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time4tea
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| Posted: May 28 2006 at 1:57pm | IP Logged
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Hi!
For those of you who use/have used CHC, can you tell me what you think its strengths and weaknesses are? I have tried CHC before with some of my dc, but I found that my dc finished up the work very fast and just were not challenged. I had to do so much supplementing and extra planning, it didn't seem worth it to have even bought their lesson plans in the first place. Right now, our finances are really tight, so I am looking ahead to the new school year trying to figure out how to save money on expenses while at the same time, I would like to have some type of lesson plans, especially for those days when I need something to get me started, so I am am taking a second look at CHC. Thanks in advance for your replies!
Blessings to you all!
~Tea
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Dawnie
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| Posted: May 28 2006 at 3:38pm | IP Logged
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time4tea wrote:
| I have tried CHC before with some of my dc, but I found that my dc finished up the work very fast and just were not challenged. |
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For us, this is one of the strengths of CHC. The kids can do their work w/o getting overwhelmed. That leaves more time for hands-on projects, nature study, art, music, reading out loud, whatever! I love CHC b/c I can feel confident that I'm covering what I need to cover and still have enough time to do the fun stuff w/ my kids.
time4tea wrote:
Right now, our finances are really tight, so I am looking ahead to the new school year trying to figure out how to save money on expenses while at the same time, I would like to have some type of lesson plans, especially for those days when I need something to get me started, so I am am taking a second look at CHC.
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We use the library A LOT. For me, it doesn't take a lot of time b/c we have such a great system here. The catalog is online and I can reserve books from home. I was surprised at how many resources were available. There are tons of classical music CDs (music appreciation), art prints in a vertical file (art appreciation), lots and lots of children's books (read alouds), and even some curriculum. We could exclusively use the library for homeschooling and not buy anything if we absolutely had to. The librarians here are VERY friendly to homeschoolers and are eager to help me find any resource I need. I know not everyone has a great public library system, but if you do, it can be a treasure trove!
Dawn
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Mom to Mary Beth (99), Anna (02), Lucia (04), Clara (06), and Adelaide Victoria (2/28/09)
Visit my blog!Water Into Wine:Vino Per Tutto!
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rose gardens
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| Posted: June 03 2006 at 11:30pm | IP Logged
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I agree with Dawn about CHC's stregths.
Tea, it sounds like you may want lesson plans, but one of the things I enjoy about CHC is that much of their material does't require much lesson planning. For instance, my 12 year old knows that mom assigned him to practice handwriting everyday from his book. The spellers fall into place easily too with the first page of the lesson on Monday, the second page on Tuesday, I ask them to write out the words on Wednesday and give a practice test Thursday and re-test on Friday if they didn't get 100% on Thursday. That doesn't take a lot of my time to plan the lesson, nor do I need to purchase their lesson plans to use those workbooks. I also like that they don't usually require a teacher's manual.
I began using CHC before they offered lesson plans. I bought a couple of their lesson plans, but didn't follow them strictly and I decided to forego purchasing them this next year. Some of the supplemental material their lesson planners is great, such as the first grade manners cards, but you can use their books apart from the lesson plan.
I just recently placed an order with them for next year. We will use their grammar, reading comprehension, handwriting, speller and catechism. We prefer to use "living books" for history and non-text books for science. (Their easy use books that I do buy from allows us more time in those areas where we enjoy more creative approaches to learning.) We also like a different math than what CHC carries. I switched my 12 year old from their spellers (which I love for the Catholic content in addition to ease of use) to Wordly Wise last year just to try something different.
That brings me to my favorite thing about CHC: their books are solidly Catholic. They integrate our faith into some of the spelling and grammar lessons and handwriting practice includes Bible verses and prayers.
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ALmom
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| Posted: June 04 2006 at 2:08am | IP Logged
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Ditto what has been said above so far.
For us the biggest strengths of CHC have been:
quick and easy to use so the dc cover the base quickly and have time to pursue their own interests in a more unschooling way without mom hyperventilating about what we might not be covering adequately. It also allows them to move at their own pace. They are also not so packed full of stuff that dc and I are afraid to go on tangents for fear of getting too far behind.
solid Catholic content. It is one set of books I know I can hand to dc and not worry about having to explain certain problem areas and what they are reading while practicing grammar or some other more mundane subject is worthwhile in and of itself.
the plans are so flexible that we add in or change as we go and dc simply check off or date what they have done right on the lesson plan so I have an easy record of what they actually did on some of my crazier days. Since this is all in a notebook, it also means I can tuck in pages of completed work and without any sweat I have an organized presentation of our work sufficient to satisfy in potential challenges to our schooling.
I love the hands on supplements and would order their lesson plans just for the ease of use of those. I am totally non crafty and this insures that dc get a bit of hands on, craft time activities to reinforce the lessons. I love that this is already ready to go - just cut out, color, glue, etc.
The main disadvantages I have seen are:
I've never liked the math they used in elementary and when dc are older I need more specific plans with a bit more of a challenge to them. In early grades we simply substitute our own choice of math. In later grades - somewhere around 5th grade, we utilize ideas in the middle school plans but basically use something else as the base and add in what we want to do from CHC.
Sometimes we forget to use some of our favorite materials because dc move so quickly through some things like the workbooks that they are often on many different days for different subjects in the lesson plans.
It does assume a certain amount of interaction between parent and child (perhaps this really is an advantage as it really is the best way) but sometimes it can seem teacher intensive (not with the workbooks but with the really valuable religion supplements, memory gems, character building cards, etc. that are, imho, the most valuable part of CHC). I guess sometimes I find myself needing something to cover for my inability to work with 6 dc around the clock and once the workbooks are done (which most of mine finish in quick order), then everything else involves mom. Then as I begin to frazzle and feel like it isn't quite helpful, I realize that this time is really what dc need and then I am grateful for CHC and that it does strike a balance of keeping me involved with their learning while providing a number of things for dc to do on their own to help on days mom cannot discuss - and to provide a sense of what still needs work.
I hope this helps some!
Janet
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: CHC strengths and weaknesses
