There is no shortage of reprinted United States for elementary Catholic students, but this one designed for fifth grade offers a unique perspective. The student's text is an overview of American history from the discovery period through to 1963, with the final chapters on the history of machines and transportation and the Constitution.
American History for Young Catholics includes 18 short stories, offering a gentle introduction to American History. Not longer than two pages each, each interesting selection takes less than five minutes to read aloud. The stories include famous American heroes; such as George Washington and Daniel Boone; American Saints, such as Kateri Tekawitha and St. Frances Cabrini; and interesting facts about American history, such as famous inventions and the Panama Canal. The selections are short, but substantive.
This 4th grade science textbook is nicely laid out and easy to use. Each chapter begins with a brief biography of a famous Catholic scientist, like Copernicus, Mendel and Pasteur, followed by four literal comprehension questions. The goals of the chapter and an outline are also provided at the beginning of each chapter. Interspersed among the text of the chapters are experiments, activities, and review questions. There are also review study pages at the end of the chapter.
I've been telling my friends who've asked about this book that I've never felt enthusiastic about a science textbook until now. This beautiful book, printed in full color on thick, glossy pages is really remarkable. The author, Suchi Myjak, is a Catholic homeschool mother with a Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering. She worked in a chip design group at Intel Corporation until the birth of her first child.
There are three areas in which I think this book particularly excels...
This book offers thirty-six stories about God's amazing world that very nicely brings science back to its creator and helps children make connections between faith and reason. We've had the earlier edition of this book for a number of years and I have found many tidbits about nature that were new and very interesting to me - especially information about why God made things the way that he did and what is good and useful about his creation.
"A Singing Science Text for Understanding the Concepts of Life Science Using Traditional, Patriotic and Camp Tunes of Long Ago"
This clever learning set teaches basic concepts in Life Science through cleverly written songs (to tunes like Battle Hymn of the Republic and Dixie). There are eleven songs in all, with a chapter in the text and three pages in the workbook corresponding to each song. These are the song titles:
I was introduced to the series as a high school freshman. I enjoyed the text very much at that time (even though I was working with a photocopy). I was equally impressed with the Sophomore text when I taught with it nearly ten years later. The first book, Our Goal and Our Guides, focuses on understanding our goal in life - attaining Heaven - and spiritual and doctrinal issues that are related to that goal (such as the roles of faith and reason, the liturgical year, the Blessed Trinity, the Fall, and Salvation through Christ).
Teen Catechism is a nice entry point into the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In spite of its name, Teen Catechism could be used by an adult convert or any person who wants a solid introduction to or review of our Catholic faith. It follows the topic sequence of the Catechism, covering the Creed, the Sacraments, Morality, and Prayer in its 36 chapters.
Originally published in 1928, the current edition published by TAN Books is a complete reproduction of the 1934 edition. The 1990 editor added some footnotes to bring the series more "up-to-date." This is a highly recommended series - this is the recommended high school religion text for Kolbe Academy, Mother of Divine Grace and Seton Home Study.
My Father and Mother on Earth and in Heaven (Book One)