so Seton HomeSchool is GREAT

[OLAM Dad]

There have been lots and lots of absurd statements made in this thread, too many to address individually. Besides, I believe they were made by non-homeschoolers so I'll just discount them as uninformed comments.

Anybody who says that the Baltimore Catechism doesn't teach kids about Jesus needs to look at it again. Blaming the Baltimore Catechism for poorly catechised children is like blaming the Bible for the reformation.

My wife and I have been using Seton for many years. It is a very fine program, albeit hard. My high schoolers are learning more English and writing more that I ever did in college. This is good!

On the down side, it is very difficult and time consuming. We are not the most disciplined homeschoolers in the world but we manage to mostly get through each year, every year. We did this with 6 kids all enrolled at Seton. They provide you with very detailed syllabi but you are free to use or not use them as you wish. As a former military guy, if I were the primary educator, I would use them more faithfully. My wife chooses not to use them at all. To each their own...

We now have 5 kids in Seton (no, my oldest DIDN'T rebel against religion because too much Catholicism was being shoved down her throat. She graduated). We are considering taking our next oldest (Ora et Labora) out of Seton because she wants to get involved in other schooling activities that Seton just doesn't give her the time to do.

In the past few years Seton has really beefed up their web site. You can now either take all the tests online or upload them. Same thing goes for the writing assignments. In the past you had to mail the work in. Now that is not necessary. It's a real time saver.

homeschoolmom, we were without a formal program like you for many years. If we were not with Seton we would probably do it your way again. Congrats to you for your fidelity!

Edited June 10, 2006 by OLAM Dad

[phatcatholic]

i don't understand how the "homeschoolmom way" works? do you just pick your own books to use and assignments that you are going to give? that seems crazy hard.......but then again, i'm speaking as someone who has no experience w/ this whatsoever. i just need to know what to expect when i finally get into something like this.

[OLAM Dad]

[quote name='phatcatholic' post='1002688' date='Jun 10 2006, 06:06 PM']
i don't understand how the "homeschoolmom way" works? do you just pick your own books to use and assignments that you are going to give? that seems crazy hard.......but then again, i'm speaking as someone who has no experience w/ this whatsoever. i just need to know what to expect when i finally get into something like this.
[/quote]
It's really not so hard. You pick books that are at the right level for your student and you work in that book for that school year. You do this for each subject. Usually you will pick a series of books that you like for a subject. For example, the Saxon books are very popular for math. You work one book one year and then move on to the next book the following year. Simple!

[kateri05]

ah homeschooling

socal is having a conference in 2 weeks... if only i had children or even potentially had children to justify going :

[quote name='OLAM Dad' post='1002619' date='Jun 10 2006, 01:45 PM']
Anybody who says that the Baltimore Catechism doesn't teach kids about Jesus needs to look at it again. Blaming the Baltimore Catechism for poorly catechised children is like blaming the Bible for the reformation.
[/quote]




OLMDad you're my hero

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='OLAM Dad' post='1002745' date='Jun 10 2006, 09:03 PM']
It's really not so hard. You pick books that are at the right level for your student and you work in that book for that school year. You do this for each subject. Usually you will pick a series of books that you like for a subject. For example, the Saxon books are very popular for math. You work one book one year and then move on to the next book the following year. Simple!
[/quote]
but how do u know which ones to pick? wouldn't u have to go thru each one of them?

[homeschoolmom]

I'm not sure if I'm delighted to have a certain style of homeschooling known as "The Homeschoolmom Way" or not. And I'm not sure how much more I want to contribute to this thread. HSing is sort of a way of life for us and explaining our way of life in a public phorum only to have someone (not anyone yet, mind you) go off on its wrongness would probably tick me off pretty badly... I tend to hold my personal cards kinda close...

I love putting our curriculum together-- my friends think I'm kinda weird.

Something I try to keep in mind about picking/switching curriculum: If I pick something and it doesn't seem to be working, if I've given it a good try, but it doesn't seem to be a good fit for my kid I can always try something else. I think, "If he were in school, he would have to stick it out with the same curriculum no matter what. Isn't it nice that I can find something better that will help him?" Homeschool curriculum has great resale value.

[Theoketos]

To Home school Mom and the rest of Home Schoolers and Home Schooling in General I mean no harm. Infact, Homeschooling is a way of life, and can be a very good one at that. I do however have a real problem with the way the Seaton Method has been actualized, and I will explain again, but first I have to say that I had HIGH hopes after my intial reaction in seeing a table of Seaton stuff just like Kateri did.

OLAM, I have a tremendous amount of respect for you and the way you conduct yourself, at least in my limited experience filtered through the internet. However I became a little furstrated when you said the following:


[quote name='OLAM Dad' post='1002619' date='Jun 10 2006, 03:45 PM']
There have been lots and lots of absurd statements made in this thread, too many to address individually. Besides, I believe they were made by non-homeschoolers so I'll just discount them as uninformed comments.

Anybody who says that the Baltimore Catechism doesn't teach kids about Jesus needs to look at it again. Blaming the Baltimore Catechism for poorly catechised children is like blaming the Bible for the reformation.

My wife and I have been using Seton for many years. It is a very fine program, albeit hard. My high schoolers are learning more English and writing more that I ever did in college. This is good! [/quote]


1. I have used the method. I have been in some form of Catholic Education for Seven Years. I have formal training in many educationial methods. My wife and I have discussed this many times and my opinions are furthered by her assesment of the program. She actually have three degress one being in Education, as well taught a student (also as a private tutor) using the Seaton Method. It is no coincidence that we share the same opinion about it. (Now I will grant you we were limited to the English, Math, and Theology sections. Those sections however were really disappointing, as we caught four serious gramattical errors per quater.)

2. I, at least, never claimed that the Baltimore Catechism does not effectively teaching youth about Jesus Christ. In fact I even further agree with the observation about the Bible and the reformation. However, the fact still remains that this assertion with in this debate is a fallacy, or at the very least a shift of the subject.

More later, maybe. Peace be with you.

[Maria]

We were homeschooled off and on, with advantages and disadvantages. What can I say? Well, don't go into take the children out of school and drop them back into homeschooling, without having a clear idea of what you're doing for high-school, considering that you'll be spending most of your time dealing with the little kids.
Saxon is great, but it is a little long. Especially if your children aren't struggling in math, maybe you could let them off doing all the questions.
I didn't finish the grade 10 Seton English. I was too far behind, and then I was depressed about it, so I avoided it, etc.
For religion we did stuff with the baltimore catechism, and in high school with the Fr. Laux books.
We had the A Beka books for science, and they weren't the best.
With the little ones, my mom used Mother of Divine Grace stuff for English, along with some Seton books we had somehow acquired.

Basically, my mom was busy with the little ones, so we were left to our books. As well, the school board was making a lot of red tape, and my mom was really busy, so we never did official exams or got credits.

[Theoketos]

[quote name='Maria' post='1003195' date='Jun 11 2006, 01:33 PM']
We were homeschooled off and on, with advantages and disadvantages. What can I say? Well, don't go into take the children out of school and drop them back into homeschooling, without having a clear idea of what you're doing for high-school, considering that you'll be spending most of your time dealing with the little kids.
Saxon is great, but it is a little long. Especially if your children aren't struggling in math, maybe you could let them off doing all the questions.
I didn't finish the grade 10 Seton English. I was too far behind, and then I was depressed about it, so I avoided it, etc.
For religion we did stuff with the baltimore catechism, and in high school with the Fr. Laux books.
We had the A Beka books for science, and they weren't the best.
With the little ones, my mom used Mother of Divine Grace stuff for English, along with some Seton books we had somehow acquired.

Basically, my mom was busy with the little ones, so we were left to our books. As well, the school board was making a lot of red tape, and my mom was really busy, so we never did official exams or got credits.
[/quote]

I think that your situation is exactly why good Catholic Schools are necessary. ß

[OLAM Dad]

[quote name='Theoketos' post='1003134' date='Jun 11 2006, 07:25 AM']
OLAM, I have a tremendous amount of respect for you and the way you conduct yourself, at least in my limited experience filtered through the internet. However I became a little furstrated when you said the following:
1. I have used the method. I have been in some form of Catholic Education for Seven Years. I have formal training in many educationial methods. My wife and I have discussed this many times and my opinions are furthered by her assesment of the program. She actually have three degress one being in Education, as well taught a student (also as a private tutor) using the Seaton Method. It is no coincidence that we share the same opinion about it. (Now I will grant you we were limited to the English, Math, and Theology sections. Those sections however were really disappointing, as we caught four serious gramattical errors per quater.)

2. I, at least, never claimed that the Baltimore Catechism does not effectively teaching youth about Jesus Christ. In fact I even further agree with the observation about the Bible and the reformation. However, the fact still remains that this assertion with in this debate is a fallacy, or at the very least a shift of the subject.

More later, maybe. Peace be with you.
[/quote]
Theoketos,

First, thanks for the kind words. Second, let me apologize for my terse comments. I sometimes let my emotions get the better, err... worse of me. I'm sorry.

I can't really argue with the points you have made regarding Seton. Yes, there are a lot of issues with typos and gramattical errors in the materials. Since I am not as well educated as some, I don't notice all that many and when I do it really doesn't bother me all that much. I'm more concerned with what is being said vs. how technically accurate it is presented. I believe you commented in a previous post that the tests also have errors in them. This is true too. I've graded some of my kids' work and told them what their grade was only to have different grades returned by Seton, and I'm talking math here, not something subjective like writing. I don't always have the time to correct their mistakes but when I do at least they are good enough to adjust the grade. I wish they would fix the problem at the same time but they don't appear to do that. Oh well, you take the good with the bad.

It seems we agree about the Baltimore Catechism. I love the BC for primary catechesis. The new catechism is good in many ways but it has problems too. Even the Holy Father has said that he really likes 80% of it. That leaves 20%, if my math is correct, that he doesn't particularly like. I really wish he would elaborate on which 20% he doesn't like. I suspect I can guess some of what he doesn't like.

Pax

Maria,

You're sure right about Saxon math. Yikes! Most of the books have 140ish problem sets in them. 140! They are the books that never end. However, if you were left with your books because your mother was busy doing other things then Saxon is perfect. They bite off small chunks at a time and they do a good job of explaining things in a logical, easy to understand manner.

[phatcatholic]

ugh! for someone who wants to homeschool his children when he has a family someday, but does not know where to start or what to use, this thread just makes it all the more overwhelming

[Maria]

Make sure you have a good idea of what you'll be doing, ie, don't try to do it at all on the fly.
Your children will procrasinate, so take that into account. The programs that have tons of work to do don't help in that respect. Taking the Saxon books as an example, I love them, but I just don't think it's necessary to do all the problems. I really don't.
Perhaps the hardest thing is keeping any kind of schedule, whether in terms of daily activity, or finishing work by a certain time. Whoever it was who talked about having no summer vacation was spot on. The work probably won't be done by then, so either you give up the vacation, or you let it go unfinished or, perhaps, you cut down the amount of work you'll be doing in the first place.
Embarassed though I still am to admit it, I was 'doing' that Seton English for more than 2 years before I decided not to finish it. Of course, once I started getting behind there were lots of psychological reasons involved as well as the basic procrasinating, and I did still attain better English skill than my sisters who didn't send stuff to Seton.

[phatcatholic]

it makes me wonder if we (my wife and i) could do it or not.......

[Maria]

Of course, are you sure you and your wife could make decent parents? Maybe you'd better rethink that as well...

Of course there will be problems, and you won't do a perfect job of it. But as Chesterton says, if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly.

So, what do I think I've gained from being homeschooled? Well, I'm not nearly as shy as I was. I have an ability to learn using books, even when the teacher is really bad. I have better relationships with my siblings. Etc.
Just because it wasn't perfect, and just because it's easy to point out problems doesn't mean it wasn't worth it.
But please, make sure that you're working with the school board, and anticipate that it won't be quick and easy, so give it all the time it will need.

[Theoketos]

[quote name='phatcatholic' post='1004062' date='Jun 12 2006, 04:46 PM']
it makes me wonder if we (my wife and i) could do it or not.......
[/quote]



Man, you need consentrate on getting a ring on the finger first, that is cross that bridge when you come to it.

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='Theoketos' post='1004078' date='Jun 12 2006, 06:06 PM']
Man, you need consentrate on getting a ring on the finger first, that is cross that bridge when you come to it.
[/quote]
*nods

true, true.......

[C Frances]

After 9 years of sending their kids to Catholic school (I'll be a high school freshman this fall), my parents have decided to homeschool my elementary-school-age siblings this coming year using Seton. I was always bored in school ; I wasn't challenged as an individual, and, mainly, I had to deal with a lot of social junk that wasn't exactly beneficial to me in this particular school. Don't get me wrong, I spent some great days at school, and I did learn a lot of lessons, both in and out of the classroom...but it just didn't seem worth it this year. Also, my parents were (rightly so, I feel, having had to use it for 9 years!) not 100% pleased with the Religion program...it's faithful to the Magesterium and the teachers are nice and all, but it just wasn't "rigorous" enough for their taste...the wording and the lessons were very "vanilla-flavored", if you will.

I have two special-needs brothers, ages 6 and 2, who have severe speech delays and slight touches of autism, and it's been obvious to my parents that sending the 6-year-old to parochial school is just not an option at the moment. He'll attend public school through 1st grade, and then my Mom will homeschool him...this way, he gets the individual attention and special help that he needs, and he'll be "sheltered" in a good way. My parents don't want him to be treated badly at school by the other kids because he's "different"...and we've seen first-hand that this kind of stuff does happen. Parochial schools are a wonderful option for people who can't homeschool, and there are many, many great Catholic schools out there, and I support them 100% in their efforts...but there are some things that the schools just can't control...like the way their students are raised at home, and the values that they are taught to uphold at home. Those factors unfortunately resonate in the learning environment.

I'll be going to an all-girls Catholic high school that's well-known and very well-respected in my area, and I'm really looking forward to it. So far, the plan is to homeschool the kids through 8th grade, and then send them to the high school I'm going to, and an equivalent all-boys Catholic high school in the area. We'll see how it all works out!

I think my Mom will do a great job as a teacher, and, from what I've heard, Seton is a very good program. I'm excited for my siblings (they haven't gotten the news yet), and I almost wish that my parents had homeschooled me from the start...it would have saved a lot of wasted time. Although, I admit, I did learn some life lessons in normal school that homeschooled kids might not get an opportunity to learn. I'm mainly a little worried about how my siblings will take the news (especially the going-into-fifth-grade sister, who will probably throw a fit ), and how they'll adjust to the rigors of Seton...especially the religious ones (Catholicism injected into every subject, et cetera.) I suppose only time will tell!

Edited June 12, 2006 by *Totus Tuus*

[Colleen]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1002347' date='Jun 10 2006, 12:25 PM']
Because it doesn't take into account the Vatican II Council and was largely used for memorizing passages, rather than teaching the kids about Jesus, often giving them the impression that the faith was all about a bunch of doctrines, rather than the Person of Jesus Christ. That of course was how it was used...it's not intrinsically a criticism of the text itself, which is very good and orthodox.
[/quote]
I think the problem is not the tool itself but rather in the way it is applied and by whom.

I think the Baltimore Catechism is cool, especially the ones with pictures. I learned more about my faith from the copy of the BC we had at home when I was a kid than from almost any of the wishy-washy religion texts used at school.

[C Frances]

[quote name='phatcatholic' post='1003214' date='Jun 11 2006, 12:14 PM']
ugh! for someone who wants to homeschool his children when he has a family someday, but does not know where to start or what to use, this thread just makes it all the more overwhelming
[/quote]
Haha...I share in your pain. I want to homeschool my kids, too...I don't want them to have to deal with the incredible boredom/lack of academic challenge and social junk like I did, and I want to raise them to be strong, faithful Catholics...but the prospect of homeschooling can seem so daunting at times!

Well, I guess I should wait, oh, 10 years or so, find a husband, and have kids...THEN worry about how I'll school them! :