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Carole N.
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I am trying to decide which program to use. I am leaning toward Declaration Statesmanship. But I have also used MODG in the past for history, so I am also considering American Government using their curriculum.
Has anyone used either of these programs? Or is there something else that you would recommend? I hate making decisions. 
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 Carole ... in Wales
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Bookswithtea
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No suggestions, but I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say.
I heard that DS is harder than it sounds from the catalogue descriptions...
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Macmom
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"Declaration Statesmanship" is a GREAT course (looked at it, but haven't used it) .... and the authors are both instructors at Regina Coeli. I THINK one of them is teaching a summer class for RCA using the book. (Look under "Humanities" on the RCA website and choose "American Government.")
How cool is that, that the author of the book TEACHES your kids, and they get to discuss issues with him?
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Karen T
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I'd like to bump this up and see if there are more answers - I, too, am looking at doing Am. Govt for ds16 next year and would like opinions.
Another option is Sonlight's govt - I think it's core 400?
Karen T in Md
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mariB
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Bumping this up too! Our 12th grader will be doing AM. I notice a lot of courses are for one semester but I would like him to have two semesters of history so he ends up with 4 credits in history in high school. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
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vmalott
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How about the suggestions from Ambleside Online using primary sources? They are similar suggestions to what MODG uses.
Year Nine Government Readings
Year 10 Government Readings
DeToqueville's Democracy In America
Year 9, Term 2 History readings should also be looked at. I would think all these readings together would make for a challenging year-long course.
Here's another cool document to consider having the kids do for drill/memory work:
Quick Civics Lessons
Valerie
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Nina
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Anyone used The Story of the Constitution? It does a good job explaning the constitution.
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stefoodie
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DD-18 used Declaration Statesmanship and loved it (I think  ).
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LeeAnn
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I just picked up "The Birth of Freedom" from St. George Bookstore for $25. It's a DVD and study guide published by Acton Media. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but it looks really good. Maybe as a supplement? The chapters in the 48-page study guide are:
1. What is Freedom?
a. A Basic Definition
b. A Fuller Definition of Freedom
2. Freedom as Self-Rule
a. Slave or Free?
b. Free to Pursue Happiness
c. Freedom as Exerting One's Will
3. Foundations of Sand
a. Materialism: No Ground for Freedom
b. Relativism: No Ground for Freedom
c. Relativism versus Reality
4. The Judeo-Christian Grounds of Freedom
a. Core Identity
b. Judaism
c. Christianity
d. Freedom's Cost
5. Yes, but...
a. Doesn't the New Testament Condone Slavery?
b. Didn't Christians Keep Slaves?
c. Aren't Christians Hypocrites?
d. Didn't Christian Superstition Produce 'The Dark Ages'?
6. Freedom, Morality and Government
a. Balance of Power
b. The Morality of Politicians
c. Legislation and Morality
d. Governmental Restrictions on Individual Liberty
7. Freedom and Economic Progress
a. Economic Freedom
b. Safety Nets that Stifle
c. Helping the Poor Prosper
d. Ownership and Competition
e. Freedom to Create
8. Freedom and International Affairs
a. Rejecting 'Made in the Image of God'
b. Our Responsibilities
c. Europe and the Roots of Freedom
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ALmom
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I am in the process of writing plans for my two highschoolers - ds 15 and dd 17. They will both be using Declaration Statesmanship. I'm going a little ligther with it for my 9th grader, but this is just such a perfect course for us.
I love, love, love what I am seeing. The perfect thing is that the lesson plans are designed for a semester - but there are plenty of optional readings. This is perfect for me because I'm forever getting my own ideas and adding in other reading. I think adding on to a semester course will work a lot better for me than adding on to a year course and then having to decide what to leave out (ie what usually happens is that I think we can do it all and have to agonize after dh points out the overambitousness about what has to go as wonderful as it might be). I do want a full year credit as opposed to a semester so I am expanding this out to be an Amer. Govt and history course. We'll do a bit of reading from living books to give historical background as we go. I'll expect them to do all the research and some of the additional readings with the text - particularly comparing to the French Revolution. I am sure you could use any of the above mentioned sources to flesh this out a bit, though you could probably take what is there and do all the extras and have a year course.
But really, this course is quite deep - very insightful. I love it! Cannot say about the children yet since we'll be starting this in August.
Janet
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Carole N.
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Janet, I have also decided to go with Declaration Statesmanship. I haven't gotten my hands on my copy yet (hopefully it will be in the mail soon). I also plan to flesh it out with some living books. I was looking at Valerie's recommendations some of which I already have. I need to see the curriculum, however, before I can decide. But like you, I want to make it a year long course.
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Bookswithtea
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I have a question, for those of you who have this already. I am looking for a government program that also includes information on how government operates today, and how its has become the Leviathon that it is. I don't want to spend the entire 18 weeks talking about the founding father's intent.
Can anyone tell me if Declaration Statesmanship includes information on modern government or if its mostly a study of the founding roots?
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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stefoodie
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Oooh, I want what Books wants too. Not ready to do DS with 13-yo yet, but want to prepare.
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stef
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Bookswithtea
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http://www.sonlight.com/core-400.html
Sonlight advertises their year long gov't program as covering this well, but they also cover American Lit (I don't like some of their choices) and some very weird  bible choices (Rushdoony/North) that I suspect are not rooted in the Catholic Common Law tradition but are more rooted in protestant interpretations of OT Law.
Here's an Amazon link that describes the text SL uses.
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-American-Government-Clarence-Car son/dp/0786107960/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248129991& sr=1-4
If the MODG syllabus doesn't cover what I want to cover, I may consider using this text instead, but I don't know if its doable in an 18 week period. I'm not excited about spending an entire year studying gov't when we still have to cover Econ.
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Blessings,
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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mariB
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Thank you, Valerie. We are going with the choices from your links! It is more our style of learning. Again, thanks!
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mariB
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Also adding to the list Valerie recommends Pope Benedict XVI's papal encyclical "Caritas in Veritate" on teachings in Social Justice.
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Recommendations for American Government
