Catholic Homeschool Support

We have used a number of different grammar resources including Rod and Staff, Seton and most recently Easy Grammar. All do an excellent job of teaching grammar, but my children still do very poorly on end of year assessments. In looking at what all these programs had in common, I discovered that all of them presented one topic in depth and taught it very well but when the topic was completed, they moved on to another topic and there was little review.

I stumbled upon Daily Grammar Practice at a homeschool conference last May. It is not a complete grammar program. It was developed I believe originally to be used in a school setting where the teacher planned to instruct on grammar topics. If you are not strong on grammar or diagramming, you will definitely need another resource. I have found that Warriner’s English 3rd course to have enough information to explain the topics in depth.

So, what does DGP do differently? It uses one sentence a week. On the first day, you identify how each word is used in a sentence – noun, verb, adjective, preposition, adverb, conjuction, etc. If your child does not know what a preposition is, then you as a parent need to teach the concept (using another resource). On Tuesdays, they identify the function of the word – subject, object of a preposition, intransitive verb past tense. On Wednesday’s, you identify clauses and sentence types (declarative, exclamatory, and if te sentence is simple, compound or complex). For older grades, not only do you identify a dependent clause, but how it is used – adverbial or adjectival. On Thursday’s you punctuate the sentence. Finally on Friday’s you diagram the sentence. Again, I have found the Warriner’s English to be a good reference for all of these more advanced topics.

As I stated, you still need to teach grammar, but all the topics are reviewed every week going deeper as you progress. I have found my children need this approach and I am pleased to have found a grammar resource that uses that method. I believe Analytical Grammar uses somewhat the same approach.

Look for an update to this review at the end of the year when we go through year end assessments. But, I can already see progress.

I have not posted recently. We have completed nearly 4 weeks of school. My two oldest are in 9th grade this year, and we also have a 7th grader, a 5th grader, a 3rd grader and a kindergarten along with a couple of little ones and a new baby due after Christmas.

We use Mother of Divine Grace, and I am so pleased with the coursework in high school. The literature selections for history are wonderful. The religion is meaty.  And, the Earth Science course is deceptively deep. The writing assignments are really giving them lots of experience in putting together an essay with a thesis statement.

In looking back over the past month, I came up with an way of describing my experience. We have homeschooled from the beginning. All along it has been like a slow ride up a roller coaster’s first hill – sometimes kind of boring, in general just taking quite a long time.

In 9th grade we have finally made it to the top and what a wild ride it is -  filled with excitement, fear, joy, dread and all the rest (and yes there are times when I could scream). I love it. I see how quickly this part will pass and I do not want to miss a moment.

I am offering a prayer for all of you – that your year gets off to a good start and that you are filled with patience and perseverance and wisdom. Most of all, I pray that you find moments of beautiful joy.

I am always so happy when I can pass along information about other Catholic homeschoolers’ businesses-even more so when it is totally unique.

So, this is the message I received:

I am a Catholic mom homeschooling of eight children. My pre-children vocation was architecture.  In the past year or so, I’ve started to teach architecture to homeschoolers here in DC.

A few did not feel like driving out to my home, so they asked me to put my course  online.  So, I have.

It is a 9+ week course. Children use the online material and receive reviews of their work from me through emails.  You can check it out at:

www.homeschoolarchitecture.com

I am a Catholic mom homeschooling
eight children.
My pre-children vocation was architecture.  In the
past year or so,
I've started to teach architecture to
homeschoolers here in DC in the
past year.  A few did not feel like driving out to
my home, so they
asked me to put my course online.  So, I have.  It
is a 9+ week
course that the children use the online material
and receive reviews
of their work from me through emails.  You can
check it out @
www.homeschoolarchitecture.com

I heard about this project last year – SundayStickers.com. They take pre-orders and then print and mail out all the stickers and albums by the beginning of November. Pre-order collection ends September 27th, 2009.  Part of the cost of each set of stickers sold benefits “the religious sisters of the Community of St. John, to aid their work at their house in Pondicherry, India.”

What a nice gift to give to your Godchildren or nieces and nephews or a religious education department to purchase.