What's New

Charlotte Mason's Original Home Schooling Series

Book cover: 'The Original Home Schooling Series'
Author(s): 
Charlotte M. Mason

6 volume set, reference work for adults.

Living books instead of textbooks for teaching. "Narration" or retelling what one has read, rather than fill-in-the-blanks workbooks. Short lessons of 10 to 30 minutes, leaving time for handicrafts and exploration in the afternoon. Plenty of time outside in God's creation, learning to draw and identify plants and animals. If you are using any of these ideas in your homeschool, you may owe a debt of gratitude to Charlotte Mason.

The Restoration of Christian Culture

Book cover: 'The Restoration of Christian Culture'
Author(s): 
John Senior

This book, originally published by Ignatius Press (with ecclesiastical approval) is available in print once again from Roman Catholic books. John Senior, an eminent great books scholar and Catholic writer of the recent past, here addresses what Christian Culture is, why it has nearly disappeared (particularly in America today) and what is required to bring it back.

The Trivium: the Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric

Book cover: 'The Trivium: the Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric'
Author(s): 
Sister Miriam Joseph, C.S.C.

This little gem was used as a freshman college course after the author met philosopher Mortimer Adler and understood the importance of teaching basic language skills as the foundation of other learning. After some years of study, she put together this course in the Trivium, the three language arts -- of word relations (grammar), concept relations (logic), and composition (rhetoric). The result is a primer in Aristotle's Categories, a demanding course in logic, and a prerequisite to good composition.

Implementation of an Ignatian Education in the Home

Author(s): 
Francis Crotty

The focus of this booklet is on the method of teaching. Mr. Crotty goes through the timeless and time-tested Jesuit philosophy of education and applies it to homeschooling. He has put together an outline that could be successfully applied to any curriculum. The ideas will be especialy helpful for parents who are homeschooling their teens, but it is useful to consider such important goals even when our children are very young.. Although it's a short booklet, the reading is rather heavy. I think you'll find it well worth the effort. Mr.

Poetic Knowledge

Book cover: 'Poetic Knowledge'
Author(s): 
James S. Taylor

Poetic Knowledge, by James Taylor, is a difficult read. He wishes to present, from both history and philosophy, a solid argument for an education that is more intuitive and interior than what we find in the schools today. His background and bibliography are impressive, including a period of study with John Senior in the Integrated Humanities Program at the University of Kansas, famous as an early ferment in the revival of classical education.

The Core Knowledge Series

Author(s): 
E.D. Hirsch

Titles in this series include What Your Kindergartner Should Know, What Your First Grader Should Know, etc. The series is written for parents of children in traditional schools to get an idea of how the schools are doing and to assist the parents in supplementing their child's education at home. The series amounts to an extensive "Scope and Sequence" which outlines the fundamental skills and concepts which should be understood in each grade and includes supplementary exercises, poems, stories and recommended resources to assist in fulfilling the stated goals.

Designing your Own Classical Curriculum

Book cover: 'Designing your Own Classical Curriculum'
Author(s): 
Laura Berquist

DYOCC is quite a bit different from the other books on Catholic Homeschooling. Instead of simply discussing homeschooling, as the other books do, Mrs. Berquist outlines an entire homeschool curriculum you can use with your children or adjust to your liking. She includes suggestions for putting together your own curriculum and a grade by grade outline which includes recommended texts, sample weekly schedules, a number of study guides, lists of important dates and people, poetry suggestions and extensive lists of appropriate literature and history stories.

The Educated Child

Book cover: 'The Educated Child: A Parent's Guide from Preschool Through Eighth Grade'
Author(s): 
William J. Bennett
Chester E. Finn
John T.E. Cribb

This book is designed to assist parents in choosing and judging good schools and how well their children are doing there. Brief "scope and sequence" lists (based on the Core Knowledge Curriculum) and some suggested resources are included. Although it is not specifically aimed at homeschoolers, homeschoolers are favorably addressed in several portions and will find much useful advice and ideas in the book.

The Well-Trained Mind

Book cover: 'The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home'
Author(s): 
Jessie Wise
Susan Wise Bauer

Jessie Wise started homeschooling her daughter (and co-author Susan Wise Bauer) in 1973. In this book they elaborate ideas and resources for a complete classical curriculum from preschool through high school. From a Catholic standpoint, I think this book would be most useful for those who are already using Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, but looking for additional ideas. I found the explanations of the stages of the Trivium very helpful as well as some of the ideas for types of writing assignments, lists of subject material and tidbits on scheduling and record-keeping.