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jawgee
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| Posted: June 23 2011 at 8:57pm | IP Logged
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I HS my oldest (who is 9) in Pre-K and did some reading/math/etc. Since then he's gone to public school. This will be our first year HS again with him. There were several reaons we chose to homeschool, but the "three Fs" were the big reasons - to incorporate faith, to grow closer as a family, and to have more flexibility.
My mother works at the local public middle school and brought over a bunch of books they are getting rid of (because they are buying newer editions). I looked through everything she sent and it includes every core subject (History, Grammar, Reading, Vocabulary, and Science), except Math (I've already ordered Saxon, anyway).
They are standard textbooks - the type that I always used in school. I'm inclined to use them, knowing that we will incorporate faith and prayer throughout the day in other ways. They are a tremendous cost savings, too. I could HS him on less than $100 with the few supplementals I want to order. What are your thoughts?
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Monica
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guitarnan
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| Posted: June 23 2011 at 9:17pm | IP Logged
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I love a good deal, so if I were you I would probably take them...
...and then start building out from what those books cover, incorporating living books and outdoor activities/science experiments. Age 9 is the perfect time to do a bunch of hands-on things - art, building things, nature study, maps - having "spine" textbooks is great, because you can just expand from there.
The only thing I'd suggest is to remember that you don't have to cover everything in every one of those books. (Math and religion excepted - with those subjects, I'd try to cover as much as possible, at your son's pace.) If he falls in love with the astronomy unit in the science book, hit the library and bring home books for him, print out coloring pages and project sheets, etc. You can cover the rest next year.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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SallyT
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| Posted: June 23 2011 at 10:21pm | IP Logged
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Ditto what Nancy said. I'd take the books and see what I could do with them -- the good thing about free books is that you can use them as much or as little as you like and not feel that you've wasted money if all you wound up using was a chapter here and there. And while I love CHC's beautiful Catholic materials, for instance, it's not absolutely necessary to do "Catholic grammar," "Catholic spelling," and so on. Those materials are a wonderful reinforcement, but some kids (like my almost-9yo son) don't respond positively to too much "Catholic stuff" in the schoolwork (my son's pretty devout in his own way, but sometimes these things just strike him as twee, or girly, or something), and while they're great and provide a wonderful immersion in a sense of a Catholic culture, there are other ways to do the same thing.
You can include faith-specific vocabulary in spelling lists, use prayers and other Catholic texts for copywork, and incorporate good Catholic literature to flesh out what's in the textbooks and, if needed, to provide a corrective point of view. Of course, most importantly, you're living your faith alongside your son, and that's the most powerful "text" of all.
Sally
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JennGM
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| Posted: June 24 2011 at 8:11am | IP Logged
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jawgee wrote:
| I'm inclined to use them, knowing that we will incorporate faith and prayer throughout the day in other ways. |
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Textbooks don't need to be Catholic for all subjects. If you are living and teaching the Faith, and then make sure there no error or slams against the Faith, then it's perfect. I think you have the perfect answer.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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kristinannie
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| Posted: June 24 2011 at 10:07am | IP Logged
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The great thing about homeschooling is that you can use whatever you feel will work best for your family! You can tweak the textbooks to fit your needs better. You can add in saint stories to history, etc. Honestly, I would just start out using them and see if you like it! If something doesn't work, you can always switch it later. Free materials truly are a blessing. Homeschooling is WAY more expensive than I anticipated!
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Karen T
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| Posted: June 27 2011 at 11:07am | IP Logged
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The main thing would be to read through the history book (and skim through the science) to be sure there isn't a lot of anti-Catholic bias there. Most secular books bend over backwards to either ignore Christianity or paint it as authoritarian prejudicial dogma, but if you're aware of it, it can also serve as good discussion points and you can always supplement with things like Catholic biographies and other materials to get a fuller picture.
I never turn down free books before at least trying to make them work 
karen
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jawgee
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| Posted: June 27 2011 at 3:54pm | IP Logged
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Karen T wrote:
The main thing would be to read through the history book (and skim through the science) to be sure there isn't a lot of anti-Catholic bias there. Most secular books bend over backwards to either ignore Christianity or paint it as authoritarian prejudicial dogma, but if you're aware of it, it can also serve as good discussion points and you can always supplement with things like Catholic biographies and other materials to get a fuller picture.
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Good point, thanks!
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
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RxLisa
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| Posted: June 28 2011 at 1:16pm | IP Logged
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jawgee wrote:
Karen T wrote:
The main thing would be to read through the history book (and skim through the science) to be sure there isn't a lot of anti-Catholic bias there. Most secular books bend over backwards to either ignore Christianity or paint it as authoritarian prejudicial dogma, but if you're aware of it, it can also serve as good discussion points and you can always supplement with things like Catholic biographies and other materials to get a fuller picture.
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Good point, thanks! |
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Yup! I was going to suggest the exact same thing. From my memory, there was a lot of anti-Catholic/Christian in my history classes in public school...
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: too "Un-Catholic"??
