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~Rachel~
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| Posted: Feb 07 2008 at 9:40am | IP Logged
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OK I am not sure whether this would go here, in the Domestic Church or in Literature... so moderator-powers-that-be feel free to relocate if necessary 
I was wondering if anyone had a Catholic alternative to Trial and Triumph by Richard M. Hannula (the Ambleside Online recommendation for Church History)?
From what I understand, this is just NOT very Catholic friendly, and I have searched and searched online for suggestions for alternatives.
I came up with Our Island Saints by Amy Steedman as one suggestion. There is also the Mater Amabilis, Our Lady's Dowry for that too.
I also read that it is basically just small Christian biographies, although I believe there is a little more to it than just that.
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Preferably cheap ones!
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JSchaaf
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| Posted: Feb 07 2008 at 2:21pm | IP Logged
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Tapestry of Grace recommends Trial and Triumph as well. I'll be watching for suggestions to replace it!
Jennifer
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Lori B
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We use Ambleside and substitute Our Island Saints.
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Martha in VA
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We are in Year 2 of TOG. We used T & T sparingly and I filled the gaps with lots of saints books and also The Treasury of Saints & Martyrs and Heroes of God's Church
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sailormom
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I bought Trial and Triumph years ago before realizing it wasn't suitable. So I ditched it and used Heroes of God's Church by Neumann Press.
T&T really is just little Christian biographies ordered chronologically, as I recall. There isn't much more to it than that, with the obvious element of highlighting the Christian values in the person's life. The first part of the book (up until the Reformation) includes some Catholic saints, but after the Reformation, it's essentially useless.
I think any good book about the saints would stand well in it's place. :) I didn't find T&T all that essential to the rest of AO.
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Willa
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I've used Heroes of God's Church for this and also sometimes read from Our Island Saints.
With my older kids, when they were young, I also sometimes used this saint a day site by the Daughter's of St Paul -- online and fairly simple and short, arranged by the liturgical year.
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Macmom
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Just FYI:
"Our Island Saints" is available to purchase OR to read for free online at:
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=steedman&book=i sland&story=_contents
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| Posted: Feb 11 2008 at 7:40am | IP Logged
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Having researched this title for use in TOG, I found the Table of Contents online at both Amazon and Christianbook.com.
As Sharon stated, up until the Reformation, it is mostly biographies of some Catholic saints. You can check the TOC online to see which ones you may want to highlight. There are six non-saint bios in the first 18 chapters: three who were instrumental to the spread of Christianity (Constantine, Charlemagne, Alfred the Great) and three who were instrumental to the start of the Reformation (Peter Waldo, John Wycliff, John Huss). The rest of the book looks to be about Protestant heroes.
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| I also read that it is basically just small Christian biographies, although I believe there is a little more to it than just that. |
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From what some folks on the TOG-Catholic list have said, there is more to it than just bios...apparently there is a distinct anti-Catholic flavor to the bios. That opinion is enough for me to use an alternative resource.
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~Rachel~
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So for the most part, we can use the Saint Bios to replace all the pre-reformation stuff.
I imagine we can use Saint bios to replace the post reformation biographies quite well... BUT what about the 'church history' aspect of it? Would the biographies of Catholic saints and heroes reflect that too?
Most of the bios I read are about the person and not their affect on the Church. Are there bios that reflect that too? Or is that where books like The Catholic Faith comes to the Americas come in?
For those interested, I linked all books below
Heroes of God's Church
A Treasury of Saints and Martyrs
Our Island Saints
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Martha in VA
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Yes, exactly. I have a whole stack of books acquired from Seton, CHC, and other places that I use to help my kids make the connections. The saints bios alone felt disjointed. I wanted all of us to get the big picture. I don't have time to post the titles now but will do so later this evening.
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~Rachel~
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Great... Thanks Martha, I'd appreciate that
And now we have a nice topic in the files to cover all this  (I spent ages searching for the info )
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Martha in VA
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OK, Rachel, here's what I do. Since I also have UG (actually bordering on Dialectic) not all of this will apply but hopefully it will help you understand what has worked for us. Also, I'm not sure what year you are considering and that will make a difference too. For the Ancients, I did very little tweaking. This year (Year 2) has been a very different experience.
Remember, your kids are young enough that no matter what you use, they will only get a very limited view of the "big picture". They just aren't ready yet. They're still in the "just the facts maam" phase. Therefore, saints bios may serve you just fine. Mine girls are old enough that I want them to start connecting the dots. If you agree with what's in the Teacher's Notes then that's your resource for helping them connect the dots once they've done their reading. (In Year 1, BTW, the Teacher's Notes served me beautifully.)
This year, I've had to not only substitute some of their reading assignments, but I've also had to go to alternative resources for ME so I can help them make connections. So each week, I look at the "threads" for that week and use those as my learning objectives for the week. With those in mind, I first see which of the TOG book selections will work. Then, I begin perusing my own shelves for resources that are better suited for our family.
For my kids I've used:
American History for Young Catholics - technically for first grade but helpful for all LG and some UG
Catholic World Culture - technically a seventh grade text, but again, helpful for us this year
The Catholic Faith Comes to the Americas
The Catholic Faith Comes to the New World
All Ye Lands - great Dialectic spine
From Sea to Shining Sea - another Dialectic spine
And assorted saints books, bios, etc.
For me I use:
A Catechism of Church History
Christ the King, Lord of History
The Old World and America
Our Pioneers and Patriots
The Story of the Church
Christ and the Americas
This website is also great -
Catholic Church History
I hope this isn't too overwhelming. One of the most exciting things I do is teach our kids about the Catholic Church. We have always done history chronologically on a four year cycle. The first time through, I learned how much I don't know about church history and I decided it was time to learn..I was determined to present my kids with a more accurate picture than I ever had. And that's what finally landed me in the Church. 
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~Rachel~
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Quote:
| We have always done history chronologically on a four year cycle. The first time through, I learned how much I don't know about church history and I decided it was time to learn..I was determined to present my kids with a more accurate picture than I ever had. And that's what finally landed me in the Church |
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What a great story Martha
Thank you so much for the resources, I will be looking at them in more depth
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Trial and Triumph Alternative?
