ASSOCIATION CHARTER -- STEERING COMMITTEE -- CONTACT US -- CATHOLIC HOMESCHOOL CONFERENCE
by Evann Duplantier
One of the curriculum choices I am most pleased with is my high school religion program. The Catholicism Series, co-authored by James J. Drummey, Msgr. Paul J. Hayes, and Fr. Edward Hayes, is an excellent four-volume Catechism program, ideal for homeschooled high school students. Written in a straight forward journalistic style, this series presents the fundamental structure and reasoning underlying our faith and reaffirms the convictions by which we, as Catholics, should live.
Catholicism and Reason – The Creed and Apologetics offers a systematic examination of the Creed that will prepare your student to be a knowledgeable and articulate defender of the faith.
Catholicism and Life – Commandments and Sacraments discusses the moral code handed down to us in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount and touches on moral dilemmas facing individuals today.
Catholicism and Society – Marriage, Family, and Social Law offers insights and advice on the role of marriage and family in building a good and just society and how to combat the anti-family evils of contraception, abortion, and euthanasia.
Catholicism and Ethics – A Medical/Moral Handbook sets forth guidelines for arriving at sound ethical and moral decisions, including forming a correct conscience, and applies these guidelines to vital health-care issues such as artificial insemination, cloning, test-tube babies, and so on.
Each book is thoughtfully divided to provide a full-year course. The companion teacher’s manuals summarize the purpose of each chapter, and include tips, topics for discussion, questions and answers, and references for further study.
Constant reference is made to statements of Vatican II Council, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and recent papal statements, bringing to our modern youth the unchanging teachings of Christ and his Church. The series consistently displays fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church, and solid doctrine underlies every line.
For me, one appealing aspect of this series is its handling of “real world” topics like honesty, sexual ethics, and birth control. These touchy (and sometimes avoided) topics are handled with great respect and modesty. Exposure to this type of subject matter will prove invaluable to our homeschool highschoolers, who are so close to entering college and/or the “real” world. Catholic homeschoolers must never forget that most of the population is neither homeschooled nor Catholic. We owe our children this faith-filled preparation.
Catholicism Series is available from C.R. Publications, 345 Prospect St., Norwood MA 02062 or www.crpublications.com.Vol. 1-4 - $9.95 each, Teacher’s Manuals - $4.95 each, plus shipping.
by Laurie Gill
Probably one of the most common questions I am asked about Catholic homeschooling curricula concerns preschool. I never knew of anything worth recommending, in part because we did not emphasize preschool in my home. However, one summer I began to feel that my little ones were not getting as much attention as they needed, so I purchased a Little Saints Preschool curriculum at a conference. I used it last year with my three and five-year old sons and this year I am repeating it with my sons ages two and four.
Little Saints Preschool is arranged into 40 weeks of lessons, roughly correlated to the natural and liturgical calendar. Each week has a theme and three days’ worth of lessons including music, poetry, story books, a Scripture verse, circle games and rhymes, learning games, and art projects. Patterns are included for the games and projects.
The biggest drawback of the program is that preparing takes lots and lots of time. I spent months in the summer of 1999 making the learning games and preparing the art projects. And even with all that work done, there is still a lot of gathering up to be done for each week’s work. I started by putting everything that would be needed all year in a huge Rubbermaid tub. Every weekend, I fish through the tub to find the materials for the coming week, which I store in a smaller container.
The children have loved it, and they are so proud to show their father what they have done. I highly recommend this program.
Little Saints Preschool by Cynthia Blum, P.O. Box 19356, Asheville, NC 28805.
by Laurie Gill
Although we have chosen a high school biology textbook written from a Christian perspective (Apologia Biology), I was not happy with the book’s treatment of creationism. I wanted to be sure that subject was taught from the dimension of the fullness of the Catholic faith. Several resources have helped me very much in this. First, Kolbe Academy publishes a helpful study guide for Humani Generis, the relevant encyclical letter, written by Pope Pius XII. This pamphlet is aimed at producing an understanding of the text of the encyclical, and thus it is a very helpful starting point. Along with The Catechism of the Catholic Church (279-354), and the Holy Father’s 1996 Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, you can get a very good picture of exactly where the Church stands on creation.
But the resource we have enjoyed most is a booklet published by a South Dakota Catholic homeschooler, Mary Daly, called Creator and Creation. Mrs. Daly lays out the two common errors one encounters on this topic: Evolutionism, which contorts the evidence to deny the existence of the Creator, and Creationism, which contorts the evidence to fit a particular and very narrow interpretation of the Scriptures. I think it is important that our children be educated about the problems with both of those errors.
Creator and Creation gives a very clear explanation of Church teaching on this topic, the teaching of Scripture, the scientific and philosophical issues. The arguments are stated clearly, with loving reverence toward our Father and Creator and toward His Holy Church. Above all, Mary Daly communicates a calm confidence that truth is one, and there can be no fundamental conflict between the discoveries of science and the truths of the Faith. She includes a helpful bibliography and the full text of the Holy Father’s 1996 address to the Pontifical Academy.
When my daughter finished reading this book, she said, “This is exactly what I be-lieve and now I can put it into words.” There is no better expression of my goals as a teacher than that my child finish every course both understanding and em-bracing the teachings of the Catholic Church as they pertain to that topic and to life.
Creator and Creation, by Mary O. Daly, is available from Ye Hedge School, 24934 478 Ave., Garretson, SD 57030. $12 plus $3 shipping and handling.
Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4
