If you are new to homeschooling and you've already spent some time researching your options, then I know you know that there are a lot of Catholic homeschool programs to choose from! There are so many that they can make your head spin!
When I started homeschooling, there were a handful of choices that I had to weed through. It didn't take me long to realize that I liked bits and pieces of all of them, but not one in particular. Guess what? Mix and match is an option, too!
There is no one-size-fits-all Catholic homeschool program - and that's a good thing! After all, one of the benefits of homeschooling is that you can tailor the program to your own children and their personal needs.
But, you do have to choose something, so let's see if I can help you narrow down your choices.
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Things to Consider First
There are a couple of things you need to consider before you choose your homeschool program.
- How much time do you want to spend each day homeschooling?
- Do you want to use workbooks or literature books or a combo?
- Would having lesson plans and scripts be helpful to you?
- Are you looking for counselors or advisors to help you?
- Do you want someone else to grade the work?
- Do you want to have your students take part in online classes?
- What is the learning style of your child?
- What will motivate you to get things done?
- Would you like to pick and choose everything for each of your kids?
Learning Style
Most of the above is self explanitory. There are just two things I'd like to comment upon further.
First, the learning style of each of your children will definitely come into play. It may not be obvious when they're little, but soon you will realize that not everything works the same for each child.
For instance, my oldest daughter loved to use workbooks. She liked to pace herself and didn't enjoy being slowed down by others in group learning activities. My second daughter, on the other hand, hated workbooks. They made her cry. A lot! She was a much more kinesthenic learner and I had to definitely adapt for her style.
Other children were auditory learners. My youngest had eye convergence problems that we didn't recognize for a few years, so he loved auditory learning over anything that required reading or writing.
Keep this in mind when you're deciding on the type of program you want to use, and don't hesitate to change if you see that one of your kids has a different learning style.
What Motivates YOU?
The next thing to consider is what gets YOU going?
Homeschooling isn't just about the kids. You need to enjoy it, too, so that you want to get up and get at it every day.
Think about what will motivate you to do that. For example, are you motivated by outside sources? If so, a program that makes you hand in assignments by a certain date will work well for you.
Are you more of a free-flowing kind of person? Then mixing and matching things each year will be more your style. Someone telling you what to do and when to have it done by will drive you mad, trust me on that one!
This is important to take into consideration when you're picking out your curriculum or signing up for a homeschool program.
Ready-Made
Catholic Homeschool Programs
In this blog post, we're going to focus on the advantages and disadvantages of signing up with a Catholic provider and using their ready-made program.
Advantages
Signing up with one of the various Catholic homeschool programs has many advantages. With most of these programs, you get:
- A pre-packaged curriculum
- Daily and/or weekly lesson plans (in some cases, scripted lesson plans)
- A counselor to work with
- All the books, workbooks and tests you need
- Grading reports and transcripts
- Many times these programs are attractive to new homeschoolers because they take a lot of the guesswork out of homeschooling. There is someone to ask questions of and an already laid out curriculum for each grade. Basically all you have to do is sign up and everything you need is delivered right to your door.
- Most programs are also considered accredited schools. This means that they have been inspected by an outside independent agency. The agency checks a school's course of study, their academic records, accounting practices and business practices. It essentially shows that the school is following certain educational standards set forth by the accrediting agency.
Disadvantages
You might be wondering what the drawbacks to these home school programs are.
- Some homeschoolers feel that they can be very constricting. While many of the Catholic homeschool programs have loosened up a bit over the years, if you join one of them, you will basically be following the curriculum that they have set up. If you want to make changes in books or subjects to their curriculum, you usually can, but it will require coordinating with the counselor and may mean you will have to do your own lesson planning.
- People can also feel under pressure to get things done in a certain time frame. Many of these programs are set up by quarters, with quarterly testing and reports. Sometimes people have a hard time sticking to the schedule and feel that they are always behind and under pressure to catch up. This can be very stressful for many people.
- The biggest disadvantage of a pre-designed program can be the money that it costs to enroll each child and get all of the materials. If you have a large family, there are usually breaks in tuition, however the cost per year can still be sizable. It is definitely something to carefully research.
Catholic Homeschool Program Options
As you can see, there are some major advantages to signing up with a pre-made program.
This type of homeschooling method would be good for you if you are just starting out and do not feel very confident about how to teach or what to plan.
Of course, money will also be a determining factor. If you like this option and can afford it, then there are a variety of providers to choose from. Most popular among them (listed in no particular order) are:
- Seton Home Study School (Seton homeschooling)
- Mother of Divine Grace School
- Kolbe Academy
- Our Lady of Victory School
- Our Lady of the Rosary School
- Angelicum Academy
- St. Thomas Aquinas Academy
- Queen of Heaven Academy
Spend some time checking out all of your options. There are a lot of similarities between them, but also some big differences. The good news is, all are solidly Catholic.
One of the best ways to research your options is to talk to other homeschoolers and get their opinions. Most homeschooling moms I know are happy to share their experiences. My caveat here is, make sure you know that no two homeschooling families are alike and what works for one may not work for another, even if it sounds ideal.
Best of luck to you on your search for the Catholic homeschool program that will work best for you! I'm always here to answer any questions you might have, so don't hesitate to ask!