on Yahoo!, but unsubbed because it was really more of a general group of Catholic homeschoolers, and many of the moms did not even seem to use many - or any - of the CHC materials. I recently re-subbed to the group because I was wondering about all of these new items, but found that the group was still just a general homeschooling group, not CHC-focused per se. I have been thinking about maybe starting a CHC Yahoo! group whose focus is more CHC-specific, but I am not sure. I already am feeling overwhelmed and don't know if I want to have one more thing to worry about!
__________________ Blessings to you!
~Tea
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Becky Parker Forum All-Star
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 3:40pm | IP Logged
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Well, I for one would join, but I know what you mean about adding one more thing to worry about! I know there are other moms on this forum that use CHC. Maybe they will chime in!
__________________ Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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SeaStar Forum Moderator
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 4:01pm | IP Logged
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I would be in for a CHC yahoo group. I use many of their materials and like them a lot. I feel very comfortable using CHC as my "spine" or springboard and adding things in here and there.
__________________ Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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AmandaV Forum All-Star
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 4:46pm | IP Logged
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Hopefully this fits - I am looking again and again at the 2nd grade plans and have two questions for anyone who has used them - should I wait for the new ones in June with daily Behold and See 2 plans? I'm not really sure I'll get Behold and See 2 as we'll be using Nebel's BFSU for science, but we could get it to read and not fill in. This leads me to my next question - my son is a voracious advanced reader at almost 7 and is racing through Little House books and anything else - he's at least reading at a 4th grade level. So I know I wouldn't use the reading lessons from Devotional Stories, Bigger stories, etc... We also use a different math program and I model my plans on Mater Amabilis for history, geography, etc. Is there enough else that is worth buying them for ?
Also, my daughter will be K, so we could probably "tour the continents" together as a side project.
And I'd join a chc yahoo group too - but I wonder if you have to have their permission?
__________________ Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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cathhsmom Forum Newbie
Joined: April 25 2011
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Posted: April 26 2011 at 5:00pm | IP Logged
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We use CHC too, pretty much as written in the lesson plans. I'm not one for extra projects as I have too much on my plate already.
I'd love a CHC group.
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BlessedWith3SNP Forum Rookie
Joined: Jan 17 2011 Location: Rhode Island
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Posted: May 14 2011 at 3:01am | IP Logged
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We're more CHC lovers here! The are our main curriculum. Pretty much our only curriculum and we love them. I would join a group if one was started.
__________________ ~Mary, wife to Kenneth and mom to Sean Michael (10/03), Noah Gabriel (11/05), Piper Arwen (10/08), Adam Raphael (4/14)
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jawgee Forum All-Star
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Posted: May 14 2011 at 2:38pm | IP Logged
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Ooooh, I would love a CHC Yahoo Group, too!
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mama2many Forum Pro
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Posted: May 17 2011 at 2:51pm | IP Logged
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I don't know if you are talking about this group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHCchat/
but there IS one, it is a lot of general Catholic homeschooling stuff... that I think is the "chat" part!!
__________________ Krystin
wife to Kevin
mama to
M (12/00)
J (12/01)
K (6/06)
J (7/08)
A (7/10)
C (11/12)
My Clones in Action
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time4tea Forum All-Star
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Posted: May 18 2011 at 6:36am | IP Logged
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mama2many wrote:
I don't know if you are talking about this group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHCchat/
but there IS one, it is a lot of general Catholic homeschooling stuff... that I think is the "chat" part!! |
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Yup, that's the one. Lots of general "chat", but very little that is really about CHC
__________________ Blessings to you!
~Tea
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time4tea Forum All-Star
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Posted: May 18 2011 at 6:45am | IP Logged
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Well, we're going to go ahead with CHC for next year! I will be making some changes for my older dd who has asked to continue with All About Spelling next year (she is a dyslexic and finds that AAS makes more sense to her than anything she has used before), and also wants to do the 6th grade section of Intermediate Language Lessons instead of the Writing Workshop I and II. Otherwise, we will be following the lesson plans for 6th, 4th and I bought the Pre-K/K plans for my dd who will be 4 in August. I owned the plans once before, years ago when they were first released and I needed them for another dc. I use the Pre-K/K plans basically as a planner, but they do have some nice ideas and activities that when you haven't taught Pre-K in a couple of years (and I haven't) you find you have forgotten about them. And my dc always loved the chore charts that are included.
How about the rest of you? Anyone else taking the plunge
__________________ Blessings to you!
~Tea
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SeaStar Forum Moderator
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Posted: May 18 2011 at 11:53am | IP Logged
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I placed a fairly large CHC order this week. Even though I don't use CHC solely, I do love so many of their products. My ds was so excited to hear that the Tin Cups book is on the way. He can't wait to cook bannocks over an open fire.
Also, ds came to me this week and asked if we could start back to school in July and then have that extra time off in October when the weather is so much nicer. Ummm.... OK! I have been trying to get him interested in doing this for two years now, but this change of heart was out of the blue. So now I am in a bit of a rush to get everything together for July...
__________________ Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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jawgee Forum All-Star
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Posted: May 18 2011 at 12:12pm | IP Logged
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SeaStar wrote:
I placed a fairly large CHC order this week. Even though I don't use CHC solely, I do love so many of their products. My ds was so excited to hear that the Tin Cups book is on the way. He can't wait to cook bannocks over an open fire.
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My 9YO can't WAIT for me to order that book.
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Becky Parker Forum All-Star
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Posted: May 18 2011 at 1:26pm | IP Logged
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time4tea wrote:
How about the rest of you? Anyone else taking the plunge |
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Yep! I've ordered and received the lesson plans for 2nd and 5th. I'm considering the Pre-K/K LP's too. Even if I don't use them much this year I'll have them for next. My dd in 7th is going to continue with MODG as that is a good fit for her.
I've been going through the lessons to see where I need to tweak things. My 2nd grader wont be up to par with the reading level expectations.
Regarding LSFLF, I have the very original version that was given to me years ago. I'm considering an upgrade, but I'm wondering if it has changed much. Anybody know? The original is written in a fairly small font and there is no workbook pages. I can't tell by the on line sample, but I'm really hoping the font is a bit larger.
__________________ Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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AmandaV Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 27 2009 Location: Texas
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Posted: May 18 2011 at 1:36pm | IP Logged
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I'm not sure the LSFLF workbook pages are worth re-buying. The font is still small, though not tiny, as it must be I guess for the size of the books? Some of ours have gotten lost or damaged and my son filled in the word families, so I've thought about buying for my daughter for practice. But as she is reading basic sight words and CVC words, and getting better fast, I'm not sure I can justify the purchase. I'm presenting my list to my husband as soon as I can finish it, which means I have to know next years plans!
Becky, how do you like the look of the 2nd grade plans? Do they seem to have much more detail for science? I keep thinking about buying for the FHC section, but I just don't know if its worth it. Help! Everyone says they are great, but the samples are almost nonexistent on the web site. However, I like to reference the plans, too. Any thoughts?
__________________ Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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time4tea Forum All-Star
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Posted: May 18 2011 at 2:11pm | IP Logged
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Amanda, have you checked out the virtual tour for 2nd grade? You can look at a larger range of samples in the tour and print out pages as well.
__________________ Blessings to you!
~Tea
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AmandaV Forum All-Star
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Posted: May 18 2011 at 2:47pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, I've looked at the tour - probably too many times. It is still the old plans, not the new version with Behold and See 2, and the page about the FHC supplement only has the table of contents. I know that should give me an idea, but I'd really like to see some of the pages.
Its hard to justify buying the whole curriculum if I can honestly say I'm only planning on using the supplement. Of course, I know there are good ideas and suggestions, especially for religion and I might even use the geography. Thanks, again.
__________________ Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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