All of us, actually.
I don’t doubt that you have already heard about Catholic Heritage Curricula. If you haven’t– and are looking for beautiful, faith-filled, gentle books–then you are in for such a treat.
I love CHC’s curriculum.
I love Seton’s, too, don’t get me wrong, (and as I’ve mentioned before, we’re enrolled with them), but I still like to supplement now and then with a book or a program from CHC. I’m not getting any younger, after all, and I firmly believe that teaching should be as fun (and fresh) for the teacher as it is for the students.
Here’s what we’re using this year with my kids:
- The First Communion prep. from their 2nd grade curriculum. I love the book they have the student make! So does Felicity. (Actually, I love the whole 2nd grade curriculum. I do what I can when I can–it’s all good and Felicity is so very sweet and eager.)
- The “My Temple of the Holy Spirit” anatomy program from their 4th grade curriculum. I see that they now have it offered as an individual book—how handy!
- The Joyful Mysteries of Life, a wonderful book that I am reading individually with my 12-year-old son;
- And Devotional Stories for Little Folks Too (see above photo) which I read once a week (or so) at the breakfast table. We did this last year, too, and my kids have come to really know and love all these characters.
So there you go, a free review.
Though if you send me money I can buy even more of their great products.
(Ha.)
Have you used CHC before? What books do you recommend?
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
*Photo by Jem Photography
I love the blogosphere because blog friends/mothers can point you in the direction of wonderful resources. I had never heard of the Joyful Mysteries of Life. I am thrilled! First chance I get, I am going to order it. My tween daughters are coming upon it and while I don't homeschool, I would prefer to share MY version of the facts of life with them as opposed to kids on the bus, public school teachers, etc. This is definitely going to be a help in that regard. Thank you, thank you.
We love CHC's grammar and spelling. That's probably not all we use, but those are staples.
Like you I use another curriculum, Mother of Divine Grace, but really enjoy many of CHC's offerings.
My Temple of the Holy Spirit is a great book. I have an individual copy from waaaaaaaayyyy back when before they did lesson plans. I am happy to learn that they have published it again as a stand-alone.
Their Language of God books are life savers for some of my kids especially my Aspie.
I think Joyful Mysteries of Life is an excellent book, much better tahn the Listen, Son and Mother's Little Helper books.
Catholic Stories from Science is a little known gem.
MOST of my curriculum comes from CHC, the math, spelling, grammar, etc. We simply love it and as a 2nd year homeschooler it has been great and 'easy' to get into.
We currently are reading the same devotional book as you do. I read it almost every day to both of my kids and then we answer the questions at the end.
Today's story was about Becca an Meg, making faces at each other….
At the end of the story my daughter asked "Are they homeschooled like us?" She just realized that children in the story were homeschooled. LOL
We only use one resource from CHC, but I really like it — the Language of God series.
I like the handwriting books. Over the years I've bought things here and there from CHC. They do nice work.
I love _A Year With God_. We used it last year for our book club (Catholic Traditions). I love the reproducibles and graphic novels at the end.
I LOVE the picture of Anthony looking on with you…
I started out with MODG, and got overwhelmed with all of the reading when my oldest wasn't a great reader yet…We switched to CHC curricula last year and love it. I LOVE the My Temple of the Holy Spirit program. The only thing I do differently is I use Singapore Math with my girls. This year I am teaching an Art and Science Class at our co-op for the 6-8 year olds, and we are using Behold and See as the foundation of the course. LOVE IT!
Pax Christi
I supplement quite a bit from CHC, too. Art, science & handwriting are resources we've used from CHC. Although, now they've re-written their handwriting, and I still prefer the Writing Can Help series. This year, I'm requiring my oldest to read The Virtue Tree from the Middle School Planner. I really enjoy their parent resources, too.
Well, I just have to say that I am overwhelmed!! I think that I have just decided, or am coming to the decision to homeschool starting with the next school year. The kids are in a great Catholic school, there are a lot of reasons why I want to do this – exposure to the other kids' values being a big one and many other reasons. I have started my research on homeschooling with Catholic Home Schooling by Mary Kay Clark, I think it's a fantastic book, but I have heard things about their curriculum not being great – and curriculums in general, taking too much time etc. Now I'm reading Easy Homeschooling Techniques by Lorraine Curry and she promotes a more Charlotte Mason approach. I have a couple of books by Maureen Whitmann, but just can't get past the fact that she condones reading of Harry Potter (gosh I HATE that guy) The short of it is that I am overwhelmed and very confused, I don't know which way to go. I thought doing a curriculum the first year would help me ease into this, AHHH anyone, everyone, please help!!
Feel free to email me – corimai@yahoo.com or leave me a message at my blog, or here – I'll be reading all the comments on this post for sure
Thanks!!
Hi, I love your blog. God Bless you and your family. Do you think that maybe you can write a post about SETON and how and why did you decide to use it for your family. I think Seton gets a lot of hostile reviews and I am looking into differnet providers right now. Thanks!!!
We use CHC for a large part of our curriculum. Easy as 1,2,3 science; their handwriting and spelling books for my 1st grader; their catechetics program for both.
LOVE Devotional Stories and also Rare Catholic Stories!!!
Oh, and Corinne –
I am a newbie… 🙂 but here's my two cents:
We do a more Charlotte Mason approach, but use CHC to help with some of those subjects that you need more structure for…. does that make sense?
I will email you.
We have used several different curricula through the years and have finally, last year rediscovered CHC. We love every part of it! Thier lesson plans are wonderful, their approach is so beautiful and we're having so much more fun!!!
I also love CHC, all of it!!! This is our 2nd year doing it all. Tried Seton, I found it too dry for us (me)
I do love Voyages in English though, and might have to order that again for Jedi We did it the last 2 years.(4th grade now though) as I'm not really liking just workbooks for English, I, as the teacher need more for teaching.
Margaret:
THANK YOU!!! The Joyful Mysteries of Life might just be the resource I have been searching for…I am ordering today.
Joy and Blessings,
Kelly in TX
Hi Margaret, I just ordered the devotional storybook, and I am looking forward to starting it with my children soon … I ordered the beginning handwriting and number books for my 4-year-old, and we are going to slowly work through them this year as a prep. for K. I like how they tie the Faith into the letters and numbers. So awesome! =) I looked though their catalog, and I wanted to order *everything* but I don't even homeschool! It all looks excellent. But I can't really order the stuff just for me, can I???
We use most of the CHC curriculum. My favorites have been the 2nd grade lessons, specifically their preparation for Holy Communion. Growing in Virtue of Jesus for the 7th grade lessons is my new favorite. We started Joyful Mysteries of Life last year with our eldest and it has been passed between moms as a must for their kids too.
We have the speller and language books and use them more for supplements but they are solid enough to be used solo. I have seen my niece's work for the High School of Your Dreams. It looks soooooooo awesome that more than likely we'll go the same route in 2 years.
Margaret, this is our first year homeschooling and with a baby coming in March, I didn't want anything complicated. So I am using the CHC kindergarten lesson planner and curriculum for my oldest, and some of the preschool ideas for the twins (they're 4). We all sit around the dining room table and they just love to have school. I have the 2 year old sit by me, and he has his own pencil box with regular pencils, colored pencils, an eraser, a little notebook, a glue stick, and his prized possession, scissors. He loves to sit there and cut paper or scribble or play with playdough. We are usually done in less than an hour, and then have time to read books, go outside, etc. I really like CHC so far, it is easy to plan and use.
Dear Margaret,
Hi! I'm a longtime reader of your blog. I have a question maybe you can help me with? I have four children. One is in Catholic high school, one is in my womb (haha), one is almost two, and the other one is three. I am interested in starting some kind of "little" homeschooling with my 3 yr old, just so when/if we really begin, it is not such a shock to my system. Also, it would be fun for him to learn with mom. I have a friend who is in the same position, and we are looking for things to do with our 3 yr olds. I really like what I've seen from CHC, but when I clicked on a sample of Little Stories For Little Folks, I was kind of shocked to see that they were already teaching word recognition. Am I missing something? I would love to use this book, but I'm afraid it may be too overwhelming..? Like I said, we aren't looking for anything too "schooly" because they are so young, but I just don't know what to expect or what to use. Any feedback, suggestions etc you may have would be SO appreciated!!!
Thanks!
ps I prayed for you all the time over the last few years..so glad you have a new little one to love! Peace, Heather
I am also a big fan of CHC and have been using it for several yars now. There is so much that I love: Catholic Stories From Science,the first grade character building cards, Devotional Stories, Holy Papers…just to name a few. But, my most favorite book of all would have to be The King of the Golden City. This is such a gem. And, if you go to http://www.saintphilomena.com you will find that you can order a cassette (no cd available) reading of it. It is just wonderful!
Thank you Margaret for your delightful blog!
God bless,
Kelli
I've really enjoyed reading the comments on this post, ladies. I will do my best to address some of your questions soon.
We're also hoping (praying?) to homeschool next year. My girls are currently enrolled in a very small Catholic school. We're happy there but for a few reasons, I think it is time for a change. I've looked at Seton and CHC. I think it would be helpful to have a curriculum at least for the first year. Thanks, Margaret, for the info and for sharing your experiences and opinions! 🙂
Margaret I just found the blog and I am thankful I did it! I have to ask you. I am planning on finishing the year homeschooling my 6th grader, but next year she will go to a catholic middle school. I am researching between many catholic curriculums and Seton looks good. But we are in October already. Do you think we will be able to catch up the subjects? I have been looking at the CHC as well. What is your advice? I thank you in advance!!