Ron Paul Curriculum

Did you know that Ron Paul left his life of civil service and started creating a curriculum for homeschoolers?  His hope is to find a way to help save America.  I have not yet joined but look forward to.  I think the pricing is just right.  I need to wait until I have a little extra time to explore.

I don't know that we will actually use his curriculum in depth but I want to really examine the model.  He had organized a set of self directed classes that can eventually add up to a middle school and high school education.  The site claims that this is all self directed. You really must click here and  visit the web site to start investigating for yourself.

I toke one idea and ran with it, already.  I have had the kids each create a blog and the idea was taken directly from this curriculum.  Read about that idea here, written by Gary North called School Blog. For now ours are not public but eventually will be.  We also used Blogger and maybe I need to look into why he recommends WordPress.  I prefer Blogger just because I am familiar with it.

If any of this intrigues you, I suggest watching the full 26 minutes of the 6th-12th grades being explained in a video form.  I am so excited about the possibilities.  Now I have not forgotten that I have kiddos with learning issues and reading is a huge issue not to mention writing.  I think I might just adapt some of this and the ideas into a real successful curriculum for my own kids.  I do what to change some of the classes out to insure a more Catholic approach.  I agree with the reasons why we need this. 

I don't need to be convinced to homeschool.  I just need to refresh my methods and tweak here and there. If you have more experience with Ron Paul's Curriculum, please share!

High School Science

Often I am asked how I handle it when the topics get difficult.   Often I have found that it depends on the resources you pick.   I am not gifted with an understanding of science (or math).  Science needs to be taught and taught well for the high schooler for them to succeed in college.   This was the field that often caused me the most concern.   That was until I ran into Apologia Science.  The science resources I found from this group were wonderful.   I have yet to be disappointed.  

I found a group of text books produced by Apologia written by Dr. Jay Wile.   Each are titled with Exploring Creation through . . .  Dr. Wile is a Nuclear Physicist and author of 10 text books.   He is a creationist and advocate for homeschooling.   Visit the Homeschool Speaker and Vendors Association page on Dr. Wile to learn more about him and about his various thoughts on homeschooling, and even creation.   All of his papers are very interesting.

As Catholics we are not exclusively creationist and these books are written from a Protestant slant but they are the best books I have found.   I have looked for years.   The Catholic books are either too light in science or too light in faith.   These books are heavy in faith and very challenging in Science.   What I like most is that they are taught (worded) in a way that is designed for the homeschooler.   They are challenging for the young scientist and heavy in the scientific method and yet worded to be understood by the student.   I have made sure that my 1000 Years of Catholic Scientists  resource is close at hand.   If something is mentioned I try to back it up with this resource giving a full Catholic understanding to this Christian presentation.  

We do not use the schedule that Dr. Wile proposes for these books.   My children are not gifted in science.   We wait to use the Dr. Wile books until the highschool years.   But we do follow his recommended progression through the books.  

1) Exploring Creation with General Science is recommend as the resource for 7th graders.   We use it for the first semester of Freshman year.  I was also able to locate an audio recording of the books that have helped me with my dyslexic children.  They can listen and read along.  So this keeps them on track when I am not able to read out loud with them.            

2) Then his 8th grade book that we use for second half of Freshman year is Exploring Creation with Physical Science. 

3)  They then move onto Biology as a Freshman and we use it for Sophomore year.  It is more challenging than the first two but still worded in a way that takes this difficult teaching topics and presents them in an easy to understand manner.  Exploring Creation with Biology.

4)  Then we try to get through Chemistry for our Junior year.  Exploring Creation with Chemistry. 

5)  Then the company offers Physics, Advanced Biology, Marine Biology, Advanced Chemistry, and Advanced Physics.   All great selections .  We didn't use them except for the Advanced Biology.  You see we also ordered the disection kit. Pooker fell in love with this and wanted to pursue biology.  We got her the Advanced Biology which is called  The Human Body:  Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.  This led Pooker to an interest in nursing.  She is curently pursuing this possible career in her college courses.  This is something that I owe to these specific sets of books.  I could have never presented this material in such a loving and respectful manner.  These books give the glory to our creator while challenging the student to learn. 


They are so well written that they are very easily self taught.  A student can be given the task of pursuing a chapter/module on their own.  I require that my students keep a list of all bold face words and write out their definition, and answer all questions in a notebook.  I let the test be open book as long as they can do it in a short amount of time and get it correct.  We talk about the chapters at great length to make sure they understand what they are learning.  My goal is to inspire the mind more than tax it with tests.  That being said this series of books can not be beat for that purpose. 

Catholic Coffee Club

The Catholic Coffee Club is a group of home-school high-school students that join together to discover and discuss the Catholic faith. We are in the area around Spring, TX. We gather once a week during the school year to discuss what we learned while reading that week’s chapter. We base our discussions on the books printed by the Midwest Theological Forum in the Didache Series. We are a group of teens that gather together to explore the faith and become friends in Christ. The teens are guided in these discussions by a few adults that also love the faith in the fullness and beauty, love the teens for who they are, and own the answer books.

Years ago I decided that I wanted my daughter to have one class that was with her peers. I believe that once a child is in high school that social time together is very important. I didn't want the study of our Faith to be reduced to just another "class" with a "grade" given. The solution was to join with some others to study religion while also accomplishing the goal of sharing my love of my faith with my high school daughter and her peers. I worked up the idea that has grown into the Catholic Coffee Club.

The group has always met at a Coffee House or somewhere that sells a good cup of Joe. As moms we both loved our daily cup and wanted our daughters to learn to let the study of their faith be a part of every aspect of their lives, even the social aspect. At first it was two young ladies and one friend from traditional school that would meet once a week and dive into a wonderful set of books teaching the faith. My goal is that these teens will learn that their faith doesn't stop when they leave school. It is up to them to continue their learning. It is a great idea to start a catholic book club. I hope and pray that as they mature into adults they will encourage their peers by inviting them to have a cup of coffee with them and discuss an great teaching of the church.

The moms purchased the answer book and we went from there. Those three girls graduated last year. We now have about 17 teens that join us. The older one stick around and do a Bible study on their own. We have grown and I have learned so much. I just hope that the teens have also. The really exciting news is that a few cyber friends from around the country have copied this idea. We also have a second group in our own area filled with another group of teens. Across town two other groups formed and pretty much follow our format. I try to keep my group organized by using a free yahoo group. This allows us to send reminders and share information very easily.

We all come prepared having read the latest chapter. We pray and invite the Holy Spirit to guide our discussion. We share any surprises that we learn from the chapter. I am amazed that I still have those "no way, I didn't know that" moments. (Pretty sad considering this is my second time through this year.) We then turn to the back of the book and spend an hour discussing the questions that are listed. This isn't so bad considering the adults have the answer books/teacher additions. We then wrap up our discussion with everyone listing their prayer request. I love hearing what is on the mind of the teens.

It is a simple and wonderful way to share your faith with your highschool kiddos. I recommend this approach to my friends with kiddos in traditional highschool as well. Meet with your son or daughter once a week in a warm setting where you can discuss the faith. Encourage them to learn and to fall in love with the study of our Catholic heritage.

Hich School Books for Catholic Faith Study

In our home we really believe that the study of the faith is not a subject. It is more of a way of life. That being said it is very important to understand that faith and to push your faith to grow. For the high school years it is very appropriate to take courses to study the faith in an in depth manner. I believe that the high school years is the perfect four years to offer a deep study of the faith.

Finding the right text is very difficult with this one. I felt so blessed when my friend found this serious of books from the Midwest Theological Forum. This is from their website:

"More about The Didache [DID-uh-kay] Series:
The Didache Series presents the life and doctrine of the Catholic Church in the context of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the teachings of Vatican II as witnessed by the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. The Didache Series also draws from Sacred Scripture, the lives of the Saints, and the Doctors and Fathers of the Church. It is ideal for high school and adult education, seminaries and colleges, RCIA, catechism classes, and home schooling."

My children and I have found that the books are very well written. They are not dry. They bring the faith to life. It is exciting and yet readable. They are engaging and yet very much in line with Rome. I just love these books. I would encourage any individual that is wanting to study their faith more to pick them up. Start a group and study them with friends. You might not know as much as you think you do about your faith.

What I don't love about the books is that they are long. The one on Scripture and the one on the Church are not broken down very well to use to in a homeschool setting. I would love them more if they could have broken the chapters that were 50 pages long into more digestible bites and give us around 25 chapters.
What I love about the books is that they are easy to teach with. They give so much information and the answer/teacher books really help in leading a discussion on the books. We have developed our own club based on these very texts and I will discuss those in another post.

We have one graduated! 1-3-09

January 3, 2009 is the date listed on the official transcript as the date she is finished with her high school studies. Along the way we were often asked "how do you do it?" Just remember it didn't start with her as a teenager.

Way back when our oldest was just 5 years old I had it in my heart that I wanted to home school her. Her dad did not want that for her. We had both grown up going to private Catholic grade schools and then high schools. He wanted the same for our children. So we researched both and actually enrolled her into the local Catholic School. We jumped through the hoops, took placement tests, made deposits, turned in medical records, met with teachers, signed up for volunteer lists, ordered the uniforms and then we waited. (. .and waited . . .and waited)

Her placement scores were very high and we had turned our paper work in early but there were too many kids that year. In the end our daughter was put on the waiting list and not really set for classes at all. We had never wanted her to go to public school but now she would have to start there until a spot opened. So my husband said to me, "Go ahead and try this home school thing. We will try it for one year and see how it goes."

When our daughter's peers started at school that year we began her work at home. She was a very smart young woman and loved learning. It was a fun year, full of adventure and wonderment.After the end of that first school year we took the the time to re-evaluated. We decided to try homeschooling for one more year. She started her first grade year using the complete program from Seton Home Study. This was a very intense year of study and I felt it included too much busy work. We did it all but it got difficult with all the babies running around.

Second grade was a little easier. We still used Seton but this was the last year for a pre-packaged program. I was reading so many teaching books and knew that I wanted to pick my own curriculum. I had now been teaching this child for 2 years and knew that we were on the right track. As each year passed my husband and I became more and more confidant that this was the path for our family.And so it went from there. It had started as a second choice and a last minute fill in alternative. Now homeschooling was a way of life for all of us. In the end it is a true calling from God. We took it one year at a time for 12 1/2 years. We had always thought we would send her to a Catholic High School when the time came. After moving to Texas we realized that high school would be better taught at home as well.

It hasn't always been easy but our daughter has always given her best. She has matured and learned to find balance in life with it all routed in prayer.We will offer her a graduation ceremony later in the Spring. She is currently enrolled in community college for next semester. She has graduated our program one semester early. She plans to work toward her associates and then head off to a earn a bachelors. She is interested in nursing of some sort, and is open to seeing what God has in store for her.

We are so proud as we offer the world our first graduate of our home school. We kept our daughter home and maybe protected her from some stuff. That wasn't our reason. Most importantly we offered her a world of studies that were not limited to four walls and a curriculum picked out by a board of strangers. We have nourished her social life with positive experiences and good Christian peers. We have boasted her self awareness offering her a strong education that included her faith. We have demanded that she learn to balance all aspects of her life to best form her into the kind, loving, smart, passionate person she is today. We are so proud to graduate this young woman. We offer the world a beautiful, smart, strong, educated, fun loving, well rounded woman of GOD.

Writing a Transcript

Where to begin is often the hardest part with anything this "official". I found that one of the tricks to remember is that my husband and I have been in charge of our children's schooling from the very beginning. Why would I approach this any differently. We are are still in charge and this official document will be created by us. This is not a stretch, even though it took me a while to feel that way.

Deciding to home school throughout high school was not an easy decision for us. I am so glad we did and I really feel it was the best approach. That is not the purpose of this post. We are here to discuss the transcript and how we did it.

When planning high school I did have an idea of the projected 4 years. I just found this free tool for helping to plan the 4 years. I didn't have it but it takes some of the work I did out of the mix. I knew in the end that the transcript would need to cover certain things to be usable to get my child into a college. I also know we needed it for scholarship applications as well. As the years went on I tried to make notes, some just mental, on all the projects that were accomplished. I didn't jot down every book read. I have friends that have done that but I didn't see the need. We made notes of all the extra curricular and the volunteer stuff as well.

A tool that I used to actually put it all together to look like a real transcript was a product called: TranscriptPro Home School Transcript Generator Developed by Inge P. Cannon and produced by Education Plus. I found this tool to honestly meet all the promises that it advertised. When it comes to organizing the information this tool is a Godsend and worth every penny I spent. I have the first edition and am limited to just 5 students. I noticed that the third edition limits you to 8.

Before starting I highly recommend that you read: The 12 Most Common Home School Transcript Errors by Inge P. Cannon at Education Plus.

We picked the look that most matched what we wanted and got started. It really was very simple plugging in our courses and assigning a grade. There are many tips out there on how to assign a grade and how to assign credit. We read them all and then with an educated mind made our own criteria. This was all while trying to remember that we were the teacher, principal, and administrator of the school.

Another good source for transcript information can be found at the HSLDA website. They even have examples in file format that you can play around with to create a transcript of your own. HSLDA Transcript information can be found here. As with everything HSLDA is a great resource.

In the end this is what I did. I searched out several examples. I found what I wanted the end result to look like. I knew my child's needs. She was using it to share just course information with the community college she was enrolling in. If she was applying for a traditional 4 year college without starting at the community college I know that the transcript might need to be tweaked a little different. So know your audience and what they are looking for.

I used the Transcript Pro product to calculate the Carnegie Units of Credit and the Grade Point Averages. I printed off their version then compared it to several copies of transcripts I found just doing a google image search. I then created one that worked best for our home school using a publication document creator from Microsoft. I did this because we never studied a foreign language. At least not hard enough to assign a credit to it. I didn't like the empty column generated from the program. We also never took classes from any other organization. She had very few standardized tests to report also.

In creating our own look within publisher I was careful to not get too creative so I followed the same format as the majority of others. I was once told by a college admissions director that it helps the college admission board to asses the home schooled student if their transcripts look like the rest. They are used to looking at those and can do so efficiently. So be careful and keep in mind that you don't want to look so different that your child's transcript gets put off because it can not be quickly reviewed. I added what she needed and took out what she didn't. In the end we had a beautiful document that accurately described her high school studies and accomplishments.

That is how I did it. If you don't want to get as creative and publish your own then use one of the many available generators. In the end the important thing is to remember you are the one that needs to do. Don't put it off. Just get it done! My daughter found such a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I should it to her. "Wow, I did do all that, didn't I? I really did do the school work just like my friends." We had never discussed grades, never. So when she actually saw what she had earned she grew very excited.

The good news is that we got it done without much issue. We are proud of the end result. We have used it to save money on car insurance (she had a B or better!) and is set up at the community college for classes next semester. We now have the official document to also send for her scholarship searches that she is now working on.